Dr. Iza Horsfall arrives in Corvallis after flying for four days in her Cessna 172 from the Bahamas to visit Chuck Frederick. (Scobel Wiggins/Gazette-Times)
By Gail Cole, Gazette-Times reporter
While some people flock to the Caribbean for a holiday, one island resident has decided to spend her vacation in Corvallis.
Dr. Iza Horsfall, 76, of Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, arrived at the Corvallis Municipal Airport on Thursday evening in her Cessna 172 to visit longtime friend Chuck Frederick, a recent transplant from the Bahamas to the mid-valley.
Horsfall took four days to make the solo flight to Corvallis from Freeport, where she's lived and worked as an obstetrician for 46 years. She covered more than 2,800 miles and spent more than 30 hours in the air.
This is her second trip to Corvallis, but not a rare visit to the U.S. Horsfall has made many long-distance solo trips to attend Flying Physicians Association conferences in places like Monterrey, Calif., and Santa Fe, N.M., and to visit two of her children, who live in Miami and Washington, D.C.
Horsfall visited Corvallis last year by commercial flight, and said her favorite part of the area is the Saturday Farmers' Market.
Frederick, a former TWA pilot who spends half the year in the Bahamas and has owned a home in Corvallis for three years, was also impressed when he visited the market for the first time.
Horsfall has known Frederick for nearly 30 years and even delivered his daughter when his wife gave birth in the Bahamas.
Besides a visit to Newport and a trip to the farmers' market, Horsfall doesn't have a busy schedule this weekend.
"I'd like to rest a little bit, because prior to this I've been very busy," she said.
Horsfall doesn't always travel by plane. Shortly before coming to Corvallis, she walked 75 miles of the road to Santiago de Compostela, an ancient pilgrimage route across northern Spain.
"After you've done that, you have a sense of achievement," Horsfall said.
Horsfall will begin her return trip early next week, following the same route back to Freeport.
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