It all started a few weeks ago when Courtney and I were talking about burgers, and she mentioned she had enough buns to make some for me and Khali. “Should I ask Steven and Josh how long it will take to fly us there?” I joked.

[Josh is Steven’s flight instructor. Steven doesn’t have his pilot’s license (certificate) yet, so he has to fly with an instructor. We love spending time with Josh, so that’s great! And, Steven will be ready for his first solo flight soon!]

Then we asked Josh if he wanted to go to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where Courtney and David live, and after telling him a bit about it, he was like “sure, why not?” I love that he’s up for anything!

And just like that, our joke became an actual trip! But instead of bringing Khali with, I brought Steven, Josh, and Josh’s friend Chase.

We left Saturday morning just after 9:00 am and got back around 9:30 pm Sunday night. The flight was about three hours and twenty minutes on the way there and back. I have NEVER looked forward to the journey part of getting somewhere as much as on this trip. Flying in a small plane (we were in a Cessna 182) is such a delight. I brought my Kindle in case I got bored, but it was completely unnecessary. I was content looking out the window and BSing with everyone in the plane. Seriously, what a delight. So much better than dreading a 10-hour drive back. And looking forward to getting to fly home in a small plane definitely helps with the sadness of the trip being over.

Plane we flew

Steven and I spent a lot of Thursday and Friday doing the flight plan for this trip – drawing a line on sectional maps, picking out visual checkpoints, calculating distance between them, then figuring out the heading, weather, timing, fuel burn, etc. It took forever, but because I “helped,” I understood the flight plan (and assisted with it just a little bit in the plane on the way there).

When we got to the airport Saturday Steven reviewed the flight plan with Josh and compared it to the one Josh made in ForeFlight. After they discussed that and weather and blah blah blah, Steven did preflight and we packed up and headed out.

It was our first time meeting Josh’s friend Chase. We had invited Lily but she had plans so Josh asked Chase to come. Chase is super nice, and we enjoyed getting to know him and spending time with him. He was on the quiet side and I wondered if we’d be too loud and obnoxious (Courtney and I get that way together, oops) but he told me he had a great time and really liked everyone. Yay!

It was such a wonderful weekend. We had a good mix of activities and hanging out! I’ll put all the activities in another post though – or this will be way way too long. Let’s focus on the two flights.

Leaving UGN

Our flight out was super hazy, but we still saw some cool things – like Steven’s office building (ha),

and the Mississippi River,

and Table Rock Lake:

I was worried about having to go pee on a 3+ hour flight, so I worked out (walked) that morning and didn’t drink much water, and was fine. We had picked an airport to land at for fuel and bathrooms just after the mid point, just in case.

During the flight we talked about things to do in Eureka Springs (it was both Josh and Chase’s first time going to Arkansas), how we know Courtney and David (she is an OG blogging friend from 2005!), and brainstormed ideas for a bachelor party Josh is throwing next July (that was a fun convo, ha).

And Steven completed his instrument/hours foggle time during the first flight (foggles are glasses that limit your vision and force you to use instruments).

As we got closer to Carroll County Airport, Josh mentioned playing his favorite game of “find the airport.” None of us had been there before, and we weren’t sure if it was before or behind some hills we saw (was it behind? I don’t even recall.). We obviously found it and it was beautiful flying in – the runway is surrounded by lush greenery. I loved it. And was so excited to see Courtney outside waving and cheering!

You can see the runway toward the left side of the windshield

Steven picked up a courtesy car from the FBO (Fixed Base Operator) in case we didn’t all want to jam into the back of Courtney and David’s truck, but we ended up doing that and just drove the courtesy car to and from the airport, which was about 12 minutes from Courtney and David’s house. It’s pretty cool you can borrow those cars. Makes trips like this easier if you don’t know someone or want to spend a lot to rent a car (the courtesy cars are often free, Steven spent $20 on this one).

On the way back on Sunday, Courtney and David came to watch the preflight process and watch us take off.

They added oil and gas and did the rest of the checklist.

And I wanted to take a bunch of group photos, as I do:

  

Our goal was to take off at 6:00 and my photos delayed us a bit and we were off around 6:13. I didn’t mention how hot it was there – in the 90s both days, and it was hot up in the plane until we got up in the air (then it felt fine)!

My new headphones worked great! My head didn’t hurt at all and I listened to music on the way there and back.

It was hazy again, and we saw a beautiful sunset.

We talked about our favorite parts and meals of the trip, and had lots of airplane related and what we were seeing talk.

We decided to take a slight detour on the way home and fly by the Gateway Arch! It’s close to Class Bravo Airspace (but not in it) so Steven had to talk to the tower and get permission to fly by, and descend to the allowed altitude (Steven said the two flights were great practice for talking to towers because we kept switching between so many).

I think we all expected the arch to be more lit up but it was super cool to fly by (open photo in new tab to see it larger).

We had a slight tailwind on the way home and the detour would have taken longer if we didn’t have it, so yay for that (we pay for the plane by the hour and it was *yikes* level expensive).

It was fun to fly at night and see the stars. We did nighttime flying so Steven could complete those hours – now he just has to do 6 more nighttime landings (before he gets his license/certificate – the only thing required to solo is Josh thinking he is safe and a short written test).

And it was fun seeing the sprawling Chicagoland suburbs from that altitude, and all the jets going in and out of ORD. Basically I have my face plastered to the window the whole time.

Tristate Highway by our house

Where we landed

When we got back we put the plane in the hanger, unloaded, Steven maybe did some other plane-y stuff, and we paid for the hours and drove home.

We got home around 10:15.

I think it’s pretty obvious but I absolutely love traveling like this. It’s expensive and a treat and not something we can do all the time but, yeah, I just absolutely freaking love it and am so excited for our future adventures. Hopefully more with Josh and Lily and I would love to see Chase again too!

If you made it this far, congratulations! I will write another long post about what we got up to in Eureka Springs for tomorrow!