On Saturday I got a message from an old high school friend, Trent. He was flying into the Farmville Airport with his kids and his lady, Sarah. Trent's extended family has an armada of kayaks, the bulk of which have come from Appomattox River Company, a cool fact I discovered after coming to work at ARC.

Trent was in search of a new kayak for his daughter and offered to take me up for a flight in his plane after they visited the store. I was psyched about the opportunity to get a birds-eye-view of the ARC- Farmville compound. Trent and crew got to Appomattox River Company and we cruised the Used Canoes and Kayaks section first, checking out the bargain boats. Next I showed them the Jackson Cuda 12 Illuminati just because it is ridiculously cool. Then we scouted the Wilderness Systems Aspire 100 Kayak as a possible "gift from grandma" kayak for his daughter. The Aspire is a solid little crossover recreation boat that comes with a skeg and does not skimp on the seat. It comes with the new Phase 3 AirPro Seating System. Here is a shot of the Aspire 100 cockpit:

After Trent's super cute kids got their fill of running the length of our extensive warehouses, we headed back to the airport. Trent and I jumped into the plane and taxied out. I had not been in a small plane since I took a couple of flight lessons around the age of 15. I had no fear of flying, but I was concerned about keeping my lunch down while riding in the windy conditions. Trent was great, explaining everything to me.

My favorite instruction was the one he offered as our wheels left the runway."The fire extinguisher is on the floor between our seats. If we catch fire, I'll keep flying, you put out the flames." he stated calmly.

We leapt into the air and immediately started looking for the twin, silver warehouses of Appomattox River Company. I spotted them to our left and we headed over.
ARC under the wing.

The old place looked even more impressive from up top. Yes, we really have that many kayaks and canoes, two warehouses and a side lot. The Appomattox River is just out of frame to the right. Canoes and kayaks have been sold out of this location for 36 years.

As Bob Taylor, ARC Owner, once said, "I've been selling boats since before they were plastic." Great prices and great customer service have been the hallmarks of this business since its inception.

I was so anxious about not barfing in the cockpit that I had forgotten to call the office and tell everybody when we would be flying over. I quickly texted Tom, ARC Manager, and asked if he could rally the crew.
hey everybody!

Trent let me fly the last pass over ARC, before we headed back to the airport. It was pretty awesome.

On our way back I snapped a couple photos of Longwood University and greater Farmville.

Wilck's Lake, where we hold our big ARC Demo every summer.

If you have never attended our Demo Day, you should definitely mark your calendar. We give you, the customer, the chance to test out any boat you want from our vendors.

I also took a couple of photos that show the construction work on French Hall at Longwood. They gutted that building and it looks pretty cool from up top.

Another shot of Longwood and downtown.

On our way back to the airport I also snapped a shot of High St. and Longwood in the background. I then enhanced it to look a bit pastel. I think it turned out well.

Trent then brought us in safely, packed up his family and headed for home, trying to beat out any possible snow flurries. I headed back to work. It was such a great midday work adventure! I had a blast. Big thank you to Trent, an old friend and ARC customer.