Airplane – Riveted

Kenny’s Cafe by the San Jose Airport

Laura Domela — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 17:22:32 +0000

We flew down to San Jose for some work stuff this morning and thanks to a killer tailwind we got here with plenty of time to spare. We thought we'd grab a quick lunch before our meeting, so I pulled up Yelp on my iPhone and searched nearby restaurants. We decided on Kenny's Cafe. It was close to the airport, the ratings were good (4.5 out of 5 stars average), and there were 65 reviews (soon to be 66).

Kenny's is about a mile from Atlantic Aviation and easy to miss. A "mom and pop joint/hole in the wall" description was accurate. We were a little on the early side of the lunch window and there were only two other customers seated when we walked in. We were greeted by the very enthusiatic and friendly Kenny, who welcomed us warmly as first time guests. The walls and ceiling are covered with photos of Kenny's very valued customers, and he is proud of the number of regulars he's collected in the two years he's been open.

We asked what was the best, and he came around in front of the counter to show us three photos of happy customers with their food (or in one case, their empty bowls). All three of us opted for the bibimbap, which Kenny said was one of their specialties.

SO DELICIOUS.

The bowl was filled with tons of fresh veggies around a small ball of rice in the middle, spicy pork (there are several other options…salmon, chicken, etc.), then topped with a fried egg dipped in spicy sauce. It was fantastic.

This is not the kind of place I'd ever choose to go to by looking at the menu first. For instance: bibimbap, BBQ burgers, Philly cheesesteaks, Hawaiian rice bowls, breakfast burritos…it's ALL OVER THE PLACE, right??

By the time we were finished with our lunch, the place was completely full with a solid line of customers still ordering, and a growing pile of take-out order boxes behind the counter waiting to be picked up. The guy next to us said Kenny's BBQ burger is the best he's ever had and his whole family comes here for it. Someone else on Yelp swears by Kenny's jalapeno breakfast burritos. Seems like there's something for everyone, but it's actually all good!

Kenny came over when we were half way through our bibimbap bowls and asked if we liked the food (OMG yes!), and then he took a photo of us (with his smartphone). We will definitely be back to see Kenny (and our photo, on the ceiling).

Oh yeah, and here's an iPhone photo from the plane of our tiny shadow down on the clouds:

My Mom Flew the Plane!

Laura Domela — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 02:26:41 +0000

We took off late this morning and flew the Cirrus to Kelso, WA to pick up my mom for a flight up to Orcas Island for lunch. My mom has been flying with us a couple times, but she's not so much of a flyer, normally. She's only been in the Cirrus once when we first got it, and before that she flew once with me in our previous plane (an Aerocommander Lark, kinda like a Cessna 172) after I got my pilot's license (because really, how could she not? I got a PILOT'S LICENSE!!!!!) I think the whole-plane parachute that comes with the Cirrus is a great feature for people who are bit scared about flying.

Anyway, look at this — (L to R) Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Hood, on the way to Kelso:

Here we are coming into the San Juan Islands:

Approaching the runway at Eastsound on Orcas Island:

Parked and ready to head to lunch:

There's a nice public path from the airport right to town:

We had lunch at the Madrona Bar & Grill. Right there. Right out there on that little top deck:

With this view:

All three of us ordered the halibut fish & chips and it was…well…it was fantastic. My mom is the one who originally told us about the Bandon Fish House fish & chips (our favorite, still) but we all agreed that the halibut fish & chips we had today were right up there in the top 5. Pretty cool!

After lunch we walked around Eastsound a bit, in and out of a few shops, checking out the bay, etc. We had such a nice day and the weather was just perfect!

Leaving the San Juans:

On the way home, after we took off from Eastsound, Kevin showed my mom how to use the stick and rudders to fly the plane, and she flew us all around the back side of Orcas Island and then pointed us toward home. Did you catch that??? SHE FLEW!!THE PLANE!! She was super smooth and seemed perfectly calm, and…kinda like she LIKED it! It was so cool. (You've come a long way, mom!!!) :)

Mount Rainier off the wing on the way home:

Traffic, high, no factor (and I was totally zoomed in, don't worry):

The Lewis & Clark Bridge, across the Columbia River, just before we landed back at Kelso to drop my mom off:

We had such a great day with my mom, and it was fun to fly over several of the spots where we'd recently spent time in the Airstream (Port Townsend, hi Kerri!, Hood Canal, Victoria…from a little bit further away).

Orcas Island with Tiffani and Deke

Laura Domela — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 00:55:17 +0000

Today we busted out the flying RV to go say goodbye (temporarily) to two of the coolest people we know. Tiffani and Deke are moving from Whidbey Island to North Carolina, and although we're happy for them, we're bummed for ourselves. We love these guys!

