Angels Above Us

Sunday, July 3, 2022

I have been very proud of myself when it comes to driving Kevin, especially when we tow the Jeep.  My first time driving solo (everyone else asleep) was on I-80 starting in a Scranton Walmart parking lot.  However, given the length of our vehicle, you would most certainly understand that there is always a bit of a learning curve that comes with getting behind the wheel for the very first time after a long hiatus.  While it is true that I did not do the bulk of the driving yesterday, I did drive the graveyard shift – 9:00 – 11:30.  It’s a lonely time to drive when the rest of the camper crew retreats to their bunks.  No one riding shotgun, no one to help you read the GPS or talk to you.  It’s dark and there are a lot of semi-trailers.  Driving    Also, when you’re in Canada, your cellular phone plan has talk and text, but charges you a very high fee for every megabyte consumed.  Translation: if you don’t have any music downloaded, you have to listen to local radio which is a crapshoot.

I didn’t have enough hands to white-knuckle the steering wheel and find acceptable music on local radio, so I suffered through about 40 minutes of 70s soft rock before I felt comfortable enough to search for a better station.  When driving a nine-ton vehicle at night, with the rest of the passengers sleeping, it is very important to be able to sing along. It is also important to have a snack.  

Here are some of the interesting things I observed during my night drive:

• Wineries everywhere: this area is full of wineries – it’s like an Ontario wine trail
• Best name of a winery: Frisky Beaver Winery, off Highway 403 heading toward London, Ontario – I would buy wine from here just to be able to keep the bottle
• Translating kilometers into miles and minutes will make your head spin
• An exit along Highway 401 called Oil Heritage Road – off that exit there is a town called Petrolia (hehe)

We were aiming to stop around 11:40 PM at a Walmart close to the American border in Sarnia, Ontario, but I spied a truck rest area around seven miles before Sarnia and decided it looked safe for the night.  Walmarts are never a sure thing – some do not allow campers and you can never be sure until you pull in, no matter what the online community says.  I parked Kevin in a pull through spot between two tractor trailers.  Rob leveled the camper, put out the slide, and I put up the privacy curtain.  Then, we slept.

After a mere five hours of sleep, we crossed back into the U.S.A. at 6:33.AM.  Hello, Michigan!   Border patrol required all the kids to show their sleepy faces before they could crawl back into bed.

Interestingly, we passed through the border alongside an Eric Church tractor trailer – maybe carrying stage equipment for concerts?  He’s not playing in Michigan until July 22nd, so who knows?

Our goal for the day was to head to the Cherry Festival in Traverse City, where Rob’s high school friend, Brian, lives and flies helicopter tours in the TC area.  More specifically, the Blue Angels were scheduled to headline the airshow and we thought it might be fun to catch them in action.  So, after fueling up and cleaning the bug carnage off Kevin’s windshield and mirrors, we started down I-75 towards Flint/Detroit we drove, listening to Rob’s Michigan playlist: KISS and Kid Rock, clearly the best musicians Michigan has to offer (I know, Motown.  Don’t get me started.)

The route to Traverse City was varied.  We passed Flint, which was gray, industrial, and run down.  We passed signs for Frankenmuth, Michigan’s Little Bavaria, with the famous Bonner’s Christmas store!  (Thanks for the recommendation, Roberta!)  We have already decided we’ll stop there for some gnome hunting on the return trip.  Fields of corn, and mostly flat expanses laid out before us.  Full disclosure, I did close my eyes for nearly an hour. (I had an unfortunate run-in with a mascara wand earlier this week and have a nasty scratch high up inside my eyelid – yikes.)

Approaching Traverse City was like rolling into an affluent beach town with charming chalet-like hotels, neat bungalow, upscale condos, and enormous beachfront homes..  Lake Michigan is an expanse of blue green with no end in sight.  I would have believed it was the ocean if I didn’t know any better.  Jet-skis, pontoon boats, kayaks, paddle-board and any other water sport you could imagine were advertised on myriad businesses lining the main drag leading into the city.  I’ll admit it – I was completely surprised.  This was definitely not what I expected.  It’s beautiful and I can’t wait to explore it more.

