Best Father's Day Gift Ever!

A few weeks ago, Tanis and I took the family out to the annual Cardston Fly-In out at the Cardston Municipal Airport.  I had heard about the event and was curious what it was like, so we ventured out to investigate.  We were not disappointed.  Even though there were only about 4 or 5 pilots who had flown in their aircraft that morning, we got to watch three take-offs and an landing before leaving the airport.  All these aircraft were single engine planes with seating ranging from two to five.  Tanis cleverly approached a few of the pilots looking to set up a surprise Father's Day gift of a flight in a small plane.  One of the pilots was Shannon, student from CHS who had recently completed her pilot's license with the help of her father, Mr. Stewart Pollock, a retired captain for American Airlines and former member of the Canadian Air Force.

When the wet, rainy weather broke last weekend, Tanis got a call from the Pollocks to let her know they were flying their plane that afternoon.  She got me to go on a Sunday drive with her and some of the kids, and I knew something was up when we started driving towards the airport.  I was very surprised and excited to have a chance to fly in a small plane above Cardston, as that is something I have never done before.  I think the only other time I've flown in a small plane is with Aaron and Gina's dad, Hal, from Provo to Afton Wyoming.  Anyway, it was a perfect, sunny evening!  We flew out over Cardston and then north around the St. Mary's Reservoir and back.  Despite my expected tendency to get motion sickness (must be a Hardy gene), I thoroughly enjoyed the entire flight.  Below are some of the pictures I snapped while enroute.  It was fun to see Cardston from this perspective (if you're really good, you can see where our house is, as well as Jordan's old house, etc.)  I'll just add that at our altitude, about 1500ft above the ground, most bodies of water  at various angles of view appeared white or silver due to the reflection of the sunlight.  You can see the photos I took below.  One is of the backwaters at St. Mary's lake where Dad used to take us fishing for pike and walleye.  Tanis and I have taken our kids there a few times, and perhaps I'm drawn there by the great memories of family trips to the lake back when I was young.  Overall, it was a very thoughtful Father's Day gift, one I'll always remember, that's for sure!  If I can just figure out how to beat motion sickness, then perhaps I'll be flying myself above Cardston someday... or not!

Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers out there!