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12 Days, 11 Nights: Owls Head, ME to Brodhead, WI

Aug 18, 2019
3 min read

They laughed and may have even cried. They slept in almost every state from Maine to Wisconsin, and it was HOT! They got sunburned (as least one of them did) and maybe that one used body wash on his face thinking it was lotion! They also met and reconnected with so many long-time aviators and new found friends who opened up their homes and hearts to a couple of passionate aviation enthusiasts.

This trip took Karl Erickson, founder of Wings Over Hope, and his seventeen year old daughter, Sophie, on a trip of a lifetime. Karl asked, “Have you ever played that game called 'Highs and Lows' where you tell others what your favorite and least favorite thing of your day was? Well, during that trip, my High and Low each day was that we were together pretty much 24-7!” Appreciating the time he had with his daughter, Karl was able to bestow and teach his aviation enthralled daughter about flight, weather and some of life's principles that don't always get passed along in the daily grind of work, school, sports and life's other adventures.

They departed in Wings Over Hope's 1946 Piper Cub on the morning of Saturday, July 13, 2019 from Knox County Regional Airport and headed west. They took a minimal amount of clothes, supplies and equipment because the baggage compartment in the Cub measures approximately 1'x2' but they utilized every nook and cranny that they could to pack their gear in. It took six overnights, lots of peanut and butter and jellies (the only food Karl insisted they bring) and many adventures before they reached their destination of Brodhead, WI which is where there was an annual fly-in for antique and home-built airplanes. The last time Karl attended the fly-in was 23 years ago. When he was asked how this flight was different than his last trip decades ago he said, "I'm a bit older now and this flight was a long, long trip in a seat that was no larger than a deck chair."

Sophie learned when she got to Broadhead with record breaking temperatures soaring well above 100 degrees with no shade (and dad constantly talking old airplanes) that adventures are not always about the destination but the journey of navigating, reading weather and meeting the unknown who are kind enough to open their homes to strangers who need a field to land in or a place to stay the night. They were fortunate enough to make many lasting memories and it;s hard to pick which one was a favorite such as: a ride in a friend's 1929 biplane, flying upside down above the farm that we called home for a night; or, meeting every animal under the sun that was considered someone's pet; or, maybe the ride in a fully restored 1905 Carousel at night complete with lights and music that was housed in a friend's barn. What a way to see America!

Their return home was a four day, weather stalling endeavor. Hit with high winds, rain and thunderstorms. They had to push their hustle aside and patiently wait out what they had no control over. In a small plane you are always at the mercy of the elements. They landed back home in the afternoon on Wednesday, July 24th with huge smiles and Sophie beaming with the aviation bug. "I LOVED IT!" Sophie exclaimed.

Wings Over Hope instills the thrill of being lighter than air and experiencing and seeing the world through a totally different lens. Visit www.wingsoverhope.org to learn more.


 
 
 

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