Norm Odsather

We had a great day,I was invited to fly with one of the pilots at my work in his Super Cub to Lake George for the purpose of putting on a photo shoot to take pictures of his plane at the Colony Glacier. By the end of the day, he had several of his other friends with planes come out for me to shoot pictures of and I had my own personal little air show. The sun was out, the temps were mild and the wind was dead calm which made also for some great flying weather too. I hope to be able to do this again. It was too much fun!

Heading back to Maine late next July to take my wife back to see her family for a couple weeks and bring some friends with us to see Maine for the first time. Should be a fun trip, stop in Portland for a few days to visit with my wife’s sister there, then up to Camden / Hope area to visit with her folks and do day trips from there and most important of all, see the Lobster Festival in Rockland! Go and see us a few lighthouses and what not, may take a trip over to Kingfield and see my wife’s other sister if she doesn’t come down to see us. Should be fun. Maine is a lot like Alaska but different. The mountains in Alaska are wicked bigger, ayuh! Wicked bigger! That and man made things in Maine as in most of the east coast are much older. Most things here are under 100 years old. Neat to see 200+ year old architecture.

It’s pretty impressive to see where the Boeing Wide Body planes are built and born. For those of us in the aviation gig, this is like the holy land for aircraft. It’s well worth the bucks to take the tour and see the displays.

The building looks worn down from the outside, but it’s a relic of WWII being built as one of 2 blimp hangers for costal defense during WWII. Inside are many examples of vintage aircraft, some restored and some waiting their turn for restoration. The hanger is also home to several owls which live in the soaring spans of the wooden framed building. Do stop in and check it out if you are in Tillamook. There is more than cheese in the neighborhood!

If you’re an aviation buff, nut, dork, or what ever you call your self. The Evergreen Aviation Museum is a must see. The largest flying boat in the world lives within the cathedral built by Evergreen Aviation. That and many other major contributing aircraft to the progression of aviation are on display for preservation and education. Go and see it!

We rode the snowmachines over the highway this year from Tok, AK to Dawson City YT. See: http://www.trekoverthetop.com/ A long 200 mile run each way, a stop in-between in Chicken and Boundary and then on in to Dawson. It was damn cold going in, they told us it was -37f when we rolled into town! Other than the brutal cold on the first day it was a good trip. Saw lots of neat stuff and shows and can say been there, done that, got the shirt, ‘n we may do it again!

You either have to fly in or come in by boat in the summer or snowmachine or other forms of overland winter travel to get to this place. We ride the snowmobiles in during the winter and it’s a 70 mile run from where we unload and park the truck. Gas is expensive, food ain’t cheap, there is no liquor store, the nearest bar is a bit of a ride over to Shell Lake, but the seclusion, the peace, the get away from it all and the clarity of the air is not to be surpassed. You can book rooms at the roadhouse, a few other B&B’s and what not. Skwentna is the first main check point for the Iditarod dog sled race. It gets pretty hopping in Skwentna for that. Else wise, it’s just a quiet little place with a gravel airport and cabins scattered around the general area.

Other than Seattle is the nearest port of call of all flights leaving Alaska and it is a cool place, I’m going to take my wife to see her Red Sox play the Mariners Late in July. Have tickets in hand, a friend that used to live her in Anchorage and moved down a few years back has offered up a place to stay, now it’s all down to a rental car and a few plans for things to see and do while in Seattle. Pikes and the waterfront are on the list and we’re gonna make a side trip to McMinnville to See the Evergreen Aviation Museum and the Spruce Goose. Should be fun! Just gotta save some $$$’s for the West High 20th reunion in early August!

Gotta see the Spruce Goose! I used to work for Evergreen Aviation so I may as well go and see what all the hard hours I slaved for them produced.