This week, I take you with me on a tour of southern Ionia County, Michigan.
It started on my birthday. Sylvia said, “Come with me. You are going for a ride. She drove me to the Ionia Airport and showed me the high-performance glider. In which I would be riding.
I was pumped! Up there with no engines — it would be a quiet ride, and one I wouldn’t forget. Soon I was sitting in the front and the pilot was belting in behind me.
The tow plane attached a cable to the front, and soon we were circling as we gained altitude. Before long we were crossing over I-96 and I took the shot above toward the west. The extra lanes in the foreground are for truck scales operated by the State of Michigan. The road intersection near the center is M-66, which bisects our county north to south.
We turned west and I took this shot of the Herbruck “Hennery,” an operation that produces more than a few dozen eggs each day. The gap in the buildings is where one of the units had burned just a couple of weeks earlier. This is located just south of I-96. M-66 can be seen near the bottom of the photo.
A few minutes later, the altimeter read 10,000 feet. I pulled the yellow knob as the pilot instructed. The tow cable broke free, and the tow plane dived for earth. We had the sky to ourselves. It was beautiful!
The shot above is of the City of Portland. We used to live there, just below the larger white building in the upper left.
After this, I became so thrilled with the sights that I forgot to take pictures for quite a while.
Finally, I realized that we were nearing our house. I took the above photo of our neighborhood. Our house and white barn are in the black circle in the lower left. Our church, which is a mile north of us in in the middle on the right side. Meghan and Curt of Beacon Bay Farm are around the corner from us. Their house and building are to the right of our house.
We flew just south of Ionia. The race track is on the grounds of the Ionia Free Fair. M-66 enters the picture in the lower right, goes north through town, takes a dog-leg to the west (left) and exits at the top. (The yellow circle near the top on the right side is a reflection of the cable-release knob that I had pulled earlier to free us from the tow plane.)
We are headed east as we come in for a landing on the grassy strip beside the runway. Don’t worry, it is nice and smooth. Hey! Lift your feet. That’s a truck in front of us on M-66.
I hope you enjoyed this brief tour of our beautiful rural neighborhood.
wow! that’s really awesome!!! indeed, a great Birthday gift^-^ we have been receiving invitations from hubby’s friend… he doesn’t like flying though… I think, it’s really fun, fun! i’m jealous:(
Good evening, I am visiting through Ginger’s blog. My husband grew up in Detroit MI in the late ’50/’60’s. We live in GA, which is where I grew up. I was fascinated by these pictures on your post. My brother, age 61, flies around our area. Last weekend, it was clear enough that he could see the skyline of downtown Atlanta and Stone Mountain. Thanks for sharing such great pictures. My brother does not have a blog, but I’ll send him the link to enjoy yours!
From one April baby to another “Happy Birthday” Chuck!!! What a cool birthday gift!!! You live a very blessed life…May the Lord continue to shine his light on you and your beauitful family…
Wow! That is very cool. I would throw up, of course–you are very brave! How convenient that there is a very large black circle that surrounds your house and property so you could find it so easily from the air! 😉 Hee! Hee!
you were definitely blessed with an awesome birthday present…my oh my. something that i have not considered but now may just have to look into…
thanks for sharing your world from the sky above with us. i so enjoyed your photos.
Wow! What a ride!
Wow! that was a very nice ride Chuck! and of course is a very sweet one with the surprise of your wife. very nice and awesome view in there.. I hope someday I could also ride like that one. I guess it seems like am flying because it’s so cute!
Very cool! This has been on my list for a long while. And you got to pull the release. Wow! What a great birthday present.
Cool! I drive past those places every time I cross the state.
Gosh – I’ve never been in a Glider before! What a neat experience and a fabulous b-day present! I live at 10,000′ in the Rocky Mts, so I was interested to learn that is the altitude you started your glide.
Wow, how exciting and such beautiful photos thanks for sharing.
I am so jealous! I’ll have to tell Dad about this one.
I don’t remember the last time he took me up in the cessna, but apparently I got rather airsick while we were circling Portage Lake. 🙂
I would love to take another spin in the sky so I can have the memory of it for myself.
Holy cow, now THAT is what I call a b-day present!!!!!! That must have been an amazing experience!!!!!
Happy b-day, Chuck!
Award for you at my place!
Justine 😮 )
That. Is. So. Cool!