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Exactly What We Hope to Achieve

10/17/2015

We just received this email from our European clients who were with us for the Fall Migration tour. Parkwest has been committed to providing great flying, fun itineraries, new friendships, and lasting memories for the past 16 years. We are so grateful to know we are succeeding in doing just that!

Hi Marisa and Collin

I would like to thank you both on behalf of both of us for the absolutely wonderful and marvelous holidays we were able to enjoy. It was simply perfect. We have both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves predominantly the company and great setup of this "Fall Migration tour", we have made some very good friends, we have had great fun. We were also able to improve our flying skills. The American southwest is absolutely stunning.

I know both of you invest lots of energy in preparing these tours. These efforts pay off as you succeeded in delivering us some of the absolute best holidays of our lives. That is quite an achievement, both of you are very talented. These are the moments in life, one will still happily remember (and enjoy) when we are in our eighties.

So, thank you for a fantastic holiday and flying adventure. We are crossing fingers that you will continue organizing these tours for many more years. Both of us like to participate in another tour in the future, maybe with our spouses or sons or just by ourselves. We'll see what the future brings to all of us.

Best Regards...

Peter S., Luxembourg

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Empty Nest Syndrome

10/14/2015

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The day after a tour ends is always strange for me. My tour mates are not at my breakfast table. I'm not a slave to the camera, constantly looking to capture the day's events. There is no timeline to follow, no problems to solve. My own bizarre empty nest syndrome...

But it was a great trip with a super group of people and beautiful flying across the Colorado Rockies and the desert southwest. My gratitude to you all:

Peter, Ludo, Beto y Rober: for rising to the challenge of traveling so very far to join us, renting a plane that is not your own, to fly in airspace and environments much different from home

Paul, Marilyn, Carl and Barbara: for forever being our Moose Team, a favorite Skylane foursome with whom we have shared many adventures

Garney, Carolyn, Robin and Shane: for your great wits, and sense of adventure

Jim & Dan, for taking on the task of making sure Ranger Kathie got a smooth ride and attended all functions

John & Stephanie, for reminding us that we do, indeed, have a pretty awesome job

Mike & Ginny, for keeping us all laughing, helping with the driving to Zapata Falls, and giving Cat Herder a seat in the Seneca, when the situation demanded it

Chester & Suzanne, for showing us a great team in the cockpit, as well as the pointers on all things photography (oh, and the excuse to gorge on a 5-layer chocolate cake)

Ernie & Kris, for your good humor and downright kindness to everyone around you

We couldn't have a successful tour without all of you, so thanks again!

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Great Day to Fly the Grand Canyon Corridor

10/12/2015

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Fun in the Utah Backcountry

10/11/2015

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Parkwest had a great day with Dreamland Safari Tours, exploring southern Utah's wild playground. We saw dino tracks and petroglyphs, sand dunes and slot canyons, and oh--quicksand, just to make things exciting! Sure would have hated to lose Collin in that stuff!

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The Greatest Earth on Show

10/10/2015

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That used to be Kanab, Utah's tag line, but now it's either Abra Kanabra or Magically Unspoiled, depending what you read. No matter, it is a beautiful spot to land after an amazing day of flying over the Navajo country of Arizona and Utah. Our lunch stop in Monument Valley did not disappoint, but the presence of several campers and their occupants strewn about the aircraft parking area upon arrival was a bit unexpected and unnerving. Here are some great aerial shots of the past few days.

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Life's Good on the Fall Migration

10/8/2015

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But the internet service on the Navajo Rez is not! More photos to come.

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Great Sand Dunes National Park is Just That: GREAT!

10/7/2015

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Fun, beautiful day in southcentral Colorado at a magnificent addition to our National Park system. Nothing like a beautiful fall day, a few clouds to help make the scenery even more dramatic, and several wipeouts on sand sleds to make for an exciting Parkwest adventure! Alamosa has been good to Parkwest Air Tours, and I hope to be back again.

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Letter to Leadville

10/6/2015

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Levi,

I appreciated receiving your email. Yes, it was a disappointing situation, made even more so by the following:

We have been coordinating this group fly-in with you and other Leadville businesses since late last year.
I confirmed our group arrival with you again on August 25th.
We discussed the situation with your staff on Friday and agreed that we could work together to coordinate our group arrival with your construction activities.
We were told by your staff Monday at 9:45 am that we could land after 11:30 am, as any runway obstructions would be clear at that time.

Add to that, it was clear as we were circling over the airport that the tank had not yet been loaded on the truck, the runway was clear at the time, and it seemed that we could have made our landings and been out of the way prior to the truck needing access to the runway.

Parkwest Air Tours caters to visitors from all of the country and the world. On this trip, we have visitors from 10 different states, plus 4 foreign countries. They were eager to visit Leadville as a unique tourist destination.

Had we been told on Monday morning that we could not use the runway, we would have made alternate arrangements and, while disappointed, we could have planned accordingly. Having been assured that we could land, we carried on with our planned Leadville logistics and suffered accordingly. While I'd like to say that we will hope for better communications next time, I'm afraid there probably will not be a next time.

- Collin Fay

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Nothing Like the Rocky Mountains to Kick Off a Beautiful Fall Tour

10/4/2015

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Okay, true confession. The day started with one, MAJOR hiccup. The bus dispatched to take us on our all-day tour was a Party Bus (based in the college party town of Ft. Collins--you get the picture!) Imagine: one serpentine couch winding around the side and back, disco lights, the smell of beer and the remains of a jello shot on the floor. Too much to go into here, but suffice it to say we only had to travel in that thing for 12 minutes and a replacement bus was sent to save our day. It put us behind schedule, but we had a great day due to a terrific guide, gorgeous fall colors, bugling elk in the alpine meadows, and dramatic skies. And our special guest, Ranger Kathie, is having the time of her life!

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Fall Migration Has Begun

10/3/2015

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I'm happy to say that all the BIRDS have migrated safely to Colorado to kick off the Fall Migration tour. They arrived from Paraguay, Luxembourg, Belgium, Tennessee, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, England, California, Georgia, Ohio and Michigan. (Oh, and if you count us, from Alaska, too!) The "paranormal" activity at the beautiful Stanley Hotel in Estes Park serves as a great gathering point for this paranormal gang! :)

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Exactly What We Hope to Achieve

Empty Nest Syndrome

Great Day to Fly the Grand Canyon Corridor

Fun in the Utah Backcountry

The Greatest Earth on Show

Life's Good on the Fall Migration

Great Sand Dunes National Park is Just That: GREAT!

Letter to Leadville

Nothing Like the Rocky Mountains to Kick Off a Beautiful Fall Tour

Fall Migration Has Begun

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