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Dancing the Sky
Miss Chief is my pride and joy, a beautiful 1999 A36 Bonanza. I bought her in June, 1999, in a state of temporary insanity. What ever possessed me to trade in my 1979 F33A Bonanza that was paid for and take on the burden of monthly payments in the range of my mortgage is beyond my understanding. But that is all irrelevant now and I'm delighted to be the owner of such a wonderful airplane. Miss Chief is used mostly for pleasure flights and I've flown her to such places as the Bahamas, the Caymans, California, Montana, Colorado, well, you get the picture.
What would flying be for me without the 99's! This is an international organization of women pilots but my friends are located in Virginia. If I'm not flying with Kenny then these are the people in my plane. Each is a licensed pilot in her own right who is able to do the same as I do or more. Each year we plan and execute many wonderful adventures to various places in the US and beyond. But not all our fun comes from flying; parties are another source of entertainment. These photos are just a small sample of the adventures we have all experienced.
Current Events 2007 It's only January and I'm already getting ready for a busy flying season. My plane is due to have it's annual inspection completed by the end of February and then it's back in the air! In April the JuMaRoMA ladies plan to travel to the sunny Bahamas, our 11th year to make this trip. The weekend after we return is the annual wine tasting festival in Seneca Lake, NY. June is a short weekend on Ocracoke Island with the 99's. The real cross country flying starts in July when Kenny and I are planning a trip to the west. About the end of August we're planning to spend a week at a dude ranch in Colorado or Wyoming. Then in the fall the McGlassons are going to travel with us to the southwest. Current Events 2005
Current Events 2004 We can't wait for the flying season which begins for us in April!
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Miss
Chief
Old
Dominion Chapter 99's
June
27 - The 2005 flying season is in full swing and I've already flown Miss
Chief to the Bahamas, Ashville, Ocracoke Island and Hot Springs,
Arkansas. Future major trips will include Clear Creek Guest Ranch
in July, Lane Guest Ranch in August, and Santa Fe early October.
I'm also planning a few 3 day weekend excursions as time allows.
April
7 - At last, I'm back in the air!! After a 6 month layoff due to
my reluctance to fly in the clouds when the temp is below freezing I've
gotten current in Miss Chief again. My friend, Peggy, a flight
instructor, took a chance on her life and went flying with me to help
brush the cobwebs off my rusty aviation skills. And after 3
arduous hours of take-offs, steep turns, approaches and landings I've
been certified as safe to transport friends and relatives in my chariot.
Who wants to be my first victim, I mean passenger?
April
25 - We kicked off the 2004 flying season with our annual trip to
upstate New York to attend the Seneca Lake Vineyards tour. The old
gang of Marge, Leo, RJ, Dan, Kenny and I have been making this
pilgrimage on a regular basis for the past 5 years and we can
confidently assure all wine aficionados that New York state grows some
of the best grapes and bottles some of the best spirits in the US.
On Friday we took off from Manassas airport in good VFR weather only to
run into clouds and rain about half way to Elmira. But by late
afternoon the clouds had parted and we enjoyed a great day on Saturday
as we toured from one vineyard to another of the many establishments
that encircle Seneca Lake. Each vineyard provided sips of their
production line products along with a unique cheese dish prepared using
Hell-of-a-good Cheese. We are proud to report that we set a
personal record and visited an astonishing 16 wineries in only 7 hours!
It'll be hard to top this record next year but I'm sure we'll give it
our best shot. Sunday was departure day and unfortunately the morn
dawned dismal with cold rain and threats of thunderstorms. We
lifted off extra early, at 7:45AM, and were safely back home by 10:30AM,
just in time for a brunch buffet at Blue Water Grill.
