Penultimate Trip And Ultimate Trip

 I was finally beginning to feel comfortable on the Bus.  It had been almost a year and I had adjusted to the differences from the Boeings I had flown.  As retirement drew nearer, I began to feel a little sad.  The airline pilot career I had been working to achieve since 1968 was about to end on my birthday in August of 2010.  

With 2 more trips and less than a month to go, I was informed I would be getting a line check ride on my next to last trip.  (That's what penultimate means, if you are from Pittsburgh.)  Of course, the question in my mind was WTF?  Why would this be necessary, if I would only have one more trip to go?  

The trip was to Burbank California and when I asked the management pilot why I was getting a check ride under these circumstances, it was revealed that one of his kids was doing something that day in Los Angeles and he was merely using my flight as a means of transportation.  If you have been following this blog from the beginning, you know I am not intimidated by check rides, whether from company check airmen or FAA inspectors.  That was not the problem.  It was just WTF, over?

My penultimate FO on the left and the guy who needed a ride to SoCal on the right.  No problemo.

For my last trip, I tried to get one of the first officers who had become a good friend to join me, but it didn't work out.  However, the guy who did join me was about as perfect as he could be.  

We both showed up for this trip with almost identical plans for the Portland weekend layover that began after an unusual daytime leg to Salt Lake City and then on to Portland Oregon.  We would arrive on a Friday afternoon and didn't have to fly again until Monday night.

 

Rare photo of the Flexible Flyer going to work in the daylight.  Nice arrangement on the tie.

Better.

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His name was Matt and he had brought a camera and backpack and reserved a rental car, planning to explore the area and take lots of photos.  Ditto for me. We canceled my reservation and picked up his car.  

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The next day, we ate breakfast and drove to the Columbia River Gorge.

First stop was Multnomah Falls.

Then we hiked to the top of the falls, via this trail system.

If you like to see and photograph water falls, this is your place.

That was in a visitor center.

Next day, we headed for Mount Saint Helens.

Mountains can create their own weather.

The destruction is incredible.

 

On Monday morning, we drove to the Evergreen Aviation Museum.

That is the home of the famous Howard Hughes airplane, The Spruce Goose.