What do sandy beaches, picturesque islands, quaint shops, asphalt, aeronautical charts and VORs have in common?  On July 15, 2005, Rog and I flew to Door County for the day.  We landed at 4 airports:  SUE (Cherryland/Sturgeon Bay), 3D2 (Ephraim-Fish Creek), and 2P2 (Washington Island), and finally returned to 0C8 (Cushing Field).  This was my first official “long trip” in N67557 as a pilot’s wife.  It took us about 2 hours and 45 minutes to reach Sturgeon Bay, our first destination.

We left Cushing at 6:10 AM.  Visibility was about 5 miles due to abundant humidity and haze.  I was the designated navigator; my first real attempt at reading aeronautical charts.  Soon I was observing towers, railroads and rivers that corresponded to the chart.  Winding rivers looked like snakes writhing on the ground. I haven’t yet mastered how to read VORs from the chart.  We bypassed Milwaukee's and Waukesha’s airspace, and flew towards the lakeshore.  We saw an incredibly large golf course, about 5 miles worth, along the lakeshore.  We cruised between 2800 and 3400 feet, always on the lookout for emergency landing sites.  As we approached Sturgeon Bay, visibility improved remarkably.

We landed on runway 10 at Sturgeon Bay.  Hot temperatures + asphalt + a gusty thermal over the runway led to an interesting landing.  However, the door handle on my side was still latched when we finally touched down.  Sturgeon Bay had several Learjets on the ground fueling and preparing for departure, so we rubbed elbows with some of the bigger guys.  After a quick stretch, we decided to fly up to Washington Island, working our way back to Sturgeon Bay later on.

The scenery became more breathtaking as we flew towards the end of the peninsula.  Numerous islands were scattered about, as if someone had tossed them randomly in the lake.  The air temperature cooled considerably as we gained altitude for our 6 mile trek across the bay to Washington Island.  We raced the local ferry across the bay – we won by a long shot!  As we landed on grass runway 14, we could see half a dozen planes on the ground in anticipation of the annual Washington Island campout/ fish boil slated for July 16.  Off by 1 day!  This is an annual event (the 3^rd Saturday in July) which we hope to take advantage of in 2006.  This is the only time camping is permitted on the premises.  The FBO manager mentioned that they now have real flush toilets.  I know all the women out there are cheering!  Now if they only had showers... 

The airport had a courtesy van, which was pretty hard to miss considering “EAA Courtesy Van” was painted in large letters on the side of the van.  We drove off looking for adventure, which wasn’t hard to find.  We stopped for lunch, and Rog didn’t lock the courtesy van, so I asked him if he thought it was safe to leave it unlocked.  Rog thought that it wasn’t likely that anyone would steal a 1973 Dodge window van with “EAA Courtesy Van” painted in giant letters on the side, from a church parking lot on a 4 mile square island served by a ferry.  The van was right where we had left it when we returned from lunch. 

Schoolhouse Beach, only about a mile from the airport, looked very inviting.  The water in the cove was crystal clear blue, and cool on a July afternoon.  If only we had brought our suits.  The thought of soggy, wet denim in an airplane didn’t sound very appealing though.  We tooled around some more before we returned to the airfield and departed for Ephraim.  It was a bit spooky flying over large bodies of water, but Rog planned glide distances and altitudes for each crossing.

The flight back across the bay was a little different than our first crossing.  As we cleared the pattern from Washington Island, the air became quite turbulent.  Imagine dancing the tango with an airplane – lots of dips and twirls.  Well, maybe not twirls.  I told Rog if he heard any heavy breathing in his headset, that it was my coping mechanism to avoid going for the Ziploc bags in the glove compartment.  It worked for me!

Ephraim airport came into view and we landed on asphalt runway 14.  As we entered the small office, the FBO manager commented that he already knew we were not locals.  How did he know?  I know he couldn’t have seen the IL sticker on the plane from the office.  When Rog radioed he pronounced it as Ephraim, with a short e.  Locally, Ephraim is pronounced with a long e, so pilots take note!  After tanking up one of the guys in the office offered to take us into town.  He claimed it wasn’t a bad walk, probably only about 2 miles.  We took him up on the offer for a ride into town with the understanding we’d hoof it back on foot.  The village itself was nestled in another cove, complete with sandy beaches and plenty of expensive looking yachts on the water.  There was a neat ice cream shop by the bay.  The “2” mile walk turned out to be closer to a 3 mile hike uphill in hot sun, but we finally made it back in about 45 minutes.  By then the hot airplane felt really good and we smelled almost as good as the airplane felt.  We took off, with Rog announcing Ephraim with a short e, but he quickly caught himself and followed on with the “local” pronunciation.

Once back at Sturgeon Bay we opted for a taxi ride into town, since it would have been about a 4 mile walk.  We strolled through the business section, while one of us poked around in the shops.  Different artists have decorated sturgeons in the downtown area, much like the Chicago cows that showed up in the loop a few years back.  There were sturgeons with frogs frolicking on them, a ballerina sturgeon complete with a tutu, a P51 sturgeon, and a sturgeon constructed out of jelly beans.  We stood on the drawbridge and watched as it rose to let all those expensive two-dimensional airplanes through to the harbor.  There were several freighters and ore boats docked nearby.    Our taxi picked us up and then it was time to make the trek home.

We made the return trip about 15 minutes faster, courtesy of a tailwind.  As we approached Lake Holiday, I was able to pick out Cushing Field.  That’s progress, considering that most of the time I haven’t been able to find it.  Perhaps I’m absorbing some pilot skills through osmosis.  It was a lot of scenery and experience for a day trip, more than you could cover in a car.  Our next big destination is Mackinac Island.  Who knows, maybe by then Rog will be flying right seat!

Update – March 2006

It’s been almost a year since I wrote about our trip to Door County.  Since then, I am proud to say, I consider myself a veteran co-pilot.  I have learned a lot since that first trip.  My stomach has accustomed itself to the pitching and rolling, although sometimes my brain hasn’t quite reached the same limits, and Rog on occasion will hear a yelp (not a scream!) in his headset.  I’m getting better.  I know how to read most of the instruments and I’m becoming familiar with the lingo…carb heat, 30 degrees flaps, 60 on the glide, maintain a 31 degree heading and the ever popular “hold this heading and altitude!”

We did indeed fly to Mackinac Island in early fall 2005 … a wonderful, overnight trip without kids.  Flying has shown me a whole different perspective from the air.  Just recently on a return trip from Poplar Grove near dusk, we were able to take in 2 sunsets thanks to climbing to 5500 ft. after watching the sun first set at 2300 ft. 

We have many more adventures planned – the sky’s the limit.  I am now hooked on aviation!