Where in the World is Bangor, PA?

You're moving to Bangor, Maine?

NO, we're moving to Bangor, Pennsylvania.

You will need a little background information first as to how we ended up in Bangor, PA.

In 1998 we were living in Bristol Borough, PA--my hometown--small town along the Delaware River. My husband Chris was a corporate pilot for Harry and Leona Helmsley. Although he was compensated well for his services, he could be away for weeks at a time. Meanwhile, I was a stay-at-home mom to our 4 children ages 11, 9, 5, and 3. It was time for a change--for all of us.

Chris made a career move to the commercial airline industry and began his career at Continental Express based in Newark, NJ. At the same time, I needed to find a job to supplement the pay cut from corporate flying to First Year-First Officer pay at a regional airline--which was significant. It must have been part of God's plan for us because everything fell into place within days.
In just one week:

• Chris interviewed at Continental Express, accepted the job, and started training.
• I interviewed for a job, accepted the position, and started that next Monday at the Lower Bucks County Chamber of Commerce. (Thank you to my sister Lisa for the lead!)
• The 3 oldest children were already attending St. Mark's School but would now go to Mrs. Ennis before and after school.
• The youngest transitioned from 3-day preschool to 5-day preschool.

At Continental Express, Chris was now away from home 4 days at the most and he had a schedule! We knew when he was working and when he would be home. But on the downside, he went from being an FO on a B727 to an FO on a ATR (turboprop)--much smaller plane.  If you know my husband, he is never one to sit idle and wait for things to happen. He wanted to be a captain. Chris present his proposal (sent letters, phone calls, networked) to be trained out of seniority order and join the training department. By January 2000, Chris was living in Houston, TX and working in the training department at Continental Express--and yes, he upgraded, out of seniority order, to Captain on the EMB-145 Regional Jet. 

WAIT--I didn't want to move to HOUSTON! The kids didn't want to move. What if it didn't work . . what then? So Chris lived in Houston and commuted to Bristol, PA from January to June. We wanted to be sure he enjoyed working in the training department before we sold our home and made to move to Houston. We began house hunting in March and moved to Kingwood, TX in June 2000. Chris upgraded through the training department ranks: Flight Instructor, Check Airmen, and eventually Designated Examiner. It was a great decision. Chris would fly, work in the training department at IAH, and most nights, he was home.

Over the next 18 years we rode the wave of Continental Express spin-off from the parent company Continental Airlines. Mergers of Continental Express/ExpressJet/ASA/SkyWest as well as the United/Continental merger.  The kids were all grown--we were empty-nesters. Chris wanted to fly the line again. I admit--I was not happy. In the training department at ExpressJet, he was super senior, got all the days off  he requested, cherry picked his schedule, and was home most days by 1 pm. I could count on him being home when I got home from work. But--if you are married to a pilot or even know a pilot, you know that flying is what they love and live to do. Chris had put that aside for 18 years to be home more for his family. It was now his time to literally FLY.  

Chris applies at United Airlines, interviews, and is offered the job. First Year-First Officer AGAIN. (For those of you unfamiliar with the airline industry, you do not take your seniority or years of experience with you when you switch airlines. Everyone starts over as First Year-First Officer.) He is awarded Newark, NJ as his base and FO on the B737. Training began in March 2017 in Denver, CO. By June, he was flying out of Newark, NJ. 

The commute from Houston to Newark was crazy! August 2017 we put our house in Kingwood, TX on the market. 3 days later--Hurricane Harvey. We were blessed. No damage, no water, but it severally hampered the real estate market in Houston. I must admit, I questioned if we were making the right decision. Eventually the market began to recover and we were under contract and sold in February 2018. Technically, we were now homeless. 

Oh, and I retired from Humble ISD - so even though Chris is gone 3-4 days at a time, we actually have even more time together since I am not working when he is off. (He is still very junior at United which means he is usually off during the week--and working weekends and holidays.)

Our plan was to make an initial move to Rehoboth Beach, DE. Chris' mother lives there; she was happy to have us stay with her and it dropped Chris' commute to 4 hours. We didn't want to start our home search until the winter weather broke on the East Coast. In late May we started to house hunt in Northampton County, PA and Monroe County, PA.  We looked at it all: land to build, new homes, old farm homes, homes in the country, homes in town. Our realtor must have thought we were crazy as our list of what we wanted changed daily. But eventually we had narrowed down our search to Bangor Borough, PA. We put in an offer and should close by mid-July. 

The move will cut Chris' commute to about 70 minutes. Is this home what we expected to purchase? Absolutely NOT! We feel as if we have come full circle. Both born and raised in small towns in PA (Chris is from Shamokin, PA) and here we are in Bangor Borough, PA. I admit, it feels good to be back in PA. Love the small town feel, quiet street, and neighborhood. 

Now that you know how we ended up in Bangor, I hope you will follow our blog which will highlight our rehab of #ouroldhousebangorpa   

Till next time