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REGIONAL NEWS
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SWBS group ready to boord the bus after their Atchofolayo swamp boot tour.
Southwest Bonanza Society
In spite of scattered storms on
Friday. February 22, the 33 people from
Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana arrived
in 12 airplanes and three cars at the
Houma Louisiana Airport (KHUM).
A narrated bus ride through the
WWlI era Houma Blimp Base took us to
Southdown Plantation House Museum
for a guided tour of this gorgeous 19th
century sugar plantation, where we
learned something about the sugar industry
and early life in Terrebonne Parish.
Next we rode the bus to Bayou
Delight on Big Bayou Black for some
local cuisine before traveling farther up
the bayou to the site of A Cajlll1 Mall 's
Swamp TOllr on the far eastern edge of
the Atchafalaya Swamp. Captain Ron
"Black" Guidry expertly guided his boat
through the canals as he fed alligators
and identified plants and animals. The
sight of a bald eagle nest with chicks,
and watching the female fly in front of
the boat when Captain Black called to
her were highlights of the tour. That
evening we dined on crawfish, shrimp,
oysters, alligator and other local delicacies
at Big AI's Seafood Market.
Saturday morning we were on our
way again for a short trip to New
Orleans' Royal Sonesta Hotel in the
heart of the French Quarter. After lunch
and some exploring on our own, we went
to the National World War II Museum,
formerly known as the D-Day Museum.
for a self-guided tour. One of the main
Stephen Ambrose, a leading historian
who wrote extensively about wwn and
D-Day. New Orleans was home to the
Higgins Boat Factory. maker of the boats
that landed troops on the beaches of
Normandy. A restored Higgins boat sits
in the lobby of the museum.
That evening we ventured out SI.
Charles Avenue into the beautiful
Garden District and a tour of the
Columns Hotel, a 19th century mansion,
before moving on to Commander's
Palace for an elegant dinner. From the
turtle soup to the bread pudding souffle,
everyone raved about it.
We left on Sunday morning with
fond memories of lots of walking, lots
of food and all the "Boudreaux and
Thibodeaux" jokes still to be told!
- Jim & Peggy Davis
Northwest Bonanza Society
The "weather gods" briefly smi led
on some of us in the
southern Puget Sound
area on Saturday,
February 16. for an
impromptu fly-in to
the San Juan Islands,
specifically, Orcas
Island. The weather
wasn't perfect, so we
had to cross over
Whidby Naval Air
Station at 1,600' to
remain YFR. (FYI,
the islands on the US
Juans; on the Canadian side they are
called the Gulf Islands.) Orcas Island
airport is only a short walk through a
nature area into town where we had a
nice lunch and a little exercise walking
around.
On Saturday, February 23, the
Washington Pilots' Assn. held its annual
fair at the Puyallup Fair Grounds
south of Seattle. NWBS had a booth and
we recruited a few new members. The
turnout was very good and. as usual , the
room was packed for the annual report
by AOPA President Phil Boyer.
Phil's take on user fees is that we
are in good shape for now, but we must
keep a lookout for the camel's nose
under the tent, as the airlines are constantly
pushing for user fees so they can
make more money (if indeed they are
making any money at all). He said it is
scary when businesses such as the airlines
with a track record for failure start pushing
the government to take their advice on
how to run the air transport system.
Many vendors had their wares on
display, and there was also a full slate of
seminars including one by me and one
by Mike Thompson of Avstar Aviation
on Bonanza maintenance. Attendance at
his seminar qualified as continuing education
for those folks who have their IA
designation. -John Foose
forces behind the museum's creation was side are called the San The NWBS group enjoy Ihe cotortuttlotion se"ing 01 Orcos Istond PIZZO shop
ASS April 2008 www.bonanza.org Page 10745