We headed straight for Brian’s work, a company called 45 North Aviation located off the Airport Access Road.  We rolled on out of the RV in yesterday’s clothes (at this point, there was nothing I wanted more than a shower and a fresh change of clothes), were escorted right into the luxury lounge of the tour office, and introduced to Mike, Brian’s boss and owner of 45 North Aviation.  No makeup, lopsided ponytail, a wonky eye – I felt GROSS.  And I surely didn’t expect what happened next.  None of us did.

Mike offered to let Brian take us up in his Robinson helicopter for a quick tour of downtown Traverse City.  We would take two short trips to accommodate all of us.  Awesome!  We walked out to the hanger and begin gawking at the collection of aircraft – some are privately owned and some belong to Mike, including a MiG-17, a Soviet subsonic fighter plane that he would be flying in today’s airshow.  All of a sudden, Mike turned on his heel and said, “I have a better idea.”  We hopped on two golf carts and headed to a hanger a couple of hundred yards away.  “How about we all go together in this?” he says… and gestures to a Bell 407 GXP 7 seater helicopter.

Holy mackerel. I’m pretty sure my one good eye was as big as a saucer.  Rob whispered, “If I woke up with my head stapled to the carpet, I wouldn’t be more surprised.”  Best day ever.

I have never ridden in a helicopter before and I am sure this ride has spoiled me for life.  We buckled in, put on our headphones and mics, and Mike took us up.  The ride was smooth and he flew low over the lake, allowing us to get a great view of the Cherry Festival, carnival, downtown area, and all the watercraft that had assembled for the upcoming airshow, including the large ship with the flag which signaled the center of the show.

From our viewpoint, Lake Michigan was crystal clear and parts of it were as turquoise as the Carribean sea.  The Top Gun theme softly played in our ears as we snapped pictures and took videos.  About halfway through the 20-minute trip, I just stopped and absorbed the view.  Sometimes putting down the camera and just being in the moment is all you need.  This was a once in a lifetime opportunity in a multimillion dollar aircraft and I intended to soak it in.

After a quick freshening up, we raced downtown to catch the airshow.  The sky was clear – the perfect day to watch amazing flying with incredible aircraft – and we plopped down in the sand with thousands of other tourists.  With around ten different “acts” in the show, it lasted three hours!  This was my first airshow experience, and man, was it… LOUD!

*NOTE – Yes, this would be much more interesting with video. Know that we are at a campground with exactly one bar of service at all times… I’ll add video when I’m back home with a strong signal! Pictures do not do this event justice.

We watched Mike fly the MiG, lighting up his afterburners.

The Coast Guard performed a demonstration “rescue” with a diver penciling into the water to “rescue” a swimmer and hauling them up onto the hovering Coast Guard chopper.

Probably the most unbelievable aircraft was the Harrier plane – it can take off vertically and hover.  

There were a few stunt-planes that barrell-rolled, flat spun, and looped all around the skies.  So impressive.

We loved seeing the F-16 and the A-10, although Kai was disappointed they didn’t fire any blanks.  That sure would have shaken up the folks watching the show from their kayaks.

The Blue Angels wrapped up the show for 45-minutes of incredible precision flying. In case you you don’t know, the Blue Angels are a U.S. Navy demonstration squadron of pilots who fly F/A -18 Super Hornets (this is what they fly in Top Gun: Maverick. So cool..) There are six pilots: four that fly together, primarily in their signature diamond formation, and two solos, a lead and an opposing, that do a lot of criss-crossing. At times, the planes in the diamond formation are separated by mere inches. They move with such incredible precision, it’s like they are held together with wires. The solos fly belly to belly, wingtip to wingtip, or with one plane inverted. We all sat slack-jawed as the planes roared overhead, making one incredible pass after another.

The big finale was the Delta formation which joined the diamond formation with the two solos.  Chills.  I mean, this was just breathtaking.

I’ve never been a big fan of all things aviation (except for Top Gun… I do love that movie.), but today was an all around A+ day!  What a spectacularly thrilling start to our trip!  

I’m not sure how we are going to top today.  However, I am ready for a little rest and relaxation – maybe a little floating on the lake, a little paddleboarding, a leisurely morning coffee and a walk around the beautiful campgrounds.  I’m happy to report that we are finally at Lelanau Pines Campground, where we will stay until Friday.  

We have set up camp, are relaxing, making a fire and getting ready to grill some cheeseburgers.  And wine,  There will be wine.

Pics to come tomorrow!

Cheers to you all!