Alltrikes

Posted June 25th: On to John's [Williams] House

The next morning I had the hardest time getting up. Didn't sleep well
the night before and things were catching up with me. Drove the
rental car back to the airport and put the seat back and slept for 30
minutes before hauling stuff to the trike.

The wind had picked up the day before, so I had dropped the wing,
which meant setting it up it the dark. I was moving so slow that the
sun was well up before take off. It was only about 7 miles from Dare
to First Flight, so I did a touch and go and circled a bit looking at
the Monument, museum building and the markers for the Wright Brother's
first four flights. First Flight is like Mecca to a pilot and it felt
special to see it in the early morning before workers, tourists and
other aircraft had shown up. There's no overnight parking at the
airport, so I had it all to myself.

I turned North after KFFA and it was beautiful but I was tired ...
Then over the radio came,
"Craig Valentine, can you hear me?" It was John, a voice I knew only
from a couple phone conversations! A jolt of adrenaline went through
me and John and I spent the next 15 minutes trying to find each other
in the air, he in his Airborne, and then finally we did. I gratefully
followed John back to Williamsburg Airport (KJGG).

One of his first questions was, are you hungry? Of course! So we
went to the Old Chickahominy House, John's wife, Maxine's, restaurant
for breakfast. This restaurant/antique store has been in Maxine's
family for decades and she runs it now. It's like going to your
Grandmother's old, comfortable house and eating a wonderful meal. The
workers come over to chat and of course I get special treatment being
with John. Even with all of that I had one problem...grits. I'm
truly a Yankee and admit to looking at them three different ways
before saying, "Nope, I can't do grits." They all said I didn't know
what I was missing.

After breakfast John took me on an aerial tour of the beautiful
Williamsburg area. There was so much to see including a "secret" CIA
base with it's own runway. I did think about landing there for a
moment but John convinced me it probably wasn't a good idea since the
last one who did that had to dismantle and haul his Cessna away by
truck and was lucky not to be in prison!

We went to John's house after the flight tour and they showed me my
bedroom. I thought I would just lie down on the bed for five or ten
minutes before re-joining John and Maxine. Three hours later I woke up
to a gentle hello from John. I guess I needed that rest. We toured
Old Williamsburg on foot talking with the lads and wenches and just
had a good time. That night Maxine, John and I had a wonderful meal at
home and John's friend Andy came over afterwards. This sense of home
was just what I needed after all of the motels and restaurants.

Tomorrow [June 25]: Meeting up with Barry and off to New York.