My first trip had me picking up three passengers in Chico in the pre-dawn light, flying down the Great Valley to Fresno to drop off two of the three. The third passenger was from Argentina and had business in San Diego before flying back to Buenos Aires, so while the other two attended a meeting, I brought him to Montgomery Field in San Diego.

The first leg was easy, but heading over the mountains into the LA Basin would be a bit more complicated. What SoCal folks call the "June Gloom" had descended upon the South Coast, a thick layer of stratus clouds that forms over the still cold waters of the Pacific, and then blows inland on the sea breeze. I was hoping the clouds would clear out before our 11:00 am arrival, but as we swept down the coastal lowlands towards the Mexican Border at 5,000 feet, a thick blanket of white obscured most of the urban areas, leaving the hills to the east in the clear.

I requested from ATC a clearance to perform an ILS approach into Montgomery Field, which is located a couple miles north of San Diego State University (SDSU.) This would allow me to descend safely though the clouds on a direct approach to the runway. The controller complied and gave me vectors (direction) to start the procedure. He handed me off to another controller in a sector closer in to the city, and this frequency was very busy. I struggled just to get enough airtime to check in with her, and she asked me to turn and fly a couple circles over an area east of the cloud layer. I began circling, and after about 10 circles I began to get concerned about my fuel supply.

The controller was still busy directing other, larger airplanes and had not spoken to me in several minutes. I called and let her know that I had 30 minutes of fuel aboard. She snidely told me that she would get me down in about 25 minutes. Okay, time for Plan B. The weather at the airport was 1400' overcast, which meant there was ample room to fly around underneath the clouds. I checked my chart for obstacles, and noticed that Interstate 8 was just beneath me. I called and cancelled my clearance, and told the controller I would proceed VFR under the layer. I dropped down to 1200 feet and followed the Interstate under the clouds. Using the GPS and visual checkpoints, I lined up and called the tower, and they immediately cleared me to land.

As we set up to land, I noticed SDSU, where Carter will be enrolled in the fall, passing off the left side. After landing, my Argentine passenger was amazed and thankful as he raved to his friend on the ground how I had circumvented the long wait. All in a day's work.

I bought fuel and quickly returned to Fresno to take the other two passengers back to Chico. A great day of flying.

Today I am standing by in Visalia on another charter. Hopefully I can stay busy this summer. It seems that I really only find time to write when away from home. I wonder why? (4 kids, 3 under 6 years old, and a wife working full time)

There were lots of kids there and several friends we haven't seen lately. The weather was hot, so it became a swim party. I played kid songs on my guitar and we had some games, then later we cooked out and broke out the wine and beer.

I also ran another foot race this weekend. It was a last minute decision, but I signed up for the Masters (over 40) 4 Mile Race. The weather was hot, but I endured and turned in a respectable time of 29 minutes, 13 seconds, coming in 13th out of 62 runners.

I asked him what pace he wanted to run for the 3.1 miles. He gave me a puzzled look. I told him I wanted to try to keep a 7 minute-per-mile pace, and he said "Oh. Okay. Yeah, I think I can do that." We took a jog around the block to warm up.

I pointed out a woman in her 30s, wearing black knickers, that I recognized from running the race the year before, "She is pretty fast, if we can hang with her we will be under 22 minutes." And so our strategy was set. Little did this poor woman know that we had placed a target on her back.

The whistle blew and we were off. Black Knickers set out at a quick pace, and I soon began to wonder if it was too fast for me. Andrew seemed fine, and as our breathing settled in, I found I was okay. We paced along a few lengths behind her for the first two miles, then Andrew slowly pulled by her, while I held back. With about a half mile to go, her pace seemed to slow ever so slightly and I passed her. Another block and felt my shoe loosen. I looked down to see my shoe lace whipping around. Dang! Quickly as I could, I stopped, tied, and set out again, but now Black Knickers was at least 30 yards ahead of me!

Meanwhile, Andrew was just barely holding his lead. By now, I could feel my heart was near it's maximum rate and my breathing was deep. Closing the gap seemed unlikely, but I was able to keep it from widening further. Finally, we turned the corner for the two block home stretch. I picked up the pace and saw the gap slowly close. "Maybe she is hurting. Maybe she can't keep it up!" But no, just as I got close enough to read her shirt, she kicked it in and pulled away again, trying to catch Andrew.

Andrew crossed the line in 4th place, Black Knickers in 5th, and I in 6th, with a time of 20 minutes, 55 seconds, a personal best for me.

I think when he and another geneticist walked in to the room, after reviewing the file, they expected to find a floppy 9 month old with poor motor skills. Instead they found her sitting up, smiling and cooiing, eating Cheerios and reaching for everything in sight. Dr. Enns' eyes lit up as he interacted with Daisy, checking her development. He told us that only one other patient with a similar malady had done this well that he could remember. He felt that whatever deficiency she had been suffering from, she seemed to be "growing out of it." This was not something that he had found to be common.

