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                             Key West to Quillayute

                                  

                                   By Max Grogan

                                   Columnist

 

 

Back when frost was covering the landscape and we were shivering in our parkas I casually asked my wife, Bobbi, where she would like to go during her teaching job’s spring break.  She replied immediately: “I would like to go somewhere there is no chance it will

be cold or even cool.  I am tired of cold, dreary weather.  I want sunshine and warm breezes.”  So we went to Key West.  The story can be found in the Fatboyz archives.

 

As summer break was coming up we discussed a possible longer trip and, as the discussion evolved, it seemed we both had a lingering desire to return to the Pacific Northwest.  So, it was decided: We would fly our Bonanza to Seattle and stay a few days there and re-acquaint ourselves with the area.  We had lived in Tacoma during our newlywed days.  In 1967 my first assignment as a newly commissioned Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army was to Fort Lewis, WA, just south of Tacoma, and about thirty miles below Seattle.  We were there for almost three years.  We bought our first piece of furniture there and had our first child there. 

 

We had always wanted to go back.  We loved the area then and would have stayed had we each not had so much family back in Georgia.  So, more than 36 years later, we laid out our plans for a return visit.

 

The flight plan was for direct to western Iowa and then on to Rapid City for an overnight stay.  From there we would stop in Helena, MT, for fuel and then direct to Seattle.  We delayed our departure for one day to allow a sagging cold front to drop south of the high plains.  Then, on Sunday morning, June 11, 2006, we departed under low stratus and a threat of rain.  There were thunderstorms over southern Missouri and Illinois.  I filed a flight plan for the Indianapolis Brickyard VOR and then direct to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a fuel stop.  The northerly first leg would allow us to avoid the worst weather.

 

We lifted of and were soon engulfed in benign stratus.  We flew towards Indy in and out of clouds alternating between layers and the rainy solid stuff.  We turned west just south of IND when the controller said we should have a smooth flight on into Iowa.  We descended towards Cedar Rapids (CID) and followed the ILS down until we broke out at about 1,000 feet for a rainy landing.  The last time I had been there was as a baseball player in the Cleveland Indians farm system in the sixties.  We only stayed long enough for fuel, coffee and the potty break.  Another IFR flight plan for Rapid City, SD, was filed. 

 

We climbed up on top of the cloud layer and enjoyed the sunshine at 10,000 feet.  After a couple of hours the clouds below were gone and we were looking at the landscape below.  There, visible in the clear air, were the Badlands near Wall, SD.  We had visited Wall once when traveling through in a motor home.  It is a unique place in the middle of the western plains where almost anything can be bought at the Wall Drug Store encompassing several city blocks.  We did not stop this time.

 

 

Our arrival into Rapid City (RAP) was in gorgeous clear air and mild temps.  One must make sure he is aligned with the correct runway as the air force base is just north.  We arranged for overnight parking for the plane and called for the van which would deliver us to our lodging at the Rushmore Plaza Hotel. 

 

There we found a delightful place to kick back and relax.  The air was so pleasant and clear.  Our spirits were lifted.  We had a couple of Scotches and discovered our hunger.  The concierge recommended a fabulous Italian/seafood restaurant downtown and arranged the van to deliver us there.  We had delicious hor d’oeuvres followed by Ceasar salad and the main course.  We enjoyed a succulent dish of seafood: Scallops, shrimp, mussels, clams, lobster, crab and unknown fish was served in a wonderful tomato based stew.  This was enjoyed with a bottle of local wine recommended by the owner.  So far from the ocean, yet so delightful.  From the restaurant we took a leisurely stroll through the downtown streets while examining the statues of important American historical figures displayed at every intersection.  They take pride in being known as the City of Presidents.  The walking route to the hotel took us through a lovely park.  There we watched the floating seeds of the cottonwood trees along the winding river flowing  gently through the edge of downtown Rapid City.  We agreed this was one place we could proudly call home should we choose to live there.

 

Monday morning dawned clear and calm.  We got an early start on our journey west.  We left in clear skies planning to detour by Mount Rushmore for a look at the presidents and some photos.  We were disappointed to discover a low stratus layer was engulfing all the mountains out to the south and southwest, including the monument.  With chagrin we turned westward  and climbed towards a planned altitude of 8500 feet.  Soon Devil’s Tower, in Wyoming, loomed in the distance and we delayed our climb to get a good look at this icon of the West and made several photographs.  In the same area we looked over the site of the Battle of the Little Big Horn where Custer met his fate.  We tried to imagine where the Indians could have hidden from good scouts as the terrain is mostly devoid of trees.  But they did,. and made their heroic defense of their homeland.

