Angel Flight

While it was great to get in some R&R and visit our friends, the real purpose for the stop in Discovery Bay was to connect with a pilot completing the first leg of an Angel Flight mission and then transport the passenger from Byron to Riverside.  Our Angel Flight passenger was a charismatic high school student who had just completed his junior year, on his way to visit his grandparents to be fitted for new leg braces.

He relished in the opportunity to show off recent prom pictures and also jumped at the chance to ride in the cockpit as Michael's co-pilot.

Details about our passenger are not able to be disclosed but I'd like to share with you that the amount of adversity he has faced both through his physical disability and the added pressures of coping with them as a teenager are cause for him to be anything but the joyful, optimistic, teen he is.  I left his presence inspired and grateful to have met him, and so proud of Michael and his business partner and company for donating time and resources to this cause.

Up, Up and Away!

I'm still completely annoyed over the fact that I got a ticket BUT I must say that online traffic school by Erase My Ticket Quicker was in fact true to its name.  It was fast and within an hour of taking my test yesterday morning at the UPS store down the street from my house, I got this notice in my email.

I passed with a 90% and knowing this before leaving for the weekend really helped me relax!  Michael is a recreational private pilot and volunteer for an organization called Angel Flight.  This weekend, he signed up for a mission to fly a critical care patient from Modesto to Riverside.  So, we thought it was a perfect excuse to leave a bit early to visit friends in Discovery Bay for a little wake boarding and R&R.

I'm still trying to learn what all the controls mean.  One of these days, I'll get it! 

The wind was really strong on our landing but Michael was completely in control and touched us down perfectly. It was a three hour flight so I made sure to bring a few snacks for the "road."   We ate the snacks before I realized that my camera was not packed away or I would have been snapping those too!  On the way, we munched on:

• Fuji apples
• Doctor Kracker Pumpkin Seed Cheddar Flatbreads
• Bora Bora bars
• Figs

I wanted to have healthy snacks so that when we landed we were not crazy hungry.  I also wanted to try to get in a workout and needed to make sure I had enough fuel in me to get through it.

After we landed and got to Discovery Bay, Derek and I took his two German Shepards for a four mile run which I needed.  I was looking forward to a good dinner and craving a dirty martini and the run let me enjoy them guilt free!