Many years ago, when I was in college, I was a diving instructor and charter master on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Although I have spent the past twenty five years in Texas, the cliffs and cold water of that region still hold a special place in my heart, and I thought that since Louise and I had a few spare hours in Minnesota the other day, we should pack "a little lunch" (you Minnesotans get that... 
) and fly up to Duluth for a picnic on Park Point.
The day was gorgeous, and since the Valkyrie was tucked away in a hangar, we saddled up Louise's RV-6 for the trip. I have flown it before, but we had never used it to go someplace, and I must admit, it IS nice to have the special person in your life beside you rather than behind - at least when she's a pilot ( and owner of the aircraft!). Louise had wanted me to fly her plane to see how smooth it was since she had the prop balanced, and since she was feeling a tad under the weather, asked that I fly left seat. No one ever has to ask ME that question twice.... It was interesting having to hand fly a cross-country again - no autopilot in her plane (yet)!
As we flew up the St. Croix valley, I enjoyed pointing out towns and landmarks that I had known since my youth. (Hey, there's the only forest where I can say that I was ever TRULY lost....what a day to not have a compass...) I have gotten so used to the wide expanses of Texas that Minnesota seems pretty small, and before I knew it, the tank farm at Superior, WI was in view. The airport on Park Point is Sky Harbor - home mostly to seaplanes, and running along the narrow spit of land with water on both ends - it's a little like landing on a carrier (OK, not to insult you Navy guys - it IS 3,000' long!!). The wind was directly cross, 8 Gusting to 14, but I guess I hit it when it was low and steady, because the landing went fine.
The beach is just over the dunes from the runway, and we took along our little bag of crackers, smoked fish and fresh cheese curds...a bottle of wine would have been great, but hey...."twelve hours from Bottle to Throttle!" We had a wonderful little picnic sitting on the dune, watching the hardy folks p[laying in the water. I guess I have lost some of my early resistance to cold water - back in my day, the water temperature on the north shore was about 38 degrees all year round. Park Point, being sand, probably heats the local water a bit, but still....these folks looked like they were ENJOYING it! Louise took a little wade, and with the sailboat in the background, you might think we were in the tropics - and not north of the 45th Parallel!
After lunch, with the visibility so nice, we took a short trip up the shoreline to show her some of my favorite haunts. Knife River - a great place to buy smoked fish. Two Harbors - my Dad's favorite little town, and the original home of the 3M company. Corundum Point, the site of the 3M companies very first carborundum mine - where he got the grit for their sandpaper. And finally, the classic Split Rock Lighthouse - one of the prettiest lighthouses I have ever seen. (When I ran diving charters there, it had long since been shut down as a working light, but my second cousin was the chief archaeologist working at the State Park. I used to call and ask if he'd turn the light on when we wanted to go night diving underneath the cliff below the house, and we could find our way up and back from our base down the coast!)
The return to Anoka County was serene and smooth at 6.5K, and it was wonderful flying along with Louise beside me. We need to do a little work on her panel so that we can use her airplane for routine traveling when we're going together. This entire trip took just a few hours - a long lunch break from the visiting we were doing in the Cities. Two hours of flying, no flight plan, no autopilot - just me and my Number One Gal, out for a little picnic....
Paul
(Pictures by Louise....I was busy trying to maintaion Heading and Altitude..... )
) and fly up to Duluth for a picnic on Park Point.The day was gorgeous, and since the Valkyrie was tucked away in a hangar, we saddled up Louise's RV-6 for the trip. I have flown it before, but we had never used it to go someplace, and I must admit, it IS nice to have the special person in your life beside you rather than behind - at least when she's a pilot ( and owner of the aircraft!). Louise had wanted me to fly her plane to see how smooth it was since she had the prop balanced, and since she was feeling a tad under the weather, asked that I fly left seat. No one ever has to ask ME that question twice....
It was interesting having to hand fly a cross-country again - no autopilot in her plane (yet)!As we flew up the St. Croix valley, I enjoyed pointing out towns and landmarks that I had known since my youth. (Hey, there's the only forest where I can say that I was ever TRULY lost....what a day to not have a compass...) I have gotten so used to the wide expanses of Texas that Minnesota seems pretty small, and before I knew it, the tank farm at Superior, WI was in view. The airport on Park Point is Sky Harbor - home mostly to seaplanes, and running along the narrow spit of land with water on both ends - it's a little like landing on a carrier (OK, not to insult you Navy guys - it IS 3,000' long!!). The wind was directly cross, 8 Gusting to 14, but I guess I hit it when it was low and steady, because the landing went fine.
The beach is just over the dunes from the runway, and we took along our little bag of crackers, smoked fish and fresh cheese curds...a bottle of wine would have been great, but hey...."twelve hours from Bottle to Throttle!" We had a wonderful little picnic sitting on the dune, watching the hardy folks p[laying in the water. I guess I have lost some of my early resistance to cold water - back in my day, the water temperature on the north shore was about 38 degrees all year round. Park Point, being sand, probably heats the local water a bit, but still....these folks looked like they were ENJOYING it! Louise took a little wade, and with the sailboat in the background, you might think we were in the tropics - and not north of the 45th Parallel!
After lunch, with the visibility so nice, we took a short trip up the shoreline to show her some of my favorite haunts. Knife River - a great place to buy smoked fish. Two Harbors - my Dad's favorite little town, and the original home of the 3M company. Corundum Point, the site of the 3M companies very first carborundum mine - where he got the grit for their sandpaper. And finally, the classic Split Rock Lighthouse - one of the prettiest lighthouses I have ever seen. (When I ran diving charters there, it had long since been shut down as a working light, but my second cousin was the chief archaeologist working at the State Park. I used to call and ask if he'd turn the light on when we wanted to go night diving underneath the cliff below the house, and we could find our way up and back from our base down the coast!)
The return to Anoka County was serene and smooth at 6.5K, and it was wonderful flying along with Louise beside me. We need to do a little work on her panel so that we can use her airplane for routine traveling when we're going together. This entire trip took just a few hours - a long lunch break from the visiting we were doing in the Cities. Two hours of flying, no flight plan, no autopilot - just me and my Number One Gal, out for a little picnic....
Paul
(Pictures by Louise....I was busy trying to maintaion Heading and Altitude..... )
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