By: Dean 

During the night before our early morning departure, a squall line passed through Watertown. Winds near the city limit were clocked at 100 miles an hour and hailstones were hitting our hotel windows like bullets. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Carol Ann so frightened. The storm passed rapidly and when morning broke it was clear and bright so we were able to depart.

We were now traveling as a flight of 2 planes. Dean’s plane has great range with the extra tanks but he stopped with CA and me at Casper, WY where we had breakfast and got fuel. Casper was very windy and our ground speed as we headed west was abysmal. We were in the air about an hour when we began diverting around rain and areas of low clouds. As we got further west, it became apparent that we might have to land so both Dean and I were independently checking for nearby airports. There are very few airports in Western Wyoming but when we finally decided that we could go no further, there was, conveniently, an airport within 10 miles. We landed and found the small ramp was nearly full of planes as 3 other planes had also stopped at Kemmerer due to weather. We had a bit of trouble finding motel rooms but found 2 for $32 each. Not the Ritz but not too bad either. The weather was good in the morning, so we refueled and again headed west toward California.

Dean made a decision to keep moving and to get as close to California as possible. We were both afraid that if he didn’t get close to Napa he might be grounded due to weather and miss the big arrival celebration on Saturday. So, the plan when we left Kemerer was for him to land at Lake Tahoe and for CA and I to continue to Napa. Dean would then spend 2 nights at Tahoe and depart there so as to arrive in Napa at noon on Saturday. As we approached Lake Tahoe, we learned that the entire area including Reno was weathered in. Dean then decided to cross the mountains and land in Sacramento. As we crossed the mountains, I picked up a ¼ inch of ice on the windshield, wings and struts. This gave CA quite a scare; I guess she’d never seen ice on a plane before.

Dean landed at Sacramento Mather where he then planned to spend 2 nights. Soon after CA and I arrived in Napa, I got a call from Dean. He was really, really home sick now. He said he would fly his plane to Vacaville (Nut Tree) and leave it there until Saturday. He asked me to drive to Vacaville to pick him up and take him home. This I did. On Saturday, Carol Ann drove him to the Nut Tree where his plane was waiting and he then flew it to Napa for the Grand Arrival!