Having made a
of my skills test yesterday my spirits were at a low ebb. Little did I know as I was packing my cases early on Friday morning that my enthusiasm and mood would soon be fully restored to their former high.
I did feel a bit queasy after rather too much alcohol the night before, but I had not been ill as I seemed to have developed an iron constitution over the last 3 weeks. I’m sure that the Big Az Bubba Twins Chili Cheese Dogs mentioned in an earlier post were part of this process. So a couple anti-acid tablets and loads of water seemed to settle things down. Having got the bags more or less sorted I went out to the back of the hotel to cycle to NAC for the last time. I really had enjoyed the cycling in Naples and as I subsequently found out I lost 7 pounds in weight as well as getting some muscle tone and improving my cv system. So I was in reflective mood on this last ride to the airschool. On arrival I saw Richard, Nikki and some of my fellow students. It is easy to make friends in this learning environment and so I was sad to be going. I checked in my bike with Richard and then he asked me if I had my headset with me. I didn’t. A spare was located and I was soon checking over a C172 for a consolation flight with Richard. Bending over to take the fuel samples from under the nose area of N953AC soon reminded me that I was not in the best of health. After Richard had doubled checked everything he invited me to take the left hand seat and said where would I like to fly to. I thought that Marco Island and Cape Romano sounded good so a few minutes later I taxied out to runway 23 and took off. I flew south along the coastline. The interior of the C172R is a big improvement over the 152. It is roomy, comfortable and there is no carb heat to worry about. Being a heavier aircraft it also seemed more stable in the air although it was a lovely calm clear day. At Marco Island I descended to 500ft and Richard took control so I could get some photos of the area. This is a selection :-
Cape Romano
The sky wars house on Cape Romano. It is sinking in the sand.
Did you know that the tidal range here is only a couple of feet. When I go to the Channel Islands in the summer, the tidal range is a massive 30 feet +. On some beaches the tide comes in at running pace.
Marco Island in the distance.
The start of “The Thousand Islands”
Me at the controls of the C172
Lots of new property being built in Naples. Apparently it has the highest number of golf courses per head of population of any-where in the world. Must be 10 golf courses per head by my estimation ? They make good emergency landing sites apparently.
This is Wing South very close to Naples. Here you can buy a property and have your own hanger and airstrip in the back yard.
Richard was making a short approach back onto 23.
Taxiing back to the NAC ramp
Thanks so much Richard and Nikki, I am now determined to complete my PPL training and looking forward to getting in the air again.
I asked about my account and this was printed off and some money refunded to my credit card. It really was time to say goodbye now and then Richard gave me a lift back to my hotel in his fifteen year old, but really nice BMW M5. A final farewell and when Richard had driven off I decided to call home.
If you recall I was visiting Dale last night and what I did not say was that he was going to drive me to Miami Airport (a 4 hour round trip for him). Why ? Because he liked my blog and my apparently unusual enthusiasm for flying at my age (61 this month). I was so grateful for this and it removed the possibility of me getting lost in Miami again.
I got my bags and checked out. In my view the Wellesley Inn had served my purpose very well. I sat on one of the benches at the front of the hotel. Feeling a bit hungry I used up some of my US coinage in the vending machines giving me one more opportunity to sample the weird selection of items contained within. I also got some bottled water to aid my re-hydration process.
I took a photo from the bench.
I tucked into my calorific snacks and the water and gave Dale a call. He said he would be round at midday as promised.
Once I had consumed my lunch and my stomach was obviously undecided on how to deal with it, a couple of “cool dudes” came out of the hotel. They were only in their late teens and were wearing incredibly baggy trousers. One had his bottom jaw entirely replaced with metal. It really did look like ‘Jaws’ in the Bond movie. To complete the picture he had a python around his neck. He started talking to me. Their speech implied that they were under the influence of something. I did feel a bit nervous but did not show it. In fact they had just been thrown out of the Wellesley for having a snake in the hotel and they were a bit upset. I have to say that they were very polite to me and asked if I wanted to touch the snake. I didn’t really as I did not want to build any further relationship with these two. The holiday rep. in Marjorca would have described them as ‘Colourful characters’. I did ask if I could take a picture and Jaws handed the snake to his friend. For some reason he did not want his picture taken and I did not enquire why. Here is his friend + 5 year old Burmese python. Jaws also had the pythons mother and she was 12 feet long but not visiting Naples today.
As the colourful characters walked off to a neighbouring hotel where their snake policy was less strict, Dale arrived. We got the bags loaded and were on our way. Dale said that we would take the Tamiami trail as this was likely to be less busy. This road is long and straight and goes right through the Everglades. It differs from the Interstate 75 in that it is not dual carriageway and it does not have wire fences to keep the alligators away. I found the drive much more enjoyable and the scenery and amount of variation of wildlife almost overwhelming. Photos do not do it justice.
There were many different types of birds in the trees at the side of the canal that accompanied the tarmac.
This is Dale at the wheel.
This is the smallest post office in the USA
and this is the sign describing it.
We passed through an Indian reservation and villages. The strange thing is that at the Miami end of the reservation there is a huge casino complex that is owned by the Indians.
I also saw a lot of places doing those airboat tours into the Everglades.
Eventually we left the countryside and arrived at the Miami outskirts. There was some traffic but apparently it would really build up later. At 2:15 pm we pulled up outside the airport terminal and by the entrance to where the BA desks are. The bags were unloaded and I said bye to Dale. I did press him to take the money that I would have spent on a hire car. Dale, many, many thanks and I hope the trip back to Naples was untroubled.
My flight home was on schedule and every seat on the 747-400 was taken in cattle class. I left Miami with the temperature in the high 20’s at 17:15 and arrived at Heathrow at 06:02 where the temperature was –5 on a sunny day.
My wife met me at T3 and after the 30 minute drive I was soon home and back to reality.
See my postscript in my next post.
I want to thank everyone who has helped to make my Naples adventure so enjoyable and unforgettable. I feel more confident in myself, and given the opportunity to return to Naples and my friends at NAC, I would not hesitate to go.
Peewit
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