Busch Gardens Tampa, July 2013

Another long summer weekend was upon us, so we decided to head West to Tampa and use our Busch Gardens tickets for the second time this year. We drove over yesterday, checked into the Hampton Inn near the Tampa airport, had dinner at The Hangar, and stopped at St. Pete Beach before calling it a day.

Sunset at St. Pete Beach

Today started early with a great breakfast at the hotel. We then drove directly to Busch Gardens. We spent most of the morning playing in the Treetop Trails and viewing the animals. My favorite animal exhibits were the orangutans and tigers.

Andrew made a new friend

Andrew and Susan beneath the flower tiger

After viewing the animals and eating lunch, we got in line for Cheetah Hunt. The sign said 70 minutes and we decided it was worth it. We stored our belongings in a locker and joined the line. The line inched along ever so slowly, up and around and down and back up to the loading area. Just as we approached the final switchback, the ride closed due to a medical emergency on the platform. What? How can this happen? Nothing brings out the selfish child in me like being denied after waiting in line. We left the line and retrieved our belongings from the locker. At this point, we weren't sure what we were going to do next. As we waited, the park staff hauled away the injured person on a stretcher. Soon afterwards, Cheetah Hunt was re-opened for business. Susan told Andrew and me to get back in line while she sat it out. We hurried over to the entrance and quickly walked right back to the spot we were in before the ride closed. Woohoo, there is justice in this world. We only waited a few more minutes before we arrived at the platform. We chose to sit in the rear seats of the last car. The ride did not disappoint. At this point, we decided to head back to the hotel to avoid the impending thunderstorm.

		Busch Gardens Tampa July 2013 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

An Exciting Flight Around Daytona Beach

My cousin, Mike, and his family recently moved to Florida from New Mexico and are visiting the C&D B&B. Since we haven't had a chance to fly over to visit them in Panama City, we drove up to visit yesterday. While visiting we discussed the possibility of going for a flight. So today, we made it happen.

I started the day by flying around the Melbourne pattