Date Flight (KJAQ)

Taking advantage of our club membership, I decided to surprise Arianna with a surprise impromptu trip to our favorite hidden gem, Sutter Creek. Deep in the heart of Amador County, Sutter Creek, the jewel of the mother load, is a quick 5 minute drive from Westover Field. My grandparents had moved to Amador county after they retired, so I spent every summer up on the rivers and foothills. I introduced Ar to the area when I first brought her up to meet my grandmother Beverly. Arianna quickly fell in love with the cute little county, made all that  much “cuter” by the up and coming winery action. We loaded up the picnic goodies and made our way to Livermore, ready for a day of learning and adventure.

Part of the surprise was to give Ar some one on one ground school, as she had been mentioning that she was interested in getting her private pilot certificate. She had recently moved into a new role at Uber that involved aviation and as usual, she wanted to on the inside with all the pilots that worked for her. I taught her the standard walk around, we discussed the flight plan, and we were on out way!

I walked through the checklist procedures with Ar and she took a few extra photos, excited, not only to be flying with me, but to be heading to one of our favorite date spots.

One of the highlights of the day came in a pinch. We didn’t have a ride into town and there weren’t any Uber’s or cabs available. Arianna was quick to strike up a conversation with a local, and within the time it took me to use the restroom and grab a bottle of water from the airport office, she had secured us a ride.

We made it to in one piece and headed to our favorite breakfast and lunch spot, Buffalo Chips. It was a really fun experience to be in a town that usually took us 3 hours to drive to, for such a quick lunch and walk through of the local shops on main street. The first of many weekend airplane adventures!