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Dublin, Ireland (Dexter)
11/18/04 Day 2 – Crossing the Atlantic.This morning‘s flight was early and cold but it made for a nice view leaving Goose Bay. Now if you‘ve never heard of Goose Bay, you‘re probably not alone. It‘s a very small town in Newfoundland. It‘s also not a very happening vacation destination. But it‘s a good stop because it‘s on the far eastern coast of Canada, so you gas up there and start heading across the Atlantic.
If I had a plane like John Travolta, I could take it nonstop to Europe. But my plane (a Cessna Citation CJ2) is not quite that buff, so I need to find a place to get some gas on the way. So my first stop today was Reykjavik, Iceland. That flight is entirely over the water of the North Atlantic, so I had a lot of time to contemplate that there was a whole lot of nothing around and no place to land if you have a problem! But the flight went great. About halfway through I flew over the tip of Greenland, which was all huge ice and snow-covered mountains. Very cool looking.
I had been told that there was an active volcano on Iceland, and I might not be able to land there. Which is just fine with me, as I generally avoid volcanoes. When I got close, though, I was cleared to land. Iceland is a beautiful country and pretty snowy this time of year.
After gassing up I took off again, this time for Dublin, Ireland. This flight was also a few hours at night over the North Atlantic, not a real hospitable part of the world. It makes for an exciting flight, though. You start thinking about stuff like whether your affairs are in order! Do I have a will? Not really, it was a cool few hours and a welcome sight to see the coast of Ireland. The city looked super cool coming in at night and it‘s awesome to be in Dublin!
