Cherie's brother Ken works weekends as a skydiving instructor at the Texas Skydiving Center, and he invited me to spend the day with him yesterday hanging out at his drop zone in Lexington, TX - about a 90 minute drive from his place in south Austin.

Headed there in the early morning, we drove through torrential rain. The forecast for the afternoon looked rather dim too. Ken expected that we would be home mid-afternoon, if we were lucky.

Instead - it turned into a very full day. Ken was working non-stop, doing six tandem jumps and two AFF jumps. We didn't make it back home until nearly 10PM!

Fortunately there was just enough space in the day's schedule to squeeze me in for a tandem jump with one of the other instructors, Gary.

The first try - we flew up to 9000 feet only to discover a massive wall of clouds looming over the drop zone. We contemplated waiting for the clouds to pass, but the wall seemed endless, and fuel was running low. We dropped back down, and all of us on the plane were worrying that the wall of clouds indicated the end of the day's jumping conditions.

But once we landed, blue skies opened up above, and the wall passed. We fueled up, and headed back up to 10,000 feet.

Then I jumped out...

*grin*

Skydiving rocks!

I really need to find the time to take the AFF course and get licensed!

Where has the time gone?

My last general update was April 9th - camped out in the Troxell backyard.

Here is what I have been up to since then:

Felton (April 8th - April 13th): The Troxell's backyard and downstairs office was perfect for getting organized, despite the flood. While there, I did some trailer upgrades and added a memory-foam mattress-topper from Costco to the GeekPod, turning the bed into a very comfy nest.


Lyle & Wyatt Troxell working on my electrical system....


Tab vs. Winebago. Both of us seeking higher ground from the flood waters. I think I could have parked INSIDE that monster!

Pacifica (April 13th - April 15th): Beautiful cliffside camping in Pacifica. While up near SF I finished organizing my storage unit, and sold my chairs - wrapping up my Purge Sale. I also did some shopping at REI (I love that store!), and met butterfly_smile for dinner... (More pictures in this post.)


Cliffside camping in Pacifica...


It's been years since I've had a window office. Two laptops, a Treo, and a view. What more do you need to be productive? (Oh yeah, the scanner and printer are in the under-seat storage area...)


Cupertino (April 15th - April 19th): Back down to Cupertino, pitching camp at Rebekah's again. Who can resist a beautifully landscaped campground (ok - driveway) with such great company, and WiFi. Nice party Saturday night at cortneyofeden's place. Easter dinner Sunday with Rebekah and David - yummy ham and cheesy movies. Monday, taxes. Tuesday, recovery.

Treasure Island (April 19th & 20th): The sun was AT LAST shining, so Wednesday afternoon I stopped by West Valley Flying Club in San Carlos to spend an hour doing pattern work to keep my flying currency - just in the nick of time before it expired. Wednesday night I ended up missing connections with my friend Casey, so I decided to camp out on Treasure Island in the hope of hooking up with him the next day. I then spent all the next day exploring the island on bike - taking many awesome photographs. Treasure Island is an amazing and very surreal place - still in limbo after having been abandoned by the military, but not yet redeveloped. One interesting highlight - running into the Bay Area Backroads crew filming an episode on the original "San Francisco International Airport" - when Treasure Island was used by Pan Am Clipper flying boats.


SF and the Bay Bridge by night from Treasure Island.


SF and the Golden Gate Bridge by day from Treasure Island.


Bay Area Backroads filming on the roof of the original SFO.


View of the new and old Bay Bridge, from the backside of Treasure Island...


The flowers and plants on the island are beautiful...


But Treasure Island is slowly rotting away.


The north side of the island has a great bike path along the levy, running past generic former military housing that is now available for rent from the city of San Francisco. Not all of it is habitable though... It feels so wrong - these places have million dollar views of the Golden Gate bridge and city skyline - but some of them don't even have windows pointing in the right direction!


I really enjoyed spending the day exploring every corner of the island on my bike.


There are bizarre sites to see. This "house" is burned down repeatedly by the SF Fire Department for training.



The most interesting thing I discovered was the old base pool - now covered with beautiful graffiti art. The floating cans and lids in the water made for a very colorful and otherworldly image.

