View of Sedona, Arizona is even grander from above















One thing I firmly believe in is being open to adventures. Because of that, I’ve flown on everything from a small two-seater plane to an empty Air Force cargo plane (C-141), and from an engineless glider to a tiny helicopter with see-through rounded front.

The helicopter ride was my most thrilling ride since the pilot turned the chopper straight down with its tail in the air so we could look at fool’s gold in a creek near Mount Rushmore. We had discovered the helicopter parked by the road, and when we stopped to look it over, the pilot offered to fly us up to the faces on Mount Rushmore. The rest of the flight was just gravy—and I’m not sure this type of adventure could even happen now, with more stringent safety rules in effect. Sure, safety rules are there to protect us, sometimes from ourselves, but when you’re married to a risk-taking junkie like I am, you sometimes get dragged into adventures that you sure would have hated to miss. And sometimes, you could have happily stayed home!

A glider ride over Napa Valley in California followed a greasy hamburger, so I was too busy trying to keep lunch down to enjoy the ride or scenery. Then when the ride neared its end, the pilot had to spiral the small plane downwards in a tight circle because updrafts tried to keep us aloft. Aargh! I decided I much prefer the roar of an engine to the silence of a glider because the steady noise lets me and my stomach know that all is well.

The cargo plane ride involved flying around Mount Rainier near Seattle again and again, and the few of us onboard had to take turns looking out the one window. It was interesting, but it finally got boring, especially since there was nothing to do while not looking out the window, and no place to sit down in between peeks at the peak. Still, it was an adventure that few civilians ever get to take.

A few weeks ago we stumbled upon an opportunity to take a helicopter tour of beautiful Sedona, Arizona and its surrounding red cliffs and caves. We had driven up to the airport to get good views of the town for pictures, and my husband asked at the terminal counter about the chopper rides. The man behind the counter mentioned they had one going up in a few minutes that had two remaining seats and they would take us up for half-price if we liked. Not ones to pass up a bargain adventure, we hopped aboard. This was a much bigger chopper than my first one since it seated four passengers and the pilot, but was still an amazing ride.

And did I mention that this was the day after a snowfall on the higher elevations, so the red buttes were coated with what looked like marshmallow frosting? It was absolutely gorgeous! We took off to the west and wound among the snow-covered cliffs. We saw Indian cliff dwellings that most tourists and even many locals never get to see unless they are willing to hike for miles in the backcountry. The pilot swooped through a couple of very narrow passages to give us a thrill. Looking ahead at them, we passengers couldn’t be sure they were wide enough for the helicopter’s blades. There were four huge sighs of relief after we got through them.

Flying has nothing to do with RVing, but being RVers puts us in close proximity to all types of adventures, including flying. What fun it is to fall into an unexpected opportunity along the RV highway.