Preparations...

Due to Aaron's new job (and his lack of availability to get vacation time this summer) we will not be going to Arlington this year... We are kind of bummed about it, but OK with it too... We decided to postpone our vacation to go to the Reno Air Races in September instead.

But, in the mean time, we are hankering to go camping with the plane. The problem? Most of the camping sites that you can fly to are unworthy of being graced with the presence of our Apache 235 (read: we are not awesome enough to be the Super-Cub that can easily fly in/out of those locations). Luckily, we learned about a fly-in at Atlin, BC, just over the ice-field from us! It takes like 45 minutes to fly there! Which means, that we can fly there for about $250 instead of the $2,000+ that it costs us in fuel to fly to Arlington and back.

Did you notice that I said BC? As in British Columbia? As in Canada? Yup, we will be camping in Canada this weekend. Glad I got my passport last year!

We had to do quite a bit of preliminary preparations to go. We are bringing the dogs with us, so that is adding extra challenges. We used to take our old dog camping in Idaho, but neither Lijha or Noni have been camping before. This ought to be fun.

We picked up the necessary documents for the dogs. There was some conflicting information available on the internet. Some websites stated we just needed vaccination records and others stated we needed health certificates that had been certified by the USDA... After a couple of phone calls to customs on both sides of the border, we were told that current rabies certificates will suffice, as long as they clearly identify the dogs by their colors, size, etc. Sweet!

Another thing that we have to contend with is the EAPIS requirements to fly in/out of the US. Aaron set up an account with customs (that I forgot about) last year when he flew with a couple of other pilots ferrying two airplanes to Alaska. Aaron got our EAPIS stuff done and we have our authorization emails already... Check that off the list!

All we have left is to gather our camping gear that is spread between the hanger and the garage and get it prepped and ready to go. Oh yeah, and we need to do some grocery shopping to accommodate my dietary restrictions. We leave after I get off work on Friday!

Wow....

Just wow.... It has been a REALLY long time since I posted anything... I blame school and Aaron, in that order... (School first, all other free time is spent with Aaron, now that he is home every day)...

So, since February, we (finally) bought bedroom furniture. Aaron had to fix the headboard to make it stronger (so we didn't break it while sitting up against it). This is what happens when you buy the "cheap" furniture rather than the 3-times-as-expensive furniture also available at the same store. But, $20 bucks at Home Depot will fix that right up for you :)

We also bought a new car. I FINALLY got rid of my crappy Ford Focus (nothing personal against the car - it was a great car that never let us down - but I really hate Fords... "Fords SUCK" was a constant phrase in my house growing up - but I digress). The driving force behind getting a new car was that Lijha kept hitting her head on the ceiling of the car. We test drove a bunch of cross-over vehicles (Subaru, Dodge, Jeep - mostly to get the 4x4 capabilities for the winters here) and didn't like any of them. We knew we did not want a full-sized SUV (WAY TOO HIGH MPG). On a whim, we test drove a mini-van AND LOVED IT.... So, now, I am the proud owner of a 2010 Chrysler Town & Country (oh, yeah, and Aaron is too)...

Now that Aaron is back home, we do stuff together on Saturdays (our one day off together). Recently, we were able to take a trip up to the Herbert Glacier by helicopter.

Jen & Aaron on the Glacier :)

Deep pool that we landed next too :)

Not a very good picture of Jen, but proof that I was there

Our ride to the top!

Scenic!