Lizard in Hangers

Well, one hanger, actually. Karen's airplane's hanger to be exact.

Mikey got to hang out with the boys (Sidney and Jim), while the girls were otherwise busy: Karen was flying her mom-in-law down to San Francisco, over the Golden Gate, and back over the coast, while Polly and I were....knitting.

It was a nice way to spend Memorial Day, at the little airport that has the big air museum, Pacific Coast Air Museum. The planes below aren't in the Museum's area at STS; these are parked near a company that works on some of these old beauties:

It has always amazed me how planes are stashed on aircraft carriers... I saw my first 'folding' plane here at the PCAM airshow a couple of years ago.

Mike got to explore Howard's go-kart and the rest of the hanger.

At one point, it looked like he was sampling something ooky on the ground or living under this low metal shelve that runs around the inside walls of the hanger about 5 inches off the ground. "Don't eat the bugs," I admonished Mike. "You don't know where they've been."

And then Karen, Polly and I went flying while Mike stayed behind guarding the hanger.

Just kidding!

Well, sorta. We moved my truck into the hanger and Mike guarded the truck.

Oh, just side note: When Karen and Jean came back from their flight, Karen pulled up outside of the hanger. Mike watched the plane's approach with something akin to astonishment. Once Karen pulled to a stop, Mike moved closer to me, so he was in between me and the plane...and then he bobbed his head at the giant...bird. I wanted to tell him "Tastes like chicken!" but I restrained myself.

Instead of heading south, Karen gave Polly an aerial view of the west side of town, and then we headed west to the ocean, going feet wet between Tomales Bay and Bodega Bay. We flew north until we were off the Mendocino coast, then headed inland again. I had no idea there was a Buddhist monastery/retreat center up there. Here is one of the photos I shot. We respected their airspace and did not fly over, something many other pilots fail to do, apparently...

I've mentioned our favorite winery a couple of times here and in my Eggs In Hats blog. Well, in case you're coming out to the beautiful Napa-Sonoma-Mendocino wine country this summer, here's Teldeschi Winery:

If you'd like to see other photos from the flight, check out my Girls Go Flying Memorial Day 2006 photo album.