Point Richmond (April 20th & 21st): I caught up with my friend Casey, and we went out for the most amazing Sushi dinner. Up way too late having much fun and good conversation with Casey and his housemate - enjoying the amazing view over the Bay back towards SF and Treasure Island. The next day, I spent time researching solar and AV with Casey offering much advice on how I could build a mobile media server. (But I'm not sure I will have the power budget for an always-on server if I want to focus on solar power....)


Casey's condo has a stunning view - looking back across the bay towards Treasure Island of all places...

San Leandro (April 21st - 23rd): Down to House Weirdness for a visit with akienm, dawnd, klrmn, and the ever-amazing Allegra. Allegra thoroughly tested out all systems on my trailer as only a nine-year old can, and everything seems to have survived. Saturday Lindsay came down from Sacramento for a lunch (Chicken and Waffles) and movie (The Sentinel) date, and then Saturday night was spent at ravenslost's 30th birthday party. Seeing Raven duel her father over who could describe the best meal as the audience cheered was much fun - it is VERY clear now where Raven's passion for food comes from. Hearing Taz's food porn submission was also rather amazing. Second best - this amazing bit of Apple Fritter worship.

Sunday day was spent at the Maker Faire, and then I drove up to Sacramento last night.



Allegra and friend testing out the durability of my Tab...


Next up is some (hopefully) minor tweaking of the clamshell hatch at the dealer. And then I'd like to head up into the Sierra's for some skiing while there is still some snow left.

It's been three weeks - its about time I escaped from the Bay Area. Its just that there are SO MANY cool people to visit... I could probably bounce around for another month or two before I even started to run out of cool driveways to park in.

*grin*

I have had the most amazing weekend.

On Friday, I left work early, and flew a rented plane up to Lincoln, CA (north of Sacramento), where my paramotor instructor picked me up at the airport.

He took me and my wing to the nearby practice field, and I got to practice running around trying to inflate a paraglider with 70lbs of newly purchased motor strapped to my back.

Unfortunately, there was NO breeze, and even my instructor had trouble getting off the ground. Grrr.

As dusk approached, I got picked up from the flying field by a dear friend Lindsay whom I haven't seen in ages, and we had the most amazing time reconnecting over dinner. Wow. Every time I see her I fall in love again.

Then - 7AM, back to the practice field. And -- soon after, ZOOM, I am in the SKY!

WOOO HOOOOOO!!!

The paramotor rig is amazing to fly. The first flight I was still too worried about controlling it to let go of the brake lines and truly relax, but I still had a blast flying over the fields. It is SO different from flying a small plane. You actually are low enough and flying slow enough to really appreciate the ground. I could see the twists and turns of the smallest creek. Cows would look up as I flew by. Wow!

My first landing was great, and then I refueled and got some deeper instruction on how to use the trim system and cruise control so that I could relax a bit and enjoy the view.

Next flight took a few attempts to get off the ground, but soon I was flying around with my instructor, watching him do spiral dives and other maneuvers. Then I decided to spend some time getting high, until I was around 3k feet up and then I shut off the motor. It was AWESOME to have just the wooosh of the wind in my ears as I slowly drifted lower, enjoying the scenery. When I was low - I just pressed a button and the motor was back.

Wow.

Next I practiced flying low - buzzing over a new subdivision under construction, admiring the chalk line floor planes of new homes yet to be built, and waving to the work crews. It was a perspective on the world normally reserved for birds.

My second landing wasn't as perfect, but neither me or my motor was damaged as I landed in the weeds. Ah well.... I knew I should have waited a bit longer until I cut the motor, but I was listening to my instructor over the radio... Next landing will be perfect.

But the whole experience was SO AWESOME!!!!

I spent the rest of the day recovering from the morning flying with lunch and a nap, and then it was time to fly back to SQL. I decided to head down the delta to the Golden Gate bridge, then down the coast to Half Moon Bay, then back across to San Carlos airport. Slightly longer, and much more scenic.

It was an amazing flight, until I got to Devil's Slide...

Suddenly I was being blasted around by gusts of wind, and I couldn't take my hands of the controls for even an instant to work the radios as I blasted past Half Moon Bay airport.

