Another flight, another arrival in the rain –I can’t believe it! We took off this morning around 10:30am and headed Northwest from Montreal to Huntsville, Ontario, Canada and the Deerhurst Resort. The Resort has its own private airstrip, which is super-convenient for us. I had called a few weeks ago to get permission to land there. I called again them shortly after takeoff to advise them of our ETA and was alarmed when the operator told me the airport was closed and I couldn’t land here. I asked to speak to the manager and was told she was on the other line, so I said I would call back. I was kind of freaked out for the next 10-15 minutes and started poring over the charts trying to figure out the next closest airport. However, my anxiety was for nothing, because when I called back, she said that the airport was open and we were welcome to land.
I was happy to have that settled, but was also keeping an eye on the weather in the Deerhurst area. There were quite a few thunderstorms in the area and some of them looked big & nasty on the radar. The kind you really do not want to fly into! I am so glad that we have all the state-of-the-art weather avoidance tools in our airplane (on-board radar, NEXRAD data link, lightning detection). I can’t tell you how many flights would have to cancel without it. I could see the storms clearly on my screens and was able to find a nice gap in between cells to fly through with minimal fuss. We had to fly through some light rain on the way in, but it was pretty smooth.
Finally, I had the airport in sight and got set up for landing. I was concentrating very intently as there were many factors that could work against us if I were careless: short runway, wet pavement, downhill slope, trees on approach end, and finally, rising terrain to the North. I was careful to set the plane down firmly on the first few yards of the runway and got on the brakes right away –plenty of room!
The resort shuttle van was waiting for us as we taxied into the ramp and shutdown. The driver, Nick, was great! He is a long time resort employee and a jack-of-all trades. He helped us get loaded up, drove us to the reception area, made sure we got checked in, and then showed us where the restaurant was so we could get some lunch while he put the bags in our room. Then, he picked us up after lunch and took us there. AWESOME!
The rooms are not fancy, but they are decent. Roomy, clean, and we are right on the lake on the first floor. We can walk right out our patio door and down to the water. There is a big lawn with chairs all over for sunning and a ton of toys in the water for the kids to climb on and jump off. They call it the “splash zone”.
As soon as we got in the room, Brandon, Cameron & I changed into our swimsuits and went in. Justin was enraged that he had to wear a life jacket (mandatory for everyone in the splash zone) and had a total meltdown. He soon fell asleep on the bed to get some much needed rest.
The water was very chilly at first, but we got used to it quickly. I swam and played with the kids for about and hour and then got out, showered, changed, and sat on the porch to watch. Brandon & Cameron played for another hour at least while Justin kept right on napping. Finally, at 6pm, we got them out, woke up Justin, and got everybody cleaned up for dinner.
We have no plans for tomorrow –just rest & relax. The weather is supposed to be great: mid-70’s and sunny.
I was happy to have that settled, but was also keeping an eye on the weather in the Deerhurst area. There were quite a few thunderstorms in the area and some of them looked big & nasty on the radar. The kind you really do not want to fly into! I am so glad that we have all the state-of-the-art weather avoidance tools in our airplane (on-board radar, NEXRAD data link, lightning detection). I can’t tell you how many flights would have to cancel without it. I could see the storms clearly on my screens and was able to find a nice gap in between cells to fly through with minimal fuss. We had to fly through some light rain on the way in, but it was pretty smooth.
Finally, I had the airport in sight and got set up for landing. I was concentrating very intently as there were many factors that could work against us if I were careless: short runway, wet pavement, downhill slope, trees on approach end, and finally, rising terrain to the North. I was careful to set the plane down firmly on the first few yards of the runway and got on the brakes right away –plenty of room!
The resort shuttle van was waiting for us as we taxied into the ramp and shutdown. The driver, Nick, was great! He is a long time resort employee and a jack-of-all trades. He helped us get loaded up, drove us to the reception area, made sure we got checked in, and then showed us where the restaurant was so we could get some lunch while he put the bags in our room. Then, he picked us up after lunch and took us there. AWESOME!
The rooms are not fancy, but they are decent. Roomy, clean, and we are right on the lake on the first floor. We can walk right out our patio door and down to the water. There is a big lawn with chairs all over for sunning and a ton of toys in the water for the kids to climb on and jump off. They call it the “splash zone”.
As soon as we got in the room, Brandon, Cameron & I changed into our swimsuits and went in. Justin was enraged that he had to wear a life jacket (mandatory for everyone in the splash zone) and had a total meltdown. He soon fell asleep on the bed to get some much needed rest.
The water was very chilly at first, but we got used to it quickly. I swam and played with the kids for about and hour and then got out, showered, changed, and sat on the porch to watch. Brandon & Cameron played for another hour at least while Justin kept right on napping. Finally, at 6pm, we got them out, woke up Justin, and got everybody cleaned up for dinner.
We have no plans for tomorrow –just rest & relax. The weather is supposed to be great: mid-70’s and sunny.
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