We flew up to Whidbey Island to pick them up and take them flying (and we got to see Kyle again, too! — Kyle stayed at our house for the several weeks we were in Italy, but we only got to see him for two days when we were home before he headed North.)

Taking off in Portland (this is what happens in photos when the prop is going around):

The flight up to Whidbey was incredible. We could see Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Jefferson all at the same time. Crazy!

Mt. Adams behind Mt. St. Helens, off the wing:

Flying into Oak Harbor. This runway is 3200 feet, but look how narrow it is…it's only 25ft wide (with a 1.6% downward slope the direction we were landing). It's there, right off the wing, running perpendicular to the shoreline (Tiffani took this photo when we came back, so I'm cheating and putting it out of order):

We were greeted enthusiastically at the Oak Harbor airport by Tiffani and Deke and Kyle. See the three of 'em there? (This photo was taken after the waving and jumping up and down had stopped):

"Take Tiffani and Deke flying" was still on our "Things To Do with Tiffani and Deke" list and we're SO happy we got to do this before they left! It was a blast!

We headed up to Orcas Island and parked in the grass area for visitors at the Eastsound airport. Kevin and Deke talking planes:

We walked into town and decided on a spot called The Madrona Bar & Grill (no idea how the food was going to be, but they were waterfront, and that's what mattered). Turns out the food was quite good!

We took a quick self-timer group photo (nice reflection in the wing!) before taking off for a bit of sightseeing around the San Juan Islands:

Tiffani and Deke each got some front seat time with a bit of flying. I think they dug it. (I'm sure of it, actually.) Eastsound Airport on Orcas, right off the wing:

We had such an amazing day with wonderful friends, good weather, beautiful scenery, and not enough time. We dropped Tiff and Deke off back on Whidbey Island and flew home, talking about our next across-the-country Airstream trip that will include North Carolina. We DO still have that whole upper right corner of the United States to explore!

Surface Vibrations: Coffee

Laura Domela — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 23:48:43 +0000

This is pretty nerdy, but whatever…I love these. This is Kevin's coffee during our flight to Venice a few weeks ago. I think I took five of these videos. Here are my two favorites:

We Flew to Friday Harbor with our Bike Fridays

Laura Domela — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 01:02:40 +0000

On Saturday we decided to see if the new bikes would fit nicely in the Cirrus, so we planned a flight up to Friday Harbor for lunch and a ride. This photo on takeoff is blurry because my camera focused on a dead bug on the windshield instead of the runway, but I still kinda like it:

Here are the bikes in their bags tucked nicely in the back of the plane (that's the luggage door open, on the right, but I took this photo before we took off, don't worry):

The flight up to the San Juans is always such a gorgeous flight and the weather on Saturday could not have been better.

Mt. Rainier off the wing:

The Olympic range:

Approaching Friday Harbor:

Right over the airport:

We got the bikes out and unfolded them and off we went into town for some lunch.

We have a favorite spot we like for lunch in Friday Harbor called Downriggers. It's right on the water with a nice big outdoor deck where you can watch the ferry and the fishing boats and sailboats go in and out of the marina. As we got down to the waterfront, um, well, there was nothing but an empty lot surrounded by chain link fence where Downriggers used to be:

Unfortunately, in August of 2013 the building burned down (electrical fire, accident, 2:30 in the morning) and we hadn't heard. (Even though as I searched the blog for the last time we were there, which was July 2013, I noticed a comment from our friend Eric telling us of such news…somehow I missed that I guess!)

Anyway, they are rebuilding and will be back! But as a backup, we ate at the place across the street called Cask & Schooner and it was great! Not the same view as Downriggers, but the burger and the fish & chips we shared were both very good.

After we'd had lunch, we browsed a map of the island on my iPhone and planned a rough route across the island and around one end, and then headed out. Although this is not a particularly mountainous island (like, say Orcas Island is), this was still a hilly, hilly ride! Gorgeous, but hilly. It mostly looked like this (but with more hills). I wasn't going to stop on a hill to take a photo because, well, starting back up on a hill is hard.