 

Previously, in Iowa and eastern SD, controllers had difficulty receiving our Mode C altitude from our transponder.  While in Rapid City I looked up members of the American Bonanza Society and finally got one on the phone.  Turns out he was owner of a maintenance shop.  He recommended we stop at the “best” avionics shop in the high plains area at Billings, MT (BIL).  We did.  The shop personnel were so nice.  They determined our transponder was functioning well and surmised we were at the edge of ATC reception each time.  They wouldn’t accept pay so I made a $20 donation to their coffee fund.  They were so nice I was in a mood to buy a new Garmin 327 transponder and a 396 GPS.  Fortunately they were out of stock in each!  It is a very large shop with a dozen technicians and we were most impressed with the facility and the personnel.

 

 

By stopping in Billings, and not taking on fuel, we no longer needed to stop in Helena and flew on towards Coeur d’Alene, Idaho (COE) for our fuel stop.  Soon after leaving Billings we flew over Helena and began to enjoy a view of the Rocky Mountains to our left front.  At 8500' we were over scattered clouds with a light headwind.  That altitude allowed us to cross the Rockies with lots of mountains looming to our right and left but not in our path.  From KCOE it would be a short hop to Seattle with about an hour and a half flight time.  We had a quick, late lunch and lifted off into graying skies which were darkening to the west.  While enroute, I called flight service to discover the frontal clouds hanging over the Cascade Mountains were still lowering and developing thunderstorms on the western side of the range.  We were disappointed.  We were hoping to cross the big mountain range enjoying the views of the ancient volcanoes like Mount Rainier, but that was not to be.  While on the radio with FSS I filed IFR from the Wenatchee, WA, VOR direct to SEA (SeaTac Airport). 

 

Once I received clearance we began our climb from VFR at 6500' to our filed altitude of 12,000', the MEA over the Cascades westbound.  Soon we were in heavy rain and very dark clouds.  The turbulence was moderate to maybe severe.  We were taking quite a beating and the controllers were giving us nearly constant vectors for avoidance of the worst stuff.  We were given vectors to the FLAAK intersection and the Ephrata6 Arrival into SeaTac.

 

It was airline rush hour.  Soon we were put into queue with a large gaggle of Alaskan Airlines and Northwest Airlines planes, mostly big Airbusses and Boeings, all of us headed for the ILS to runway 16R.  The controller asked me to keep up maximum speed for trailing traffic and I did.  We broke out of the clouds at about 2000' AGL.  We could see several big planes ahead, all in trail, heading for the runway visible to the south.  We stayed very high for wake turbulence avoidance. I asked for current winds.  The savvy controller, recognizing I was trying to determine movement of the wing vortices promptly said: “10 knots at 110 degrees, and, would you like runway 16L?”  I gladly took that knowing the vortices were being pushed off to the west.  I purposely stayed high and landed quite a ways down the extra long runway and received instructions to taxi to the very end.

 

A soft and gentle rain was falling as we exited the plane at the only FBO at SeaTac.  Just as I remembered: Always the drizzly rain.  Landing here was unplanned.  We were originally to go into a general aviation airport to the south but the thick weather made me want the security of the better approaches and all was well here.  We ordered a rental car and soon a small maroon SUV, a Toyota RAV4, was delivered.  From there we went south about seven miles and checked into our suite (in the mood for a little luxury) at the Marriott Court Yard in Federal Way, WA. That is about halfway between Seattle and Tacoma and straddles I-5.  This was to be home base for four days.

 

About the weather: The scattered to overcast layer was to remain over the valley on the west side of the Cascades for our entire stay.

 

We had previously made contact with an old army friend I had served with in the sixties and also with a relative of Bobbi’s who had settled in a little mountain town in the morning shadow of Mt. Rainier.  We were to meet with each of them before we left.  Our first day was one of exploration of the area.  We drove to the airport at Auburn, WA, and found we could park our plane there for the flying portion of our visit. 

 

 

That evening we had a reunion with King Yee and his wife Gayle, whose wedding we had attended in 1969.  As mentioned before King and I worked together for two years while serving as army officers at Ft. Lewis.  Dinner was at Salty’s at the edge of Puget Sound just north of Tacoma.  We enjoyed a fabulous meal as the golden sunset appeared below the thinning clouds hanging over the sound.  Catching up on 37 years of each other’s lives carried the conversation at the dinner table.  We agreed to meet again for a dinner trip to Seattle two days later.

 

On Wednesday we drove to SeaTac and picked up the plane.  Total cost was $16 for two days, a pleasant surprise at a Class B airport.  I flew it to S50, the Auburn airport, and Bobbi drove over for me.  From there we drove to Ft. Lewis and went through the twenty minute long process of getting a visitor pass.  We drove around on the post looking at all the landmarks we remembered from so many years ago.  I learned to fly there, as a member of the post flying club.  We had twelve planes, all like new, including C150s, C172s, a C177, a Mooney, a Musketeer and a Travel Air twin.  I earned my private, commercial and multi-engine ratings in six months in 1969, while flying off Gray Army Airfield (GRF).  Unfortunately, there is no flying club now as post-9/11 security measures don’t allow for civilian planes.  The airfield looked much the same as it did in the sixties.

