A Date With My Father

Last Tuesday my father and I went out on a date.  I wish I could do this more often with him but he’s in New York and we’re in Ohio – for the moment.  I thought it was fun to pull a boat up dockside, climb out and go have lunch (a favorite thing to do in Wolfboro, NH) but pulling up to Rick’s Runway Cafe (in Orange County, NY) in a plane was way cooler! 

This is a photo of Rick’s Runway Cafe from my seat in the plane.  I’m looking out from underneath the wing as we’re pulling up.  What a beautiful day it was.  The restaurant was a small ranch style building.  Nothing fancy but it’s clean, neat and the food was fine.

Here’s a photo of Captain Bill at the controls.  Out the left front window is the Hudson River below.

Pre-flight instruction included a "cheat sheet" that said "in case of emergency try to move the pilot out of the way."  (Yeh right!   We had about as much room as we would have sitting side by side in a refridgerator.)  Instructions told you what frequency to switch to to call in the emergency.  Meanwhile do this to maintain altitude and do that to maintain direction…keep an eye on these gauges…oh, and DON’T PANIC! (Photo is that of the control panel with all it’s gauges, buttons and knobs.)

 
Our flight is over and next we had to gas up.  (In this photo, my father, dressed in blue jeans and a white polo shirt, is standing in the doorway of the building – shack – looking out at me)

Back on the tarmac, Dad tied the plane down just in time.  The heavens opened up and it poured and thundered for the next 45 minutes.  He was stuck sitting in the plane and I had made it to the Honda.  (photo: orange and white Cessna…you can see my father climbing out after the rain finally stopped.)

Thanks for a wonderful day Dad.  Oh, and HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

Love always,

Connie
(Pxx to you Dad!)

P.S.  Mom, wish you would have joined us!  🙂

Author: stevekuusisto

Poet, Essayist, Blogger, Journalist, Memoirist, Disability Rights Advocate, Public Speaker, Professor, Syracuse University View all posts by stevekuusisto