1 weekend, 2 Mini-Trips: Key West and N. Georgia

My wife was in need of a well-deserved break from studying for the CPA exam, so we planned a weekend trip to the mountains of North Georgia in hopes of catching the Fall leaves in their full glory. We both took Friday, October 23, off from work and planned on heading up early in the morning. Unfortunately, a cold front arrived just in time to ruin our plans of going North. I was on a late flight back to Tampa Thursday night after working in Dallas that week, and knew I didn't have much time salvage a trip. I finally got home at 11:00pm, hopped on the 'puter, and a few mouse clicks and 40,000 Hilton points later, had a room booked at the Casa Marina in Key West.

All buckled in and ready to depart KPCM (Plant City, FL) bright and early


Whoever it was that first looked upon the Everglades and called it a "sea of grass," absolutely nailed it. It is very misleading in that if we looked to the West (away from the sun,) the ground looked like dry land; however, looking East shows how much water is really down there.


Given my Uncle's experience a few weeks earlier of ditching in the Keys, we thought we'd go the loong way around. This is the Southern tip of the FL mainland, and I suspect that somewhere in this shot is where my Uncle went down (never did find the plane.)


Navy Key West approach dropped me down to "at or below 1,000" to avoid the fighters. Fine with me.



Short cab ride later ($8 per person from the airport to anywhere on the island) and we were there. The hotel was built in 1920 by railroad gazillionaire (adjusted for inflation) Henry Flagler. Nice place.



Having been to Key West before, we decided to skip most of the bar/tourist scene. The hotel is several blocks from the madness on Duval Street, and after eating lunch down there, we decided that we'd stay at the hotel for dinner. As we watched the sunset from the hotel's little pier, my wife noticed that they were setting up a few tables on the "sand" (crushed coral that will turn a pair of brown sandals white in two steps.) We had a great dinner in one of the best dining rooms I've ever had the pleasure of eating in.

.....and the wine persuaded us to stay a while.


It looked the cold front in Georgia was going to move out by Saturday afternoon, so we decided on another last minute change of plans - we were going to see the leaves after all. We launched out of KEYW at 7:30am and headed back PCM to meet her parents at the airport.


Continued below....

Anyone who has flown to Key West knows about the tethered balloon (aerostat,) and it was quite easy to spot. I believe the sectional has it marked at 14,000 feet, but I think 7,500 is more accurate. Maybe they move it around. Sadly, some folks in a Cessna 182 hit the cable a few years back killing all three on board. The aerostat is the dark spec in the center of the photo.


Went up to 11,500 on the way home to get above the clouds, and found some weird stuff up there. One of those days where there seems to be an infinite number of cloud layers.


We made it back to PCM in 1.7 hours, hopped in my father-in-laws new Mooney, and filed for KDZJ (Blairsville, GA.) His buddy (Cirrus owner) has a cabin up there and was hoping that we'd still be able to make it, even if just for one night. The front wasn't gone at this point, but we were able to get on top at 10,000 and flew in the clear for most of the trip. Tail winds pushed us along at a groundspeed of 210-220kts for most of the trip. There are no approaches into DZJ, but a hole in the clouds led us right to the airport. It wasn't a very big hole, but with wheels, flaps, and speed brakes hanging in the breeze, we got down pretty quick.

Mooney driver in a VAF shirt? He must have a son-in-law that gives nice gifts.


Short final into DZJ



After a short drive to the cabin, we hopped on 4-wheelers and rode to the highest/coldest spot around. Not sure that we caught the peak of the leaves, but it was good enough for us.


We spent the evening huddled around a campfire on the back porch.


After more 4-wheelin' the next day, we headed home.


I'm still getting used to having the option of doing trips like this. Something about being in Key West in the morning and North Georgia by mid-afternoon just makes me smile. It's often said here on VAF.com, but these truly are amazing little machines (we can include the Mooney, just this once. )

That,s what i,m talking about. Cool trip.

RV = Wife pleaser..

Mine liked our -6 so much, she said, "Pierre, have you considered a -10?"

The romance is evident....good move

Have fun...thanks for the write-up,

Thanks for the write up my wife and I are going down to Key West this year;-)

Awesome writeup and pics.. thanks for sharing.

Great write-up and pics. Thanks for the motivation!

Great pictures! Thanks for the motivational write-up.

Great trip write-up! I have been to both airports! I was a temporary guest of Blairsville on my way back home from OSH. Great people there!

Well done Ryan!!!!

I'm checking my Hilton points now. That's a beautiful hotel. I've been promising an overnight at EYW for a month now and receiving constant reminders.

Great job on the write up.

See you Saturday at Loves Landing.

KEYWEST is only a smile away!

That brought back memories of my trip to KEY WEST. Iam only 25 miles from VANs home office,(still build'g 9A) but when my wife and I go on vacation I usually rent a 172 and a instructor for 2hrs to sight-see. KeyWest airport is cool in that when we went out to the plane it was already pulled from the tie down into the middle of the ramp and waiting. Just the preflight and we're gone. I told the instructor lets see some points of interest and he said how high do you want to fly,I said 3,500 ft. He said come on really! OK 5500ft. For Gods sake howabout 1000ft so you can see something! OK and a away we went. You see if thhe engine quit you are just going to get to the beach sooner. We circled pods of Sharks, Stingrays are everywhere and their easy to spot,ship-wrecks and lots of private islands and of-course the FORT. We headed back only to have the visibility lower to 4 miles. Couldn't believe it! Whats that I asked. The instructor said several times a year we get DUST Storm leftovers from Western Africa caught in the equatorial winds! Thats as strange as it comes I think. Well back on the ground and I parked the new Cessna in the middle of the Ramp and left. Somebody just comes and parks the plane. Almost like Airforce ONE! Next it was a 7 day stay in KeyWest down DUUUUVAL street. Theres nothing like it! THe Wackie and strange. I don't think my wife and I will never be able to wipe the smiles off your faces of DVL ST. From nose art to the harbor SUNSET! WHOA! So as the love birds had one evening in the sand with dinner they surely made us SMILE big TIME,you just got to stay over a week-end. I'am telling YOU! And if I remember right theres a lady whom built a RV9A just miles from KEYWEST whom could attest to the fine living in the Keys. So for our RV LOVE BIRDS don't quit exploring we loved the stories. All smiles from Ron and Billie Jean

