After CHA I went to Santa Barbara on the tiniest plane (will show picture later) aka Barbie Jet ever. My hubs had left Hamburg earlier in January to work there and I was going to visit him for 3 days :) He picked me up at the tiniest airport ever – when I sent a short message “landed” , he replied with “I know- I can see you” – and that was not a joke- LOL. When I came out of the plane I saw him at the gate.
I love California- I am a summer and sun girl…looking out of the window to this…makes me happy!
3 days filled with the beach
yummie meals with and without friends and family :)
awesome street art which was even more awesome up close
and funky stuff
and some shopping for head bands and earrings
and sightseeing in the old court house of Santa Barbara
indulging the jurassic park feeling aka- vegetation
and did I mention beach? …
and a road trip to the mountain town Ojai – loved it
Visiting the coolest bookshop I have ever been to: Bart’s Books- which is in and out-side at the same time
spending time with cousin Beth and hubs
oh…and did I mention the beach? ;)
And then it was time to leave Santa Barbara on my little Barbie jet again ;)
to start a torture journey- which I didn’t know of at the beginning. As there was ice and snow in Frankfurt and the trip ended in a 27 hour trip with cancelled flights and 5 1/2 hour train trips in the end…and ….luggage that took 3 days to get home
here is the iced window of the plane we were waiting for kick off for an hour before they cancelled that one too and we had to leave the plane again. But in the end…who cares…LOL- I am home, I had an amazing time and it is good to be home with kitty and hubs…well technically speaking I am right now when you read this again in Frankfurt to work at Paperworld Convention…this time with carry on luggage…might be better ;)
What was the smallest airport you have ever been to?
Have a gorgeous weekend
Nat
Comments (28)
Cindi Walsh
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Thanks so much for sharing your pictures! Now I want to go to Santa Barbara! That bookstore looks SO COOL! And that painted door with the little people? Wish I was brave enough to do that! My husband built an airplane from a kit called an RV7a. It has two seats and we are pretty cozy in it! Last summer we flew it to a tiny little airport in Smith Mountain Lake Virginia. It had a bathroom but that was about it, and it was over 100 degrees and the air conditioning wasn’t on! Short runway, on a hill, with trees at the end! I feel very lucky to be able to go flying with my husband. We want to fly from FL to Denver this summer. Ok, how do the beaches in CA compare to the beaches in FL? If you stuck your toes in the water, you know it is a lot warmer here!
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Dara Lynn
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I knew that trip home was a booger! When I saw that train trip home on facebook…I was thinking poor thing!!! Traveling in California is beautiful!!! Especially the beaches!!! We are so grateful you made the trip…CHA would not be the same without you! Still loving CJS!! Smallest airport/plane was in Lawton OK – 6 seater and could not stand straight up! lol….oh yeah!! want to do that over again!
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Sabine
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Lucky you! I wish I could do a short trip like this once in a while, too but I dont’t have any relatives in beautiful, far away places and my job ties me to the seat in front of my desk *lol*
The tiniest airport I ever landed was on Cat Island (Bahamas). There was only a gravel treck that works as the runway and a small wooden booth as an airport building. It was very funny to be there but a little scary too.
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SusanJane
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When we were kids our dad flew a four seater so we could go visit relatives. One stop for fuel was at a dirt airfield. Dirt runway. Dirt everything. The “office” was a desk in a shack. There was no hanger just tie ropes. The gas pump was just out in the open by itself.
But we went to an even smaller one by Lake Mead that only had the dirt. No ties, no shack, no fuel. We had to buzz the marina to get someone to listen to the radio so they could pick us up.
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andrenesmith
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Beautiful pictures!! I love the beach…live about 30 minutes away from the coast but would love to live beachfront!! The smallest airport I have ever landed at was Key West, FL. OMG. The runway was so short that the pilot announced to the passengers “Now dont get worried when you see this really short runway….I can land this with no problem and room to spare.” And he did….with some hard braking.
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Nancy Sapp
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Gorgeous pix of the BEACH! Just a little jealous of you. Our Abraham Lincoln Airport in Springfield, IL is pretty small. Jets do fly out of & into it – also puddle jumpers. I’d MUCH rather fly than drive though.
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Sue Clarke
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Love the art on that door. Great pics as well. The smallest airport that I have been to is the Beverly, MA airport but I did not get on a plane there. I did go on a “puddle jumper” (like the one you were on or smaller) once. Yikes.
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julie m
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so glad you are home safe and sound. traveling in the winter can really be a bummer.
our local airport is about the same size as the one in SB. but no jets, just turbo props. many years ago i flew into a small town in Utah. the plane was an old army plane and there was no airport at all. just got off the plane and walked to the parking lot.
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Suzanne Sears
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Thats my town! Love all that you showed in the Pics. That fishlooks like Enterprise Fish Co. Went there in 1953 and left in 1990. Going back soon, getting older and need to be closer to the kiddos, all there. Daughters office in that beautiful Courthouse. Wish I could have been there and shown you some “stuff” No Crafting “boutique” there, just Michaels. I surely hope one appears before I arrive back there. Love the airport and it has been greatly enlarged in the not too distant past.
