Friday and Saturday, May 20-21, 2005: Arlington, WA to Sandpoint,ID...Friday morning came along without a hitch. We didn’t have much of a plan for the day now that the schedule had changed. We were originally going to do some demos Friday and head home on Saturday, but the demo flight had changed to 1 PM on Saturday. Over breakfast we discussed what opportunities we might have in front of us for today and tomorrow and decided to try and take it easy for a day. The “Take It Easy” schedule is better described as a day full of email follow ups and cell phone calls, but by the end of the day we did fell a little more rested. Saturday will come early!
     Saturday started with a 5 o’clock wake up and a 6:30 AM checkout for a breakfast meeting at 7 AM. Mission Aviation Training Academy (MATA) had invited us to be part of day of presentations and fellowship. We taxied the airplane over to the hangar so we could share the airplane with all of them. What a great time. We sure enjoyed the invite.
     Back in the plane by 9:15 AM to move it over to Boeing Field where we'll meet a few other prospects before heading home.


     A couple of people that Lynn had scheduled came by in the morning and then we opted for a lunch break before our 1 PM demo. Galvin’s was kind enough to lend us a car and give us directions for a quick bite. When we got back we repositioned the airplane over to another hangar for a meeting. This was another reminder of how well the KODIAK shows itself even before we take someone for a ride. They really liked the airplane. For the demo we jumped from Boeing over to the grass strip on Vashon Island and then did some slow flight handling on the way back. It was another good flight to put into the books.
     After the end of the flight it was time to grab some fuel and of all things, head home. It's noteworthy that the last time we bought gas was on Thursday in Ketchikan and we still had 90 gallons on board. The weather across the Cascades was a little iffy so we threw another 120 gallons on board and headed for Sandpoint. We were going to fly the northern route on the way home which takes us real close to Concrete, WA where they were having a small Fly-In today. It seemed worthy of a drop in so we landed, taxied by everyone, and took back off for home. We figure it will be one of those mysterious KODIAK sightings that have been occurring around the Northwest lately.
     We made it over the Cascades and once again we had a stress free trip back to Sandpoint with reasonable weather and good viz. Most people would think that is the end of the story but not for this crew. We had one more demo to do before putting the airplane to bed.
     Chris traveled from South Africa to come and see Quest and the KODIAK. Sandpoint has a huge car show in town this weekend so the closest room he could find was in Priest River, where I live. So I informed Chris we’d pick him up and take him with us to Sandpoint and then he could ride back home with me. This fit into everyone’s schedule easy enough. But even after that we aren’t done with this story; today was Chris’s birthday and he couldn’t have been more excited about the present he received with a ride in the KODIAK! One more landing and we pushed it in the hangar and started grabbing the essentials; everything else can wait ‘til Monday.
     Home by 7:30 PM, a little dinner, and then a story for you. I haven’t written anything about the return to my family because that won’t really happen until the morning. My wife has a 24hour nursing shift on Saturdays and the Grandparents have the kiddos so I came home to an empty house! My treasure will all be home by early morning and that is the only time that I feel we had any timing issues on this trip. I think that's pretty good.
     We have been gone for a total of 16 days. We put 36.2 hours on the KODIAK and we never missed a scheduled flight for weather, mechanicals, or anything else. We have truly been blessed.
     So, I think this will bring an end to this TripLOG. I really appreciate all the great comments about how you all have been following us. I'm also sure that we will have other adventures that we'll want to take you with us on. So keep checking in. Oshkosh is just around the corner; see you there!

Yours,
Kelly
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Thursday,May 19, 2005: Ketchikan, AK to Arlington, WA...Yesterday as we approached Juneau and Ketchikan I couldn’t help but notice how nice the weather was. We went direct, direct, and direct as we proceeded from one location to the next and it was truly delightful.