Horses running (there were also deer, and alpacas):

We rode about 20 miles with about 1250 feet of climbing overall (Tuscany, here we come!) It was basically this ride, with a couple more miles in while we were bopping from the airport to town and around:

My top speed was about 35mph. Bet you can tell where that was:

The flight home ending up being a sunset flight and was just beautiful! Islands at dusk:

Olympics at sunset:

In the early days when I was in art school, when we first started coming to the San Juan Islands, we used to drive up to Anacortes after work and school (about a 4 hour drive without traffic), our backpacks loaded up with our tent, candle lantern, sleeping bag, Thermarests (and our titanium spork, of course). We'd sleep in the back of our old Ford Explorer overnight at the nearby campground, and catch an early ferry over to Orcas Island in the morning (about an hour ferry ride). From there we'd head over to Doe Bay Resort (about a half hour drive) and get a campsite (Lone Pine was our favorite). We used to say two days of vacation there felt like a week of vacation anywhere else…it was so relaxing (hot tub, sauna, cafe, great views, generally chill atmosphere). But man it was an ordeal to get up there. Those were wonderful times, and these are wonderful times as well. Now, we can be on Orcas or San Juan in just over an hour, and we can take our bikes! We just need to find the Lone Pine equivalent in a little hotel or B&B and we're set. Or maybe we'll just dust off our backpacking gear and strap it to the bikes!

Silver RV in the Sky

Laura Domela — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 20:26:04 +0000

Here's one more shot from the plane on our way home from Disneyland last week:

Looks kinda fake, doesn't it? It was not. Gorgeous flight home!

We Flew Ourselves to Disneyland

Laura Domela — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 00:44:30 +0000

We left Portland this morning and headed south in the Cirrus. Destination: Disneyland. I know, it's August. Whatever. We're taking our daughter and her daughter (who's 5!) for her first trip to Disneyland before she starts kindergarten. I grew up in Seal Beach, so we went ALL THE TIME and it's, well, you know…a very well-known theme park to me. It'll be so much fun to watch a little kid experience it all for the first time.

We landed for gas and leg stretching in Davis at the Yolo County Airport. We saw several rounds of skydivers landing while we were there:

Flight was about 4 hours total into Fullerton. Here we are over downtown Los Angeles:

I tried to find my old loft in these photos but it's a little too dense.

Catalina Island off the wing:

L.A. Harbor:

Belmont Shore. I used to live right there:

It was pretty cool that ATC routed us right over Seal Beach — the town where I grew up:

Look at those deserted freeways!! Must be Sunday:

We found a great little Mexican place near our hotel called Tatiana's Tamales (found on Yelp) and had some tamales, mole, tacos, etc. Fantastic!! Tomorrow morning we're hittin' the park. Wish us luck!

A Day Trip in the Other Silver RV

Laura Domela — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 01:32:26 +0000

Today we took some other Airstreamers –our friends Lisa and George– on an adventure without our Airstreams. We flew the Cirrus up to Friday Harbor for some lunch and some exploring and it was a fabulous day. When we took off from Portland it was a bit cloudy still (scheduled to burn off by the time we got to the San Juan Islands) and we flew part of the time on top:

Air Traffic Control gave us a little present and routed us RIGHT OVER the edge of the Olympics!!

Just as we were nearing the airport at Friday Harbor, we could see the end of the cloud bank, but we had to do an instrument approach down through the cloud layer, popping out at 800 ft. Cool! We parked the plane and walked into town and grabbed some late lunch at Downriggers on the waterfront (fish tacos are great, and they've got a great outside seating area right at the marina).

Lisa and George and I (none for the pilot, awwww) all decided to try a cocktail called the Hot Mess (basically a margarita with cilantro, jalapeno, a little watermelon, with a salt and pepper rim, and we seriously need to learn how to make these…they were great!)

The view from lunch (not pictured: ferries, float planes, and the smell of fresh sea air):

We walked out onto the docks and checked out the aquarium:

There was a gorgeous schooner docked and we talked a bit to one of the crew who was lounging on deck. The boat is the Spike Australia and they do day sails, evening sails (for 39/per person!!), and longer multi-day charters as well. We went on board and checked it all out and I think we'll be doing this sometime!

After we walked around town a bit we headed back to the airport (just at the edge of town, super quick walk) and took off for home. We did a detour loop around Mount St. Helens and it was fabulous.

Mount St. Helens with airplane wing:

St. Helens with Mt. Rainier in the background:

St. Helens, Rainier, airplane tail:

Pretty great, huh?

Landing (our little shadow's almost caught up with us!!):

A great day with great friends!

Video: Seaplane Trip to the Dry Tortugas

Laura Domela — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 12:18:32 +0000

Kevin made a video of our seaplane trip yesterday to the Dry Tortugas! Woohoo!

Seaplanes and Shipwrecks

Laura Domela — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 10:04:12 +0000

All night last night I dreamt this:

Kinda like when you played Asteroids on the Atari before you went to bed and then all you could dream about was moving through space turning and shooting at things. Only, not quite like that at all.

(Posted by Laura)