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Chief Pilot Jay Todhunter set out to fly for Kenmore Air in 2013. But the path to his stripes wasn’t direct.
Like many of Kenmore Air’s flight crew, Jay started on the dock, splashing planes and washing windows. The job let him get his foot in the door. It also gave him access to Kenmore Air’s flight instruction department, where he earned his seaplane rating.
Jay had gotten his pilot’s license while earning his Bachelor of Science in Flight Technology at Central Washington University.
Bordered by the ocean and ringed in mountains, the Emerald City’s natural beauty is unlike any other metropolis. Its neighborhoods are nestled against lakes, and the original downtown core is built on what once was marshland. Fueled by coffee, it is a mecca for foodies, tech experts, and outdoor enthusiasts. Whether you’re visiting for the long weekend, popping in for the day or looking to make a memory playing tourist in your hometown, there are a plethora of fun things to do in Seattle.
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How two local artisans support island agriculture through the Slow Fiber Movement.
There’s a rural beauty to Lopez Island, a slowness that’s earned it the nickname ‘Slowpez.’ This is thanks in large part to the generously flat terrain, where gently rolling hills are studded with farms and speckled with artisans. While the locally grown offerings are diverse — including beef, pork, and berries — the quaint 29.5 square-mile agricultural community is perhaps best known for its sheep.
Lopez Island wool products, in particular, are heralded throughout the United States and beyond for their exceptional quality and beauty. This is in no small part thanks to Maxine Bron- stein and Debbie Hayward, founders of Island Fibers.
Sipping, eating & chipping through Walla Walla.
Someone much less clever once said of New York, that it was a city “so nice, they named it twice.” But those of us who spend our time between the nether regions of Parallels 46 and 47 understand that there is really only one city that accurately fits that description.
Walla Walla (a town so nice … you know the rest) is tucked away in the southeast corner of Washington, where the state meets with Idaho and Oregon to serve up a hardcore Northwest vibe with a little something for everyone.
It is where small-town hospitality meets the French Rhone Valley. Where Lonestar belt-buckles and old faded Levi’s meet oaky notes and bold tannins. It boasts one of, if not, the top golf course in the state. It’s a burgeoning Foodies delight and the recreation options are endless year-round.
It’s hard to experience all that this sleepy little Eastern Washington burgh has to offer, but my good friend Sara and I figured we’d give it a try. Read more
A weekend jumping from Orcas to San Juan Island.
Watch the sun slowly dip down from the comfort of your own balcony after you’ve scrubbed the dirt and washed the sand off your little ones from a long day of exploring. Instead of battling crowds and waiting in lines, introduce your children to the finer things in life like clams caught mere steps from where they are eaten. Spend your mornings walking out to an island made accessible only by low tide.
Listen in awe at the excited squeals from each discovery of sea stars, sea cucumbers, and crabs. Spend the day whale-watching and the evening on a sunset sail. From Lopez to Orcas and San Juan Island, each has its own distinct sense of place and will have a unique draw to visitors. When you cannot decide which island is right for you, don’t. Instead, plan an “island-hopping” adventure, combining the best of what a couple of islands have to offer.
You won’t find Cairn beers in the grocery store or on tap at the bars around town. A taste of this neighborhood brewery requires a trek to the north end of Lake Washington. It’s worth the visit (especially if you find yourself just .8 miles away at Kenmore Air’s headquarters).
Nestled beside the Burke-Gilman Trail, Seattle visitors can easily trek, bike or bus to this dog- and family-friendly taproom. The brewing area is set among communal tables that spill onto a large patio. On tap, you’ll find a selection of more than 15 beers ranging from seasonal ales to year-round favorites.
3 Generations of Mr. Munro’s Descendants (and Counting)
AT THE NORTH END OF Lake Washington, tucked beside the mouth of the Sammamish River, sits a humble airport. It has sat there ever since Bob Munro founded Kenmore Air in 1946 with two high school friends.
What started out as a one hangar, single seaplane company has grown into a thriving multi-faceted business. Today — 75 years later — picnic tables serve as departure “gates”; employees park among company aircraft, and, Munro’s descendants have been raised — quite literally. The original family home still stands at the westernmost edge of the five-acre campus where Munro and his wife Ruth raised their three children, Leslie Banks, Gregg Munro and Margie Munro.
The killing of a pig nearly plunged the United States and Great Britain into war in 1859. Fortunately cooler heads prevailed.
Long before the San Juan Islands were a vacation destination, they were the focus of an international crisis ignited by an unlikely incident: The shooting of a pig in a potato patch. This was the famous Pig War of 1859, when military and naval forces of the United States and Great Britain almost came to blows in midsummer after the death of the Berkshire boar.
But in the end, not a single shot was fired. The nations opted for peace, an outcome that was commemorated more than 100 years later with the creation of San Juan Island National Historical Park. The issue, aside from mid-19th century notions of honor, was mainly about real estate.
To most of us, flying is simply a fast and efficient way of getting from here to there. But it can be so much more. Accelerating across the water at the point of a sparkling vee of spray, lifting off to look down through big windows at the shining towers of a city beside a deepwater bay, skimming close over a jigsaw puzzle of islands and inlets, soaring around the ice-draped peaks and looming volcanoes that make up some of the most impressive mountains on the planet… Now that’s flying.
That this remarkable experience can be had by simply buying a ticket on Kenmore Air is due entirely to a single gust of wind which shortly before the outbreak of World War II flipped over a tiny, two-seat Aeronca floatplane on Seattle’s Lake Union. Seattle seaplane pioneer Lana Kurtzer salvaged the plane, stacked the pieces behind his shop and forgot about it until 1944 when a pair of young Navy Reserve aviation mechanics asked if he’d be willing to sell it.
In a small converted garage, roughly six miles southwest of Friday Harbor, you’ll often find Paula West covered in clay.
A Connecticut native, she came to San Juan Island in 1990 (by way of New Hampshire, California, Oregon, and Canada). It was here that she met her husband, Joe Cooper. And it was here she set up her studio in 1993.
