Settling in Washington

I spent several days living on an airstrip just a mile from my old home. It was lovely to wake each morning to peaceful green beauty. There is nothing like a walk down a grass runway to start the day.

Then I spent five days parked at “My Airport”. Chehalis (CLS). This is a small airport by most standards, but hardly a sleepy country strip. Each morning a Cessna Citation, operated by a local business, departs. I love watching it vanish into the onshore clouds that start the majority of summer days. Helicopters arrive with students at the controls – a great breakfast show. That’s my camper in the middle distance. I took this photo walking back across the airport from Wal-Mart.

The annual AirFair found me making Grey Eagle flights – add 11 to my list of seniors flown. I met this man who flew in for fuel and to visit this tree he and his Dad planted over 40 years ago. Now it provides beauty and shade for relaxing pilots.

I’m still enjoying walks every day. There is a great trail that encircles the airport, on top of the dike. Thousands of times I’ve landed but liked seeing runway 16 from a new perspective.

Here a family of coyotes played.

I also walked my favorite Rosebrook Loop, noting baby lambs now grown, hayfields baled. As much as I love Arizona, taking a walk in cool Washington temps, surrounded by green is refreshing. Who could resist a side trip down this forest path?

Into each life of retirement joy comes the dark side. Big Red, my Ford truck, was constantly pulling to the right. Off to (national chain that shall go un-named) where I’m told that most of the front end needed to be replaced, not the simple wheel alignment I expected. Doubting them, I took Red to my usual mechanic and got the same bad news. They did all the front end work and included new brakes and calipers for less than the chain quoted. But I still paid $850. Ouch!