 

We visited the on-base quarters where we had spent three years.  The six unit apartment building was the same except for some minor cosmetic changes.  Incredibly the buildings where I worked, the old-style wooden type, are still standing on the far corner of the North Post area.  Ninety per cent of the old have been replaced with modern brick structures, but my old company area  escaped demolition and, looking neglected and forlorn, is used for summer training by reserves.  We enjoyed the nostalgic visit and left knowing we probably will never return.  We gave the entrance gate a long look and took photos as we turned for I-5 and headed back towards our hotel.

 

That evening we had a reunion with one of Bobbi’s cousins who had retired from the army and settled there with his wife whom he had met while stationed at Ft. Lewis.  She is postmistress at Morton, WA.  We went to the casino on the Muckelshoot Indian lands near Auburn and did some light gambling and heavy eating.  We planned to visit them in Morton later but the weather for flying into the mountain airport was uncooperative.

 

Thursday was for flying.  We wanted to see the Pacific Ocean.  I had previously checked online, via AirNav, and found the Hoquiam, WA, airport (HQM) 73 miles west had a restaurant on the field and we planned for lunch there.  The low clouds were still being pumped up through the area by a persistent low pressure system off the northern California coast.  We climbed up to 2000' and toured the Tacoma area and headed towards the ocean.  There were holes in the thin cloud deck and we climbed on top to 6500'.  Finally we got our only look at Mount Rainier, standing 8000' higher than the top of the cloud layer.  About thirty miles out we called Seattle Center and asked for IFR clearance for let down into Hoquiam.  Cleared for the ILS, runway 24 approach, we settled into the clouds and broke out on final at around 500'.  Lunch was delightful.  The locals patronize Lana’s restaurant as it is on the edge of the small town.  There were only two planes there besides ours.  We enjoyed Reuben sandwiches and coffee while looking across the runway to the waters of the Pacific lapping the shore of the bay.

 

 

Leaving Hoquiam, we flew out over the ocean and the town of Ocean Shores and were able to climb to around 1000' without entering clouds.  We turned right and followed the Pacific coastline northward sixty five miles or so staying about a mile offshore as we enjoyed the fabulous scenery.  The coast becomes more and more rugged as one flies north there.  It is mostly rocky bluffs with occasional beaches and many small rock islands called sea stacks.  We watched whales, seals and sea birds enjoying the cold, pristine waters below. 

 

We landed at Quillayute, the western-most airport in the lower 48 states.  (Key West is the southern-most.)  We didn’t stop.  It is a state-owned facility with no FBO.  We turned around and departed for Auburn by flying south for quite a few miles.  Going inland the clouds lowered and we filed an IFR flight plan for Olympia, WA, (OLM)and climbed up to 5000', still in the clouds.  I chose OLM because it was fairly close to Auburn, out of the SeaTac traffic and it had an ILS.  As we descended towards OLM we broke out at around 1500', cancelled IFR, and turned for Auburn, under the clouds.  We flew over the Tacoma Narrows bridge and observed the construction of a new bridge nearing completion alongside the present one in use.

 

Dinner for the evening was at the Sea Garden Restaurant in the area locally called China Town in downtown Seattle.  King ordered for all of us in his native tongue (he was born in Shanghai, China).  Lobster and crab were the main items as a seemingly endless parade of small dishes kept appearing at our table.  Delicious isn’t a good enough description for the feast!  Afterwards we drove into the area known as West Seattle for a view of the sound and the skyline of the city.  We enjoyed cocktails (at the only other Salty’s) by the sound, with the great view of the Seattle high rise buildings.  Here we watched the sun set behind the Olympic Mountains appearing below the rising cloud layer.  We said our good-byes at the Yee’s house in Federal Way and returned to the hotel to plan our departure for Tennessee.

 

Low IFR was the condition of the day on Friday, the sixteenth, as we departed for our first stop in Eugene, Oregon (EUG).  We walked to the airline terminal and had lunch at the Wing’s restaurant.  We departed, climbing to our assigned altitude of 13000' for the eastbound crossing of the Cascades.  Again we saw nothing but cloud as we crossed the mountains.  Already breathing oxygen, we asked for 15000' and got on top of the clouds which we left behind in central Oregon.  We cancelled IFR and let down to 9500' and headed for the Great Salt Lake area, with a landing planned for Ogden, UT (OGD).  We crossed rugged, barren mountains as we crossed over the NE corner of Nevada and began to make out the salt flats and the lake ahead. 

 

About fifteen miles out, passing over the north end of the lake,  I radioed the tower and he gave me instructions for a landing to the south..  Soon a Cessna called in, much closer to the airport, and he made him number one for landing.  Still letting down in smooth air I was carrying a lot of momentum at over 190 knots ground speed.  The controller said if I could keep my speed up I would be number one.  The Cessna pilot volunteered a 360 for spacing, but the tower