Blogging in Formation: My Favorite Destination

#blogformation #blog #avgeek #aviation

It's Blogging in Formation Week—

Posts all week by your favorite Pilot-Bloggers!

This month's theme:

My Favorite Destination
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But First . . .

Ladies and Gentlemen, from the Flight Blog, by popular demand,

I'm proud to announce the upcoming world premier of my new video vlog, 

"Livin' the Dream: Another Day in the Life of an Airline Pilot"
Premiering February 6th at 0900 PHX time, right here on Capnaux.com!

Until then, please enjoy this 20 second trailer!

Trailer to Livin' the Dream! from Capnaux on Vimeo.

Direct link: http://vimeo.com/capnaux/dreamtrailer

And now . . .

My Favorite Destination

I know I don't get there often enough

But God knows I surely try

It's a magic kind of medicine

That no doctor could prescribe

Glacier Bay; on Final approach into JNU

But there's this one particular harbor

So far but yet so near
Where I see the days as they fade away
And finally disappear

"One Particular Harbour"—Jimmy Buffet

There's been a vision in my head all my adult life. A very vivid dream, I think. But it may very well be a real memory. A vague picture of a secret destination that I stumbled upon while flight training in a small college nearby.

To this day, I haven't figured it out.

Nestled in the rugged Chiricahua mountains in southeastern Arizona is a tiny dirt strip that only the most intrepid, determined pilots can find, let alone slip into.

You must take the base-to-final turn on faith that something's actually there. It takes all of your skills to safely land. But once you do, the camaraderie you find there is magical. You are part of a family.

There's picnic tables, fireplaces, a beautiful mountain stream, all covered by a lush canopy of Ponderosa pines. Indeed, the strip itself is surrounded by pines, all the more tough to spot and land.

_______________

Lakes below the mountains
Flow into the sea
Like oils applied to canvas
How they permeate through me
_______________

You roll to a stop, kill the engine, hop out. The warm sun greets you from a cloudless blue sky. Children laugh and play. Barbecue wafts on the dusty breeze. Somewhere, somebody plays a guitar. And of course, the sound of prop planes buzzing in and out fill the air like dozens of magical fairies.

It's the warmest, coziest, most peaceful feeling my mind can conjure.

And perhaps conjure it has. As I said, I can't be sure if it's a dream or an actual memory. It may even be mixed with my most cherished childhood memories, of backpacking with my family deep in the wilds of the Ansel Adams Wilderness, south of Yosemite.

Dad fishes at Frank Lake (named after my grandfather.)
The epicenter of my family's most cherished spot on earth.

_______________

And there's that one particular harbour
Sheltered from the wind
Where the children play on the shore each day
And all are safe within

_______________

In my travels, I've racked up many particular harbors: Juneau Alaska, St. Croix USVI, Interlaaken Switzerland, Telluride Colorado, and St. Barts, Antilles (rumored to be Jimmy Buffett's famed "Cheesburger in Paradise.")

Playin' hookie in Paradise!
(That's me on the left, with Cap'ns Brian & Kevin, & Randy.)
These 3 may know the answer to my riddle; I'm afraid to ask.

And perhaps my favorite, a sleepy little coastal fishing village tucked way back in the wilds of Venezula, with no paved roads, no phones, and not a soul who speaks English. My commuter pilot buddies and I went there for a weekend, and stayed for a week. (We hitchhiked 30 miles to the next town to call in sick. Crew scheduler Paula, God rest her soul, covered our a$$es for the price of a 5th of rum.)

_______________

I've seen enough to feel the world spin
Mixin' different oceans meetin' cousins
Listen to the drummers and the night sounds
Listen to the singers make the world go 'round

_______________

St. Barts. I could land my Aztec here in half the runway...
but I always rolled out to the end to check out
the nude beach!

But today, decades later, if I detect a slight dust in the air, I'm instantly transported back.

Back to that magical land, that One, True, Particular Harbor.

And I am  completely  at peace.

_______________
A most mysterious calling harbour

So far but yet so near

I can see the day when my hair's full gray

And finally disappear
_______________

In some ways, it doesn't matter whether my destination is real or imagined. Because it exists in my head, it's real. As real as the oatmeal I had for breakfast.

And the world is a better place, knowing it exists.