     This morning the Southeast Alaska I’ve heard of showed up. It was rainy and not so pretty, but as is typical of most places with bad weather, the locals were still flying. The same number of Beavers and Otters were still out making money. It was an impressive sight.
     Lynn had a few sales calls to make and a few people to meet, so I ran off to get familiar with the Flight Service Station. The flight service station is a busy place in Ketchikan. With all flights making calls and mandatory reports to the FS, it almost seems like a tower except they only give advisories and not clearances. They are well known and even better trusted. I ended up spending a lot of time with them as they gave me one of the best briefings I’ve ever had. They showed me where the weather was good and where it was starting to change. They also mentioned what I should be looking for as we proceeded down the coast and what our options were along the route if things got bad. It was easy to see that they deal with a lot of people running up and down the coast everyday on VFR and they know what goes on. In other words, it’s not their first day at the rodeo!
     We saw some rain and turbulence, but mostly we saw wind. A lot of the time we had 40 kts on the nose, but even with that we made it from Ketchikan to Arlington, Washington non-stop in 4.5hours. And it was 4.5 hours of lighthouses, fjords, and even a submarine. As wonderful as it was, it was even greater to have all of it behind us. No more worrying about the show, the trip, or the weather; I feel I will be able to get a real nights rest tonight. Tomorrow starts another day of cleaning the airplane and a few more demo flights before heading home. Yep, I said it, “Heading Home.” With a little left to do on the road, I think we will be home on Saturday night weather permitting. We then step into the mad dash that gets us to Oshkosh.
     The trip is coming to an end, but I can’t say thanks enough to those who have helped, shown hospitality, or just wished us well along the way.

Keep checking in,
Kelly
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Tuesday and Wednesday, May 17-18, 2005: Anchorage, AK to Ketchikan,AK...OK, I’m back! It’s obvious that I have missed a day. I hope you didn't miss me too much. Tuesday we had a photo shoot at the top end of Eklutna Lake just outside of Anchorage where they have a little strip in the mountains. We did quite a bit up there and then we ran around the corner to the Knik Glacier and flew the gorge before heading back to town.
     When we got back to Anchorage we loaded up all of our stuff and prepped the KODIAK for heading south. We were originally going to head out for Juneau on Wednesday morning, but we had an invite to a lodge that was on our way and would break the trip in half while allowing us to get to Juneau a couple of hours earlier. Paul and Donna Claus offered a night at Ultima Thule Outfitters and I just couldn't resist. I used to work on some of Paul’s airplanes when I lived in Anchorage. Their place is in the Wrangell Mountains and is a base for mountain climbers all summer long. Paul operates Super Cubs, a 185, and a Turbine Otter on wheel skis. We got to meet a bunch of climbers waiting for a break in the weather on the mountain so the Otter could get them in. After a fantastic dinner filled with the swapping of believable and unbelievable stories we headed off to our cabin for a restful night.

     It has been a good trip but we are glad to be heading home.
     Wednesday morning started with a walk around the KODIAK where we were greeted by the sled dogs. We grabbed a few chocolate chip cookies from grandma’s kitchen and we hit the trail. Lynn commented about how he felt so rested that the need for coffee this morning wasn’t apparent, unbelievable. And...off we went.
     Taking off towards Juneau we went right between Mt. Logan and St. Elias and then across the Bagley Icefield.The weather was picture perfect as we headed on down the coast. We landed at Juneau International at 9:30 AM.

     First things first, we had to clean the airplane. I think yesterday we killed every bug between Anchorage and Ultima Thule! The good news is we cleared it out for everyone else. As we cleaned the airplane we had a steady stream of onlookers who had heard we were coming and didn’t want to miss out.
     After Kilo-Quebec was clean and the stream of people slowed down we borrowed the courtesy car and headed to town for lunch. The cruise ships take over these small towns on the coast. They park them right in town and it is amazing how big these ships are; I suspect that when three of them are at dock they double the population,WOW!
     After lunch at the Alaskan Hotel we walked the streets for a while to get the flavor and the then back to the airport.We met with a few more people and then headed on down the coast for Ketchikan. We passed Petersburg, Wrangell, and numerous ships and barges before finding the narrows leading into Ketchikan. Ketchikan’s airport is on an island and you have to take a ferry ride to town which adds to the experience. Once again people were expecting us. We had sent out flyers prior to heading out for Alaska that spelled out what days we expected to be in these towns. We saw a bunch of these around Anchorage at all the FBO’s and operators that we visited and that wasn’t surprising. What caught us off guard is that when we started hitting the coastal towns we are seeing faxed copies of our flyer posted around. People are excited enough to pass these along by fax.That's fantastic! We really appreciate everyone’s help in getting the word spread.

