Phoenix, AZ to Santa Monica, CA

Posted on April 11, 2009 by Colin Summers

Saturday, April 11

It was great to wake up and know that we would be home that day. I looked at the weather and showed Dexter that if we had stayed in Albuquerque we would still be stuck there, because there was currently a thunderstorm circling the town. He said he knew Albuquerque was a place to get stuck.

I filed an IFR flight plan and studied the freezing levels, ceilings, and radar maps for our route of flight. It was drizzling off and on. The radar showed arms of rain that were sweeping through the Phoenix area. We had a quick breakfast downstairs at the hotel and headed to the airport. Continue reading →

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St. Louis, MO to Phoenix, AZ

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Colin Summers

Friday, April 10

My entries are all on days that we flew. If there were entries for days we just got in the plane, I would have one for yesterday, too. But maybe Rudy’s entry will help explain:

I forgot to mention one thing about our cross country flight: while in St. Louis, we got a flat tire that was going take all night to fix. So mom and I hopped on American Airlines and flew to L.A. I felt pretty guilty about bailing on Dad and Dexter, but I just couldn’t stand another night on the road.

Continue reading →

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Morristown, NJ to St.Louis, MO

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Colin Summers

Wednesday, April 8

Our original plan, of visiting Boston for a few nights and having Nell and Rudy leave from there, was de-railed since visiting Nell’s dad was one of the main reasons to head north and we got to see him in New York. We looked at the schedule for the remainder of Rudy’s spring break and decided that it would be most fun if we all flew back together. (This meant giving up the adventure of Dexter and me flying back with Alex, which was a little disappointing.) Continue reading →

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Flying from Museum to Museum by Rudy Summers

Posted on April 7, 2009 by Colin Summers

One goal of our trip was to make it to Washington, DC, where we have been to a lot of museums. Here are some of the things I learned while visiting them:

The first thing I learned was when I was at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. If you ever get the time, I would suggest going there. On the first floor, they have the Pulitzer Prize winning photos since 1940. Some of them give you the brutish, raw feeling of humanity while others inspire you and give you hope for mankind. Continue reading →

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Arrival and Recollections by Dexter Summers

Posted on April 5, 2009 by Colin Summers

When we left from Califonia we headed toward Tuscon, Arizona where I had a chocolate chip pancake for brunch. Then, we went to Marfa, Texas where we we stayed at the Thunderbird Hotel. For dinner I had a bacon burger at a Mexican-American restaurant. We also watched a lot of TV in Marfa (DVDs on the MacBook).  Continue reading →

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Washington, DC to Morristown, NJ

Posted on April 4, 2009 by Colin Summers

Saturday, April 4

Sadly, Nell got news of a death in her extended family, someone the boys had actually met the previous summer out in the Hamptons. After some discussion we decided to alter our itinerary and head up to New York City so that she could attend the service and the boys could see their cousin. Continue reading →

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Looking Back from DC

Posted on April 3, 2009 by Colin Summers

This is a recap of all of what has happened to us on this cross country trip so far.

First thing Monday morning, we hopped in the plane and flew to Tucson, Arizona. The food was delicious, I had a waffle with chocolate chips, whip cream, and apples soaked in a variety of sugary substances that made them taste like they had come out of an apple pie. The tastes blended perfectly well together and gave me one of the best breakfasts I have had in a while. After we had finished eating, we took a short walk around the FBO and saw a huge propeller stuck in the ground. I took a picture standing in front of it. Then, we were off.

Continue reading →

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Charlotte, NC to Washington DC

Posted on April 2, 2009 by Colin Summers

Thursday, April 2

This was one of our shortest days of flying, since we had pushed a little the night before. We hung around the hotel in the morning, so that Nell could send her script off to the producers, and then made our way to the airport. There was weather around Charlotte and hanging over DC, so I had filed an instrument flight plan. Continue reading →

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New Orleans, LA to Charlotte, NC

Posted on April 1, 2009 by Colin Summers

Wednesday, April 1

Turning North: KNEW – KPDK – KCLT

Turning North: KNEW – KPDK – KCLT

We wanted to have dinner in Atlanta with Nell’s great-uncle Abbott. There was some weather over New Orleans when we woke up, but we waited it out (I went to the aquarium with the boys while Nell finished the re-write on her script). On the way to the airport I called the FBO and asked them to bring up the plane and make sure it was fueled. They called back in a few minutes and said, “Where did you park it?” I said they had parked it. “What time did you come in?” I glanced at my phone. I had called the Lafayette branch of the FBO instead of the New Orleans branch. I apologized and called the right one, and imagined the huge relief of the line crew when they realized they HADN’T lost some guy’s plane. Continue reading →

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Marfa, TX to New Orleans, LA

Posted on March 31, 2009 by Colin Summers

Tuesday, March 31

Continuing East, staying South: KMRF – 50R – KNEW

Continuing East, staying South: KMRF – 50R – KNEW

Onward to “the other L A.” Nell worked on her script while I took the boys to a delicious breakfast at Squeeze Marfa. Who thought you were going to get delicious fresh-squeezed orange juice in a tiny town in the Texas hill country? Marfa is, in some sense, an invention of Donald Judd. We walked the length of his concrete box installation nearby, one of my favorite parts of our trip. Just the family of four, an unending landscape, and art bigger than any of us. The concrete boxes speak so much to an architect, to the idea of an artist reaching for permanence. (Judd is dead and the workmen are diligently trying to keep the boxes looking like they were just set down on the floor of the desert yesterday.) Continue reading →

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