One Particular Harbor, by Jimmy Buffett
(accompanied by some random, Islandy pics)

Direct Link: http://youtu.be/f0fj-UevS0s

Have you found your particular harbor? Share it with us if you have. If not . . . find it! It's out there. Out there waiting for you to discover.

Remember, Cap'n Aux always sez:

The world is a Disneyland made just for you!

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                        POST-FLIGHT CHECKLIST

1.  JOIN THIS SITE....................VERIFY.............................JOINED
2.  COMMENT............................VERIFY.............................MADE
3.  FACEBOOK...........................VERIFY.............................LIKED
4.  TWITTER...............................VERIFY.............................TWEETED
5.  EMAIL....................................VERIFY.............................MAILED
6.  OTHER NETWORKS............VERIFY.............................SHARED 

      POST-FLIGHT CHECKLIST.......................COMPLETE!      

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Feb. 1: House of Rapp - Ron Rapp

Adventures of Cap’n Aux - Eric Auxier

Feb. 2: iFLYblog - Brent Owens
        Aviation Author - Mark L. Berry
Feb. 3 Smart Flight Training - Andrew Hartley
Feb. 4: Flight to Success - Karlene Petitt

And Introducing our new fighter pilot team!

Feb. 3 tallyone.com  - Rob Burgon

Feb. 4: project7alpha.com - Chip Shanle 

Karlene did a couple great bios on our fighter pilot-heroes. Check out the links, below!

• Chip Shanley @FlyTallyOne http://tinyurl.com/n6doc7n 
• Rob Burgon 5 years from desk jockey to F-22 Raptor jock! http://tinyurl.com/ml4tru7

Other Cap'n Aux Blogging in Formation Posts

• My New Year's Resolution—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2014/01/blogformation-my-new-years-resolution.html
• What I Want Under the Christmas Tree—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/12/blogformation-what-i-want-under.html
• Aviation History: Captain Grace Baloyo—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/11/blogformation-aviation-history.html
• My Most Instructional Moments—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/10/blogging-in-formationthere-i-wuz-my.html
• If I Had 1 Wish for Aviation—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/09/formation-blog-if-i-had-1-wish-for.html
• Stranger Than Fiction—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/08/blogformation-stranger-than-fiction.html
• The Future of U.S. Aviation—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/07/happy-4th-future-of-us-aviation.html
• My Most Memorable Flight—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/06/blogformation-my-most-memorable-flight.html
• How I Was Brought to Flying—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/05/blogging-in-formation.html

Related Cap'n Aux Vids & Vlogs:

• Vlog: Let's go for a (Simulated) Airplane Ride!—http://youtu.be/eYXLyGfg59o
• Video: The Flight Gathers, and Now My Watch Begins—http://youtu.be/jlvLD7s79p4
• Video: Zen & the Art of Landing—http://youtu.be/AOf6dfBB7ss
• Vid: 30 Years in the Life of an Airline Pilot—http://youtu.be/Zpeqfq0Iq7g

Related Cap'n Aux Posts:

• Cap'n Aux "There I Wuz!" Series:

1. http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/10/blogging-in-formationthere-i-wuz-my.html
2. http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2012/11/there-i-wuz-gone-with-hurricane.html
3. http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2012/10/there-i-wuz-childs-first-solo.html
4. http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/08/there-i-wuzcase-of-missing-notam.html
5. http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2012/09/there-i-wuz-grand-crisis-over-grand.html

• Stranger Than Fiction—http://capnaux.blogspot.com/2013/08/blogformation-stranger-than-fiction.html

Related Links:

• Wiki: Hypobaric Altitude Chamber—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypobaric_chamber
• Wiki: Hypoxia—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoxia
• Avweb: What pilots should know about Hypoxia—http://www.avweb.com/news/aeromed/181893-1.html?redirected=1
• Downloadable FAA Brochure: Hypoxia—http://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/pilotsafetybrochures/media/hypoxia.pdf
• FAA: Medical Facts for Pilots—http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim/aim0801.html

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LINED UP & WAITING
Departing February 6 @ 0900 PHX
Livin' the Dream: A Day in the Life of an Airline Pilot

By popular demand:
A new Vlog chronicling my day at the office!

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HOLDING SHORT
Departing February 13 @ 0900 PHX

The Best of Cap'n Aux, 2013—Voted by YOU!

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NOW BOARDING
Departing March 1

Blogging in Formation Week!
Posts all week by your favorite Pilot-Bloggers!

March's theme: Dealing with Passengers

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