Da Plane! Da Plane!

A few weeks ago, the sweetie and I were in need of a little change in scenery, so we hopped in the car and just drove. We do this quite often, we usually pick a direction to head and just go until we’re ready to go home. On this day, we headed south. South of here, there are several small towns less than an hour from our house. Each town has it’s own unique vibe, and even have their own communities within the larger community. During our adventure we came across a type of community I’d never seen before.

An airpark, more specifically the Mid Valley Airpark. I know there are several of these across the country, but this is the first one I’ve come across. If you don’t know what an air park is think of a place where a private pilot can have his or her airplane living in a hangar next door. Oh, and instead of a garage, you’d have a hanger o some circumstances both a garage and a hanger.  Airparks, are generally privately owned and operated. They have their own private run way, all street signs are set low as to not catch on any airplane wings. And as the sign states above, airplanes have the right of way. So, if you see an airplane headed your way you’d better move!

This idea intrigued me, I am not a pilot. My father ,however, was a private pilot. In fact, he owned a small plane, in this plane we’d go for leisurely ride in the sky. Every Sunday evening after church, and after we’d rested up from the bumpy bus ride through the back roads of the reservation (I’ll have to do a post on this later to elaborate), he’d take me up in the plane for a little Sunday fly. We’d fly over our house, over my school (I was in elementary school at the time), and wherever the wind blew us, quite literally. It was a fun time, and I loved every minute of it.  Here’s a picture of his plane before he had to sell it:

When I was just a wee one, my dad would stop by the office to visit and make sure there weren’t any planes taking off or landing. If it was OK, we’d ride our bikes up and down the run way/landing strip (it’s a very small airport). Who else can say they rode a bike down a runway?

Enough sentimental memories, here’s a  shot of one of those short street signs I was talking about. I had to take a picture of this sign in particular, it’s my mom’s name!

In the background you can see a plane parked in the driveway next to a white van. How cool is that!

And of course, the obligatory plane pictures. Actually, I really love planes, I’ve spent countless hours just sitting outside the airport to watch them land and take off.  If you had known my father, you would understand my fascination with flight. Being his daughter was quite uplifting 😉

And here’s a poor quality shot of their private runway:

If you are interested in air parks please visit this site for more detailed information.

And if you’re interested in the airpark mentioned above please visit their site. They have homes listed, and include the coordinates to find the park by air!

Thank you for choosing the yellow casa, please be careful when opening overhead compartments as items have shifted. Have a great day!! Mmm bye!