Ride along on my birthday flight this month, to visit the 1908 El Garces Hotel “Harvey House” under restoration in Needles, California.
Along the way we took aerial shots of the surrounding Mojave Desert, the adjacent Colorado River dividing Arizona and California, the Topock Gorge, and prehistoric Mystic Maze (also known as Topock Maze), best viewed from aloft.
True, desert Needles isn’t everyone’s idea of paradise, but we had a blast!
Read my September column, “YOU FLEW WHERE?” about the adventure, and See Additional Photos.
©2013 Gregory N. Brown
This column first appeared in AOPA Flight Training magazine.
If you enjoyed this story, you’ll love Greg’s book, Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane. Autographed copies available!
This was a great article, by the way. You can put the reader right inside the plane with you! Thanks for sharing your adventures!
Thank you, Linda! Hope you and Glenn are getting plenty of flying in.
Greg
We had a fun flight to Michigan over the Fourth of July long weekend (it’s about 500 miles) to visit family. It was a great adventure and we so enjoy the opportunity to see this country from above!
That is so cool, Linda! Where in Michigan? Did you fly around the south side of Lake Michigan?
We were just over the Indiana border, about middle of the state. We landed in Dwight, IL for fuel. What a delight, even if the runway was only 26 feet wide! The owner/operator of the airport received an award for 50 years flying without an accident. He was so charming!