Day 6 - Steubenville, OH to Hawley, PA
I had a great night’s sleep last night in the former dental clinic. I don’t know why, but I slept better than I had in several days. I woke and met Ron at 7 o’clock to go for a walk. It was cool and not too humid as he took me over to Franciscan University for a tour of the campus where he works.
After we got back, I sat and chatted with Andrea and several of the kids over a wide range of topics. It was good to just sit and catch up with somebody over the kitchen table. Finally, it was time to go to the airport and get out on the next stage of my trip.
I took off into a very hazy atmosphere with cumulus clouds dotting the sky. I initially orbit overhead the university and took a photo that I shared with Ron since it’s a view that I’m sure not too many people saying. After that, I then headed on my way, but because we were right next to the airspace overhead, Pittsburgh international airport, I had to deviate a ways to the south to stay clear of the airspace.
As I was coming around the far end of the Airspace, I saw Allegheny County Airport on the ground and decided to stop for a couple of minutes. I asked the folks in the tower where they wanted me to park and they said right there at the base of the tower. I thought this was fortunate because the tower and terminal building were very pretty art deco design.
I asked the folks in the tower where they wanted me to park and they said right there at the base of the tower. I thought this was fortunate because the tower and terminal building were very pretty art deco design.
When I came back a few minutes later, there was a rather pushy lady demanding to know who had authorized me to park there. I explained that I had just parked her. Tower told me and she got all huffy and said that I could only park there with prior permission and then I should’ve called her to get that permission. I politely pointed out that that was not posted anywhere, I followed the instructions of the appropriate authority. I had a feeling that this conversation was going to go sideways quickly.
Fortunately, while she was chatting with me, somebody came up, who obviously worked with her and started asking questions about my plane, and she became quite animated and interesting. She basically said that if I could show the plane to the people up in the tower, she would “forget about the whole matter” so I decided to do that. I took about 15 minutes to get tour of the plane and answer questions, then got back on my way.
I climbed up to 7500 feet and I headed eastbound. In case you wonder why I always seem to have certain altitudes that I climb to, that is because the regulations mandate what altitudes pilots fly based on what kind of a flight plan we are on and what direction we are heading. If I’m flying under visual flight rules, which means I stay out of the clouds and provide my own application and separation from other airplanes, then I will fly to odd altitudes +500 feet when I’m eastbound and even altitudes +500 feet when I’m westbound. If I am all on an instrument flight plan, it’s the same “east is odd rule” but without the 500 feet offset.
At 7500 feet, it was blissfully cool for the first time all week. As a matter of fact, it was so cool that I closed all the air vents on the airplane to remain comfortable. I was blessed with a strong 25 not tailwind in the clouds, climbed up to just my altitude. Eventually, I got into the vicinity of Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania, where I started to have to descend into my destination airport.
I arrived at Cherry Ridge airport, a rather small rural airport In the rolling hills of Pennsylvania that is surrounded by trees. While it was within safe limits for the airplane, it was still a challenge to get over the trees and be down on the runway and stopped in time.
As I came taxing up to the ramp area, Holly Isdale was standing there waiting for me. She is a Cornell classmate that I met on the second day of orientation. We were about as different as two students. She was incredibly preppy, whereas I was a slovenly California swimmer dude. Somehow, we hit it off and became friends saw each other on and off all throughout or at college education we’ve managed to stay in touch through the years meeting, either at a couple of our reunions, or via emails and Facebook.
We drove back to her house that is part of a 5000 acre resort that includes central clubhouse with restaurant, numerous lakes, hiking trails, and various shooting sports as well as other activities. Holly splits her time between here and New York City.
I met her dog, Shadow, who is a very sweet all black pup that Holly acquired at the start of the pandemic. The three of us went on about a 3 1/2 mile hike through the woods. At the far point of the hike, shadow got to go for a swim in the lake and was very happy while we were hiking as well as the rest of the evening Holly and I caught up on our families and careers. It’s amazing. How much can happen over 35 years.
After dinner at the clubhouse, we came back to her house and sat outside in the garden, chatting about more things in life. While we were at it, I got to see one of my favorite things about the eastern half of the United States: fireflies.