     After crossing the water by ferry, we got a van ride to town where we stayed in a small hotel right across the street from the Cruise Ships. There was a new ship this morning that wasn’t there last night and it's easy to say to yourself, “Where’d that building come from?"
     I will be sure to write tonight from wherever we end up, and let you know how we are doing. We expect to be in Seattle on Friday and Saturday morning before heading home. Friday, you should expect us at the Arlington Airport and Saturday, you can look for us at Boeing Field. I hope you can come see us.
    
Thanks Paul and Donna,
Kelly
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Monday,May 16, 2005: Anchorage, AK...Well it’s the end of the day and it has been a full one. I have to take a breath to figure out all I need to put into this update. We started out early; Lynn took Dave, Ben, and I to the KODIAK early. Dave and Ben showed up yesterday afternoon to get still shots and video to document the airplane coming to Alaska. We started by heading down to Homer for an early Demo, but we were able to do a little photo work on the way down. Cutting across a ridge I spotted a mother Kodiak with three cubs and with a big reduction in power we were going around for another view. It was amazing!
     From there were continued on until we were flying over the Harding Ice Field where they were shooting as fast as they could. With very little delay we made it on into Homer to meet our next flight. This flight took us and the KODIAK across the Bay to Soldovia with a landing at Oyster Cove on the return trip.

     Then it was time for a little air work and back to Homer. After a good visit we headed back to Anchorage to meet up with the rest of the team and make our way across the Alaska Range.
     We'd been invited to Port Alsworth for a visit, a photo shoot, and dinner.

     Glen Alsworth,his family, and all of the people there were great hosts! The time was well spent with them and the meal was way better than the typical great Alaskan meal. Thank you! The photo shoot was fantastic with the wonderful varieties of blue waters in all the lakes. We were in and around the mountains and over numerous lakes looking for THE great shot. They were all great by most standards.
     After all of that my next priority was to get back to the hotel early to start trying to catch up on rest. Early on this trip still means 8 pm.Then Lynn and I start talking about tomorrow and it gets worse. We think we need to get packed up tonight so we can head out for the Ultima Thule Lodge tomorrow night. Paul Claus was kind enough to offer us a place to stay but it would also get us an hour and a half closer to our destination for Wednesday which is Juneau. Paul has been a friend for a while and he has one of those places that speak to Alaskans as well as tourists from around the world.
     With the trip going that direction let me warn you that the log entry for tomorrow will be delayed by at least a day. Ultima Thule is far enough into the wild that I won’t have internet access so it will have to be posted later. As we head on down the coast we may have issues with Internet elsewhere as well, but I am promising to keep this TripLOG going all the way. Please keep checking in, we won’t quit until we get back to Sandpoint.

Packing up,
Kelly
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Monday,May 9, 2005: Anchorage, Alaska...Today marked the official start of Quest's meetings with customers. It was a great day for meeting people; I think you would refer to it as a “Chamber of Commerce Day.” It was really warm; I didn’t even bring a coat out today.
     We were scheduled to meet with 3 different groups, but that ended up just being the start of the day. We are in a highly visible area and it's hard not to be interested when there is a constant crowd of people around the KODIAK. We seemed to have four or more people at it all day long. The FAA came out in full force to checkout the machine. From the flight side to the maintenance side KODIAK seemed to bring a smile to all of their faces. There are too many names to remember but I do want to thank Spencer for giving me some good Pat Carty stories.
     It is great to see all the people come out. We had people fly in from Homer to see the KODIAK and others who drug their motorcycles out to come and see. One guy, who winters in San Diego, even said he came up early to make sure he could see the KODIAK at the show. WOW, thanks John!
     When Lynn and I finally called it a day at 8:00 PM we agreed there were 2 problems from the days events. First, we were both hoarse from talking. Second, we were both hungry since we hadn’t taken a break all day. It was good to get back to the hotel tonight and kick back a bit before starting allover again in the morning. I did have one upsetting moment from today;I got back to the room without taking a single picture to share with you. But when I checked my e-mail my good friend Don DeVoe bailed me out by sending me the winner from our flight yesterday. I hope you enjoy! Thanks Don!
     While I have been typing I had a surprise at my room; three guys from Washington had driven all the way up, seen the airplane, and chased me down at the hotel at 9:30 at night. This airplane has really got the crowd stirring.
     To all of you that I couldn’t mention,Thanks for coming out! We hope to see you this weekend!

Stay tuned,
Kelly