My first time flying

In Boonville we have a subdivision where many of the houses that face the small "airport" (a runway surrounded by grass) have airplane hangers, and people still keep planes as recreation and a way to travel in and out of a valley with only VERY windy roads. At a recent winegrowers meeting, I had mentioned to one of the locals with a plane that I would love to see Boonville from the air someday. On Sunday, I got the chance!

Local Larry Lombard took me up in his two-seater, restored army plane -- it was one of the coolest things I've ever gotten a chance to do, made even better by the fact that he let me fly the plane for almost 1/2 of the time we were in the air (no landing or taking off, of course). It was fantastic!

We had a rare, warm and clear day for January and we took a spin out to the ocean to see if we could spot some whales. And, sure enough, we saw two! We did a loop down along the coast, around a monastary perched high on the hills above the ocean, then back over our ranch along Mtn. View Rd., and over our vineyard. It was so fascinating to see everything from above -- our vineyard looks even more meticulously laid out than on the ground. And even though I knew this had happened, it was amazing to see all the vineyards stretching behind Boonville - ours being just one of a handlful here.