After visiting the Museum of Flight, several weeks ago, Rich and I headed across Boeing Field to Helicopters Northwest. Through Groupon, we’d purchased a thirty minute flight around downtown Seattle. Rich, however, asked if the pilot would fly us over Bainbridge Island, where we hope to move in the coming years.

Unfortunately, the flight was in the late afternoon, which had grown hazy and unusually hot. The latter was a “good thing” because the pilot removed the door on

his side of the helicopter, cooling off the interior and providing an unobstructed view out the right-hand side of the helicopter.

I saw in the front with a digital camera; Rich was in back with a camcorder.

It was the second time I’ve been in a helicopter and the experience is akin to being on an amusement ride where gravity is hold you down onto your side or against the side of a spin cylinder. The weightlessness is both soothing and exhilarating.

We became Peter Pan and Wendy soaring over the Puget Sound, Bainbridge Island, the Sea-Based X-band Radar being pushed back to Alaska by tugboats, powerboat and sailboats cutting across the water, Shilshole Marina, downtown Seattle, and finally, south Seattle and Boeing Field. Even though the helicopter travels at over 110 miles per hour, the only hint of movement is the constant changing of the landscape.

The only drawback of a helicopter is the thrill of the ride ends too quickly.