May
10 - Wow, what a vacation we had this year! The weather in the
Bahamas was picture perfect, to match the beautiful turquoise water on
the many pristine beaches. For the eighth year in a row Marge,
Marti, RJ and I flew to West Palm Beach where we passed the night before
setting out for Great Guana Cay on Thursday, April 29th. The
highlight of this tiny island was a wonderful egg and cheese sandwich on
Bahamian bread. McDonald's egg McMuffin tastes like cardboard
after you've eaten one of these little gems. After two days on
Guana Cay we departed by water taxi for the larger island of Abaco where
we stayed at the Abaco Beach Resort and Marina. Here we did some
light shopping, purchasing matching ankle bracelets and of course, the
obligatory tee shirts. We all agreed that the special part of this
island was the discovery of the Sandbar, a small restaurant and bar on
Cherokee Sound serving lunches, beer and wine. But the food here
was only incidental, the true beauty was the beach and it's many
examples of marine life, most of them still alive. ( I loved the
Sandbar but it was the resident feral cat at the resort that really made
my stay in Abaco special. He met me at my room door, spent the
night curled up on my bed, and left the next morning like a true
gentleman. I only hope future guests in room 209 appreciate this
little guy as much as I did.) Our final 3 days in the Bahamas were
at the Cape Santa Maria Resort on Long Island. Right in front of
our rooms stretched 4 miles of white sandy beach abutting crystal clear
aqua water that Atlantic coast residents could only dream of.
Snorkling here was outstanding and this is how we wrapped up our
vacation. On Thursday, May 6, we returned to the US and were back
in Virginia on Friday, just in time for our traditional parting dinner
at the Philadelphia Tavern in Manassas. I can't wait for next
year!
June
1 - Wow, another great holiday in Mrs. Chief! On Friday, May
28, two planes departed Manassas airport for an uneventful flight to
Niagara Falls, NY, and then a short trip by car across the border to our
final destination in Canada. Aboard were the Smiths, McGlassons
and Bergmans, who spent a fabulous 3 days in Niagara-on-the-Lake
sampling wines and incredible cuisine in this little artist town.
Although the weather was spectacular (after a rough 2 weeks of near 90F
in Virginia), for me the highlight of the trip was the food. I ate
some of the best vegetarian meals I've ever tasted at the local
restaurants. Unfortunately, the weather turned ugly for our return
trip and we were forced to drive a grueling 10 hours to get our wage
earners back to their jobs by Tuesday. Oh well, that is history
now and we're all eagerly anticipating next Memorial Day.
June
15 - Planes are amazing! We just returned from a 3 day weekend in
Ocracoke, NC where the weather was perfect and the company was even
better. On Friday, June 11, Peggy and Rick Kohnke and daughter
Beth, RJ and Dan McGlasson, Marti Tidmore and friend Sid, and Kenny and
I flew to this tiny Outer Banks get-a-way to enjoy sun, sand, shopping
and some really good food. It has become tradition for our group
to drink through the alphabet of beers at Howard's Pub and as usual we
gave it our all, but without Marge and Leo I think we fell a little
short of out goal this year. Oh well, next June 2005 is only 12
short months away and we'll have another chance for success. The
trip back to Virginia on Sunday was relaxing and some of us celebrated
our "happy landings" at the Philadelphia Tavern in Manassas.
October
11 - Well I have to admit, I'm rather late in updating the info on this
page. On August 26 Kenny and I, along with friends RJ and Dan,
began our annual trek to Estes Park in Colorado. Our final
destination was the Lane Guest Ranch, where the four of us planned to
ride horses, fish, hike and drink lots of wine and other spirits in the
company of new friends. The trip out west was fraught with bad
weather and our two planes arrived in Loveland, CO on Sunday, September
29, just in time for our first day as guests of the ranch. But we
DID get there and had a wonderful week enjoying the pleasures of western
life. While RJ and I pretended we were cowgirls, the men
fantasized they were fly fishermen in rural Montana (I think they
imagined a life as Brad Pitt in "A River Runs Through It").
We did meet several new friends who have promised to keep in touch via
email and RJ and I plan to be pro-active and set up a ladies
vacation with 
November
21 - The flying season is about over for 2004 but my lady 