Tethered aerostat

Ryan,
I used to work at the aerostat site at Ft. Huachuca, AZ. The 15K ft noted on the sectional is the max altitude that the balloon is flown at. And you are correct in that the altitude is changed every few hours to preclude the tether getting a kink or set as it winds through the sheaves and pulleys. The restricted airspace surrounding them is a 4 mile radius that goes up to the previously mentioned 15K. Very interesting place to work. Great trip write-up!

Thank you Ryan for nice write up. Thank you all gentlemen who commented on Key West. I am planning to drive all the way down to Key West for a couple days before heading to Sun-n-Fun 2010 and it's good to learn some details about The Tip Can I see the balloon from the ground?

Hawkeye7A said:

Ryan,
I used to work at the aerostat site at Ft. Huachuca, AZ. The 15K ft noted on the sectional is the max altitude that the balloon is flown at. And you are correct in that the altitude is changed every few hours to preclude the tether getting a kink or set as it winds through the sheaves and pulleys. The restricted airspace surrounding them is a 4 mile radius that goes up to the previously mentioned 15K. Very interesting place to work. Great trip write-up!

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Thanks for the info, Hawk. Pretty amazing how high they can reel those things out. And I promise to never call it a "tethered balloon" again.

Vladyspassky said:

Thank you Ryan for nice write up. Thank you all gentlemen who commented on Key West. I am planning to drive all the way down to Key West for a couple days before heading to Sun-n-Fun 2010 and it's good to learn some details about The Tip Can I see the balloon from the ground?

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Vlad, you can definitely see it from the ground. As we climbed in the plane to launch out of Key West, my wife commented on the airplane that didn't look like it was moving. I snapped this photo from the cockpit before I fired up. Keep in mind that the aerostat (affectionately named "Fat Albert" by the locals) was somewhere around 7,500 this day, but as Hawk pointed out, it goes up to 14,000.



And thank you everyone for the nice feedback/comments. I always enjoy reading trip write-ups from others, and figured I'd start sharing some of our adventures.

Fall colors

You probably got to see the colors at just about there peak this year. I've been here in Dahlonega for 13 years and this year was a little dull. My wife and I flew around on the 23rd of October and thought we'd do it again the next week because there we no really vibrant colors yet. I flew almost daily up here for the next week and the colors never got any brighter. All of a sudden it's brown.

I guess the 60 plus inches of rain we've had since the first of the year didn't help the colors, course we aren't complaining since the lakes and rivers are full.

Nice write up. Key West is a blast isn't it?

RV8iator said:

You probably got to see the colors at just about there peak this year. I've been here in Dahlonega for 13 years and this year was a little dull. My wife and I flew around on the 23rd of October and thought we'd do it again the next week because there we no really vibrant colors yet. I flew almost daily up here for the next week and the colors never got any brighter. All of a sudden it's brown.

I guess the 60 plus inches of rain we've had since the first of the year didn't help the colors, course we aren't complaining since the lakes and rivers are full.

Nice write up. Key West is a blast isn't it?

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Jerry, it's good to hear that we pretty much caught the peak - it sure looked nice to me, in any case.

And yes, Key West is always a good time. Growing up in FL, I've been in the Keys a fair amount, but it never gets old.

Team RV, huh? Hope to meet you and the others at one of the formation clinics you guys put on. Formation is one of several things that drew me to the RV community, and I look forward to learning the basics.

Come on in

The water's fine.
Once you get comfortable with your plane make sure and come to one of the clinics.
Good people and lot's of good flying. I know you will enjoy it immensely..

Fun Trips

Great write up Ryan! Having been raised in Florida as well and spending much time in the Keys and Highlands North Carolina, I understand what a great trip you two enjoyed. I hope to do more of the same now that I have retired.

You should try to make the Loves Landing Fly In on Saturday (info on calendar here), there will be many Florida RV people, it is always a quality event.

Thanks again for the nice write up and photos.

Fantanstic Photos

Looks like a fun adventure. I really liked your pictures, great work.
As winter approaches here I am already thinking about an upcoming trip south in the near future but Florida is a little too far for me.

Keep the write-ups coming.

Thanks for the story. Next time you come to North Georgia come see us at Mountain Airpark just outside of Cleveland, GA. Grass strip 3,400X150. We have four RVs and a Rocket. I have an RV8-A and would be glad to show you around.

Key West is one of those places all aviators should fly to

When we were married my wife and I drove from St. Louis to Ft. Lauderdale where we spent our honeymoon. One day we drove to Key West and back. We didn't see much and it was a terribly long drive but we could say we had been to Key West. 42 years later we flew out RV-6A there and stayed near Duval Street and found it to be one of those charming places to visit with an airplane like Mackinac Island, Michigan; Furnace Creek - Death Valley, California; Hood River, Oregon; Gold Beach, Oregon; Victoria, British Columbia; St Augustine, Florida; ... These little flying getaways are very special partly because of the places themselves and partly because of the adventure of flying there. Thanks for sharing your experience with the wonderful photos.

Bob Axsom