The trip is made and we haven’t even arrived at our final destination, the Dean River.  Horatio insisted the only way to make our commuter flight out of Vancouver was to leave a day early spend the night just South of the Canadian border to insure a simple drive to the airport today.   Jeff Hickman soundly rejected my offer to bring a GPS navigational unit or any other form of maps looking Horatio square in the eye saying, “Dude I know exactly where we are going and will navigate you to a parking spot 20 feet from the check in desk.”

Hortio (Founder of Propel on right) using the company product

I am the junior member of this crew when it comes to destination fishing travel.  Horatio is heading out on his 6^th destination fishing trip in less than a year.  Hickman the only guide I know who chooses to go on fishing vacations while the rest of his compatriots are guiding.  This particular trip being his 3^rd in the last 2 months.  I got in the car yesterday deferring the important travel decisions to the veterans.

A quick drive from Portland found us in Bellingham at the home of Jeff and Jess Galbraith (Publishers of Fly Fish Journal).  The stresses of life and owning a business were starting to drain away.  Sipping vodka raspberry summer coolers on the deck I listened as Horatio quizzed the locals on the amount of travel time to allocate to reach the Vancouver airport.

Waking up this morning Horatio reconfirmed the time table with Jeff.  Quick deliberation and he settled on a straight forward itinerary to insure making the flight.  Something like, “you two get in the car we will stop for coffee, some breakfast and then proceed directly to the airport.  My liberal arts education aided me in comprehending this strategy.

Only Xanax got Horatio onto the plane

Not sure where things went wrong but we entered Canada with just 55 minutes to get to the airport, park, check in and board.  Hickman with his intimate knowledge of the route was in the navigation hot seat.  Desperation had replaced relaxed carefree travel causing me to question the whole leaving 1 day early decision.  Horatio attempted to confirm the route with the experienced navigator and was met this answer, “Dude I never said I knew how to get to the airport I only said the long term parking was 20 feet from the check in counter.”  The 20 feet part of the statement proved to be true.  It was becoming apparent that these guys were true pros.

The pros came through and we managed to get on the plane.  Due to heat, plane weight was an issue and our bags were not so lucky.  The group was all nerves boarding the plane wondering if our gear would make it out the next day and arrive in time to make the Heli flight to the river.  Entering the tiny tube of death we caught a glimpse of our copilot, 1^st Officer Smoking Hot.  Horatio, the only single man on the trip, heavily dosed on Xanax, was in love.  Now ignoring the effects of the drug, he was attempting to distract Jeff Hickman from discovering is future wife.  Horatio has a right to dream and doesn’t need a known predator like Hickman stepping on one little fantasy.

1st Officer Smoking Hot - All systems go

Luck was not with Horatio.  Hickman immediately brandished his trusty hair brush striking fear into poor Horatio’s now drug addled mind.  The flight was turbulent which kept 1^st Officer Smoking hot paying attention to flying the airplane much to my relief.  As we exited the plane the keen eye of Hickman spotted “the ring” leaving only fishing as fantasy’s that have any hope of being fulfilled.

Just before busting out the brush

In his own caring way Hickman assured Horatio, “The ring is a sham Dude!  When you are 1^st Officer Smoking Hot a ring is a required part of the uniform.  Otherwise she would have dudes like you hitting on her full time.”

It’s great to see the pros in action.  I have already learned much and look forward to 8 more days of watching the pros in action.

1st Officer Smoking Hot on final approach

This entry was posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010 at 11:30 pm and is filed under Uncategorized and the tags Advice Canada Funny Photo Signature Tier Technique. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response.