May 16, 2023 Family, Mountains, and Dog Parties

The Liberty Gazette

May 16, 2023

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Following a relaxing visit with Mike’s siblings in Madras, Oregon, near Redmond, we hopped over the Cascade Mountains to McMinnville to see his cousin Doug and Aunt Delores. A nonagenarian, Aunt Delores is a bright lady, enthusiastic about life. She didn’t know we were coming – it was a surprise – so we didn’t figure she’d know we had fought a strong headwind coming up from south Texas. Yet she was well aware. “There are two weather masses colliding, forming an occluded front,” she told us. “Were you affected by that flying up here?” 

Aunt Delores isn’t a pilot, she spent her life farming and raising kids. I think she and my mom would make great friends. Mom says, “remain curious and interested,” and Aunt Delores certainly embodies that. During our brief visit, she held lively discussions about politics, economics, education, philosophy, religion, local news, and of course, farming. There’s no idle mind there, and she’s one of the most upbeat, pleasant people I’ve ever met. I always feel full of happiness when I’m with her. Time spent with Aunt Delores goes by too fast. 

Mt St Helens

Cousin Doug took us back to the McMinnville airport so we could get on to Bellingham, Washington by the time my sister Diane got off work. The day was clear enough to see Mount St. Helen’s butchered profile, the result of a major eruption May 18, 1980. We took pictures from the air of snow-capped Mount Hood and Mount Rainier, too. The Olympic Mountains were not far, off to our left, likewise dusted in white powder.

Approaching the Navy’s runways on Whidbey Island, the scene was what I remembered from years ago, right after I got my private pilot certificate and came up here to go island-hopping: touch-and-go’s on all the island runways. The shimmering water of Puget Sound comes from the snow melting on those grand peaks, flows around the many humps of terra firma and empties into the Pacific Ocean. The wind had calmed down by the time we landed at Bellingham, and Willie, Diane’s beau, was there to greet us.

This lovely couple enjoys hiking in the many parks in their bucolic hometown. They had planned to take us to the best restaurants, so, foodies that we are, we rejoiced in this glorious break from work – eating, hiking, eating, hiking, eating, hiking. Plus, an incredible brewery-dog park. We planted ourselves at a picnic table there to get our dog-fix. Like P.D. Eastman’s Go Dog. Go! it was a dog party, with big dogs and little dogs, and even one with a party hat.

The sky owed us a screaming tailwind for the trip home and paid its debt quite nicely. We made a few turns around Monument Valley, a plateau with clusters of sandstone buttes where several movie scenes have been filmed, and over Four Corners, where each wing and the tail of our airplane were simultaneously over Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, before scooting home to our pups, Iggy and Carmine.

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