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Jean Marmo
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I flew from the Canary Islands to Afroca back in 1971 and remember that teeny plane!
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Carolyn Dube
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What a journey home! Smallest airport for me- Exuma- the terminal was about a double wide trailer and baggage claim was a guy handing you your luggage. At least the lines moved quickly since there weren’t many of us on that little plane!
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Tineke
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Do you have an interresting life or what? Thank you so much for sharing. I love to see the wonderful pictures! The smallest airport….. Several years ago we lived in Papua New Guinea and visited a tribe there. There was only a tiny airstrip and also pigs crossing sooooo it was very interesting and very exciting!
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LaurieJay
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Man oh man, it’s so gorgeous in SB. When I visited a friend there in 2005 I called my hubby and told him to send my stuff, that I wasn’t coming home anymore. Kidding. But only because I wasn’t ready to quit my job yet, heheh. I need to go back there – I have an open invitation from my friend.
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Corrine
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I love the idea of a Barbie Jet, such great imagery and that door was beyond amazing. Living on the East coast we have icy water but still beautiful nonetheless, the beach is always an inspiration…Smallest airport Nantucket island and yes “puddle jumper” as Paula says. xox
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Rhonda H
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For me the smallest airport was in Iceland, @ Akureyri. You hop on a 50 seater plane in Reykjavik and an hour later end up at this tiny airport in northern Iceland. I loved the informality of it!
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Kathy P
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How wonderful to have some time to connect with your hubbie in Santa Barbara…..the coastal towns of CA are just awesome. Great pics……did you see any beaches? LOL…..They do have awesome art in CA, and if you return, you should try to get to Cambria….cute artsy town!
The smallest airport I’ve been in? Hmmm……I think it would be Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I am a reluctant flyer at best, although I have gotten better over the last 20 years…..but I don’t like small planes at all!
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rains
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I’ve been in lots of small planes but never one that was that cool! Smallest airport was on a Hawaiian island, can’t remember the name. It was a looong time ago. The orange wall made up of those tiny figures is amazing!
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Susan
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I love those blue skies!! The smallest airport I ever landed and took of is Dothan in Alabama. I could see my love waiting for me when I was still in the plane. Samething when I left. But I have to say “your” airplane looks hot!! My first time flying was from Toulouse in France to Brussels in Belgium in an older looking airplane than “yours” and I think it was smaller, and I could here the screws rattle… not a very nice first flight!
I hope you had a faboulous time!
Love Susan
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Elizabeth K
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I’ve landed at 2 “airports” where the host knew we had arrived because they heard the plane arriving. The smaller of the 2 only had a small one-room office structure & a dirt landing track. The flight was fun – a small 8 seater. I sat next to the pilot & morning tea was served from a large thermos & the pilot’s mother made the cake…and yes, it was a commercial flight.
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Lyn Wareham
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Oh my, what a journey! We went on a trip to Kenya and flew in a little (8 seater I think) plane from Mount Kenya to the Masai Mara – the views were awesome! As we were about to land we could see the Masai guy herding his goats off of the runway and the ‘waiting room’ was a little open-sided shack with a straw roof.
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Gela (@Gela65)
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I travel often because I have to pre-medicate myself in anti-nausea medication. I’ve flown from Boston Massachusetts to Presque Isle Maine in a plane that small. The Presque Isle “international” airport is very, very small. The main reason I dont travel to Maine anymore is because of THAT plane. There was always so much t turbulence from Boston to Maine. One year I puked my guts out even though I had taken medication. On that flight I was not the only one that lost their cookies. That was the last time I went to Maine.
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Gela (@Gela65)
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OOps I ment to say that I DON’T Travel often. :)
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Jenny Palmer
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Our local airport you have to move the cows off the runway before a plane lands then it would be the air ambulance or a mining plane it is 135kms to the next airport which only has little planes and one check in desk
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Lorraine aka grannypoppy
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Our airport has one room … for check-in, waiting, and departure … and in one corner, a desk for car rental. When it is time to depart, you walk out the door and onto the tarmac, about 30 steps, then climb up into the plane. When you arrive (all our planes are like your Barbie plane), you walk to the “baggage claim” area. The crew opens a hatch and passes your luggage through to you. LOL! It’s a 25 minute flight to Vancouver … much better than the 5 hour drive/ferry trip!
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paula cheney
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gee whiz Nat you were 1 hour from my house. I would have driven you to Santa Barbara instead of taking that “puddle jumper” as we call them.
paula
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Nathalie Kalbach
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Paula- get out- I didn’t know! I might be there more often in the future ;) I will email you then and maybe we can meet :) hugs
nat
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Jackie beeman
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I don’t fly much, but did fly in my brother- in- laws tiny 4 seated to a funeral in neveda. Small airports coming and going. Now REALLY what do you think about our California beaches? Glad you had fun while you were here and eventually made it home safely.
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