As I shot over skyline drive back towards San Carlos, it felt like I was on a roller coaster. My head was banging against the roof of the plane with every gust, and the incoming front was shaking me around like crazy. Yikes!

I managed to contact the tower and got clearance to land, and I am proud to say that despite the crazy gusts and the crosswind, I managed to nail the landing. It is really reassuring to know that even when things turn bad, I have the skills to get the plane on the ground in one piece. Though - for future reference, I would like to avoid conditions that require me bruising my head on the roof! Ick!

It was an AMAZING weekend. Adventures on so many fronts, new experiences, great connections, wow.

I can't wait for a repeat...

Ahhhh.... :-)


- chris

So I am planning what to do over my sabbatical (potentially the entire month of September, but I am a bit flexible), and I am contemplating spending as much of it off the ground as possible. One option that intrigues me is doing an intensive course to get my IFR pilot's license. Two solid weeks of work and study should do it - but the idea of doing it all in one place sounds rather dull. Doing the same approaches at the same airports in the same local area over and over just doesn't inspire me.

But - some places offer IFR Adventures that combine IFR flight training with a cross country trip. WOW! Now this idea inspires me big time!

Most of the courses work two students and an instructor into a plane. The students take turns flying or watching, while traveling cross country to real unfamiliar airports, in real weather, learning to deal with real situations. I can't imagine a better way to get great experience while earning an IFR license!


Researching, I've found some options:

Morey's West Coast Adventures (http://www.ifrwest.com) - This guy seems to have pioneered the concept, and the Internet is full of accounts raving about his trips. But, it looks like he no longer does primary IFR training, and instead now runs trips through the Rockies or to Alaska for people who already have an IFR license. Doh!

Hawaii Flight Academy (http://www.fly-hawaii.com) - Ok, not an adventure with a trip involved, but... If you have to be based at a home airport, it might as well be Hawaii. Nice!

Russell Aviation (http://www.russellaviation.com) - Does IFR training adventure trips throughout the Rockies and along the CA coast in a big loop. Sounds promising - very similar to the route that Morey used to do!

Flight Training Adventure Camp (http://www.realityflightschool.com) - Wow, check this site out. This would have been my dream summer camp when I was growing up. It may still be. They drive around the American West using a bus as a classroom, sleeping under the stars, learning how to fly, and having all sorts of wilderness adventures. They used to offer separate adult and youth camps, but this year they are merged. The dates are also not a perfect fit for me either. But this could be an amazing trip. They have a very international flare too - they are partially based in Switzerland, and sponsored by Victorinox (the Swiss Army Knife company). The dates for the only camp trip this year is July 25th - August 19th... Hmmm. They may not be able to handle me, I would potentially be the only IFR student. But, what fun!!


Any other thoughts or ideas? Any other places out there that do this sort of thing? Woohoo!

Last Friday was amazing.

I snuck away from work early, rented a plane in Palo Alto, and flew up to Mahther field in East Sacramento.  It was my first cross country flight in probably 10 years - and even though it was a relative short flight it was a blast to head off to an unknown airport alone.

Landing there, I was met at the airport by my paragliding instructor - Greg Petersen of NorCal PPG (http://www.norcalppg.com/).

We headed up together to a practice hill not far away, and for the first time ever I got to try paragliding down a hill.

It was AWESOME!

 
(not me - a random paramotor picture from the net)

The feeling of running down the hill and having the ground dropping off underneath you is amazing.  The feeling of trudging back up the hill carrying a glider on your back is excruciating.  But oh so worth it.

I imagine that my two flight probably lasted no more than two minutes each, but it was enough - I am hooked.

I can't wait to meet of with Greg again for my next lesson.   Next time will be back on flat ground, and we will be practicing working with the glider while having 70lbs of fake motor strapped to my back.  And if that goes well, soon I'll have a real motor - and I will be able to get airborne without needing to trudge up a hill.  :-)

There is something indescribably cool about walking away from an airport with the keys to an airplane in your pocket.  And there is something even cooler still -- walking away with another airplane strapped to your back, ready to find a hill and glide.

Mmmmmm......    *grin*