Dr. Enns said he couldn't explain it. I asked him, "What about prayer and love?"

We had great weather for the 45 minute flight over the coast range to the Pacific. I plotted a course through the Mendocino Pass on the GPS, which allowed us to only have to climb to 6500 feet. After takeoff, I handed over the controls to Carter, offering him the challenge of holding the heading and airspeed, climbing to the correct altitude, leveling off, and then following the plotted course to our destination. Carter is a stickler for precision, and that trait lent itself well to the task. There was still a little snow on the moutains above 7000 feet, but spring was evident in the lower hills as we gently slid through the pass. With slightly sweaty palms, I coached him through the descent and approach to the runway, managing only the power output myself. He was able to take the airplane to within about 10 feet of the ground, then I took over for the flair. Might be time to buy him a few lessons.

The three Knowles men got settled into the cabin, a short walk from the airfield, We fired up the old Suzuki Samurai I keep in the garage, got the lawn mower out, and while Teddy played with Trucks, Carter mowed the lawn and I changed the oil and filters in the rusty Samurai.

With our work done, we set out for 9 holes of golf-by-the-sea. I brought along a running stroller in case Teddy got tired or cold, but he walked (or ran) most of the course. After the golf, we scoured the freezer for an entree, and to our delight found two big filet mignon steaks that our friends had left behind last summer. I knew there was some good stuff in there, but this was even better than I had expected! Carter broke out the Weber grill and found some dry charcoal, and we were in heaven. It is such a joy to have a big kid. After working so hard to set up the little ones, it is such a relief to have the extra help, pulling his own weight and more. After putting Teddy to bed with a full tummy and a good book, we started a fire and played scrabble until our eyes got heavy.

The next day turned out spectacular and we headed down to the beach early to take advantage of the low tide. One of the beaches at Shelter Cove is legal to drive on, but is only accessible during low tide. We drove out to a sunny, cliff protected spot. The waves were small, but with little wind they were rolling out nicely, so I dawned a wetsuit and boogie board and gave it a shot while Teddy played in the sand and Carter stretched out in the sun and read a book.

I haven't been doing much riding, but a friend and I decided to do the "metric century" option. This is cool way to say we opted for the shorter, 65 mile route. The weather, as has been the rule here in NorCal this spring, was spectacular. Somewhere around 4000 people participated. It was great to get out and spin my legs and to see all the other riders from up and down the west coast.

Today my neck is feeling a bit stiff. There must be some residual scar tissue in there.

I realize that many people have followed this blog because of Daisy. So here she is, in all her glory. Since her last hospital stay in February she has been able to fight off two cold viruses on her own! She now sits and plays and giggles and is even saying mama and dada. Her gross motor weakness seems to be less of a factor all the time.

Sara and I put all the little ones to bed just a little while ago, and after a brilliant spring day with the kids, we contemplated the challenges of the past year. We both agree that no matter how it had panned out, the experience would have been a blessing. But then again, it sure is turning out better than I ever expected. Daisy is a living miracle and she brings grace to this family in a way I can't describe. It's in the way all the kids from 17 year old Carter to 5 year old Zoe to almost 3 year old Teddy cherish her. It's in the way perfect strangers pray for us and people we know through our church or our daily travels ask about her.

These days when I take her out and about, naturally certain people are drawn to cute babies. No longer do I feel the need to tell her story, to explain why she is small for her age, why she has those tubes. I just let her bright eyes do their magic and let her spread a little joy.

Life has been chugging right along. Sara has stepped up her work schedule as my flight bookings have dwindled. Ever since the crash I mentioned in my last writing, my phone has gone completely dead. At this point I am seriously thinking about discontinuing the air charter business. I was building up a decent clientele, but many of those folks have cut back or completely stopped flying.

We have done some fun personal flying lately. We loaded up the whole family, all six of us, for a trip down to San Diego County for spring break. Our destination was a private airstrip called Pauma Valley Airpark, which is very near my sister's home in Valley Center, California. It is a beautiful citrus and avocado growing region about an hour's drive from San Diego.

The flight from Chico usually takes about 3 1/2 hours, but the day of our flight brought brisk north winds, tail winds, to our flight. We climbed up to 11,000 feet to find tail winds in excess of 70 mph helping us along. The GPS on board was clocking our ground speed at just over 225 mph, which reduced our flight time to 2 hours, 35 minutes, and our total fuel burn was less than 35 gallons. That sure beats an 11 hour drive. We arrived to a waiting Ford Expedition to load our kids and stuff into for the 10 minute drive to the Myer's Ranch. We made the flight in the afternoon, which made for a nice sleep for all three little ones, and Daisy was breathing easy all the way.

