Up, Up & Away!

19 Mar Up, Up & Away!

You will hardly believe what I got the chance to do yesterday! I had lunch with Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks and then got an hour long ride in a Ventura County Search & Rescue helicopter!

Last October, I was attending the Simi Valley Community Pregnancy Clinic Annual Banquet when n auction item went up for lunch and activity with the Sheriff. I bid for it and won!

Originally, I wanted to take Josh & Jonathan with me. However, doing that without pulling them out of school was difficult, so I hadn’t got it scheduled.

Lo and behold, the Sheriff called me Tuesday (he happens to be an elder at another Foursquare Church here in Simi Valley, so I know him from there) and said he had an opening for lunch and a copter ride on Wednesday. So, I took him up on it! You can see a map of the area we flew over here.

I don’ t think I’ve ever written here that I had a job during my Bible College days with a helicopter courier company. I usually worked graveyard shift. We would ride from our base on top of a building near downtown LA to banks throughout LA. I would get out and load/unload mailbags full of checks in and out of the helicopter as we did pick-ups and deliveries between banks and planes waiting at local airports.

I worked that job in 1984/85, even getting to sometimes handle the joystick to operate the turning capabilities of the helicopter sometimes. I also worked during the 1984 Olympics, which were in LA, and we would often fly over some of the venues.

Anyway, I digress…..

Arriving at lunch near the Camarillo Airport, I met another couple who had won the auction item at a different fundraiser. After a great lunch, we headed to Camarillo Airport, where we got to see the Search & Rescue hangar. Interesting equipment. It wasn’t long before we were hooked up and in the air.

It was a total blast, and a great way to spend part of a Wednesday afternoon! I was thrilled, and discovered again my love of aviation. I would love to get a Pilot’s License someday, but it is one expensive hobby!

Anyway, it was an awesome time! Here are a few of the pics I got:

There are 4 helicopters for the Ventura County Search & Rescue. 2 of them have to be operable at all times.

This was a gorgeous waterfall that can only be seen from the air. Can't be reached on foot!

Kind of a fun picture of a swimming area. You can see one person in the middle of the swimming area, checking out the copter!