We enjoyed our time at Myer's Ranch (My sister's place.) My nephew, Max (18), has a beautiful horse named Heavy, and Heavy was gentle enough for Zoe and Teddy to take a ride with Max. After a nice visit with Jennie and Scott, and a pleasant morning run through the orange groves with my niece Maddy (14), we all loaded into a borrowed motorhome and drove down to Mission Bay for a little "camping." We hooked up at Campland by the Bay, complete with beach, heated pool, general store and a whole lot more. We enjoyed the heated pool and hot tubs, but what we were really after was the proximity to the Zoo and Legoland!

This was really the first theme park experience for our little ones. Neither Sara nor I like crowds, but this was an excellent way to introduce them to the experience without going completely overboard. We brought the motorhome to Legoland, and it turned out to be a great decision. The RV parking was only $5 more, and it was very convenient to the entrance so we were able to have lunch, dinner and naps while enjoying the park. Legoland is great for kids under 8 years old, which fit the bill for us just fine.

The Zoo in San Diego is legendary. We had beautiful weather, which perhaps explains why all the large animals were asleep in their caves. Nevertheless it is a great place to spend the day.

Another reason for the trip was to visit San Diego State University. Carter has been accepted, and after visiting the campus, has decided to attend! I don't blame him. After checking out the place I must admit I had a tinge of jealousy. What an exciting time in his life. I am so proud of my oldest boy. He has his head screwed on straight and he is going to learn and experience so much in the next few years.

I'll try to get back into the writing and posting. If you want to hear about anything specific, please make a comment.

The airplane that they were all flying in, a Pilatus PC-12, has a great safety record. It seems pretty suspect that they had put so many people on board, more people than there were seats. Although I have read accounts that the pilot was very careful and conscientious, the fact that he would allow several small children to ride without a seat or seatbelt seems pretty careless. If he would bend that rule, what other corners might he cut?

The family from Durham, The Ching's, had a girl and a boy the same age as Zoe and Teddy, and although it was not reported in the national news, Mrs. Ching was pregnant with a baby boy. So tragic. I have been reading a lot about the crash, not just on the mainstream news, but also among the pilot and aviation community. The more I read and hear, the more mysterious the crash becomes. It seems that the weather was pretty good in Montana that day. The pilot asked for a change in destination. The big question is, why? Was he low on fuel? Was he having a heart attack or a problem with the plane? If so, he didn't tell anyone about it.

Anyway, I will watch it closely and report back on the findings as it falls out of the spotlight. People have asked me if it gives me pause about my own flying career. I guess in a way it does. My family is so very important to me. I think flying small airplanes is a very safe endeavor, but perhaps not as safe as just staying home.

A crystal clear morning in Northern California.

The local airport manager was very accommodating. I had called ahead to arrange for a taxi cab to pick us up at 9:30 in the morning. When we arrived at 9:35, the manager told us that the cab had arrived and that some other folks that had landed just before us had taken advantage of the waiting cab. Someone had stolen our taxi! Not to worry, the airport manager just happened to have a loaner car. A quick photocopy of my driver's license and we were on our way in a beat up old Buick with peeling paint and worn out shock absorbers.

We parked in front of the courthouse and I had at least two hours to kill. I grabbed my backpack with my running clothes, and figured that the court house might have a bathroom to change clothes. As I entered the building I came face to face with two uniformed police officers and an airport style security checkpoint. Feeling like it would look suspicious and silly to turn around and leave, I threw my bag on the belt, and went through the metal detector. The alarm sounded, so I had to remove my shoes and try again. This time I was met with the success of silence, grabbed my bag and headed for the restroom. Two minutes later I came back through in my running clothes, shrugging my shoulders at the puzzled looks from the cops.

I arrived at the hospital this morning to smiling nurses. Daisy had made such strides overnight, her heart rate came down, her breathing improved, and her oxygen saturation was solid, that it was a good bet she could be discharged. After another few hours, the attending physician came in to tell me she was ready to be released. Daisy was smiling, she had no breathing aid, and she was sitting up in a little supportive chair they had given her.

By 2:00 in the afternoon we were loaded up and headed home. I snapped a shot of her in her car seat as we pulled out of Palo Alto. The whole family is together tonight. Thanks for all the prayers and support once again.

Today was a good day for Daisy. At about 11:30 this morning, the doctors extubated her. It wasn't a pleasant procedure, but after about an hour she was visibly much happier. I can tell that her throat hurts. I know mine did after being intubated for just a couple hours. But she gets to suck on her binky now, a simple pleasure that has been denied her for the last 10 days.

Now that the tube is out of her throat, it is possible to hold her, and as you can see in the photo, I was honored to be the first to do so. Right now she is making little baby noises and batting her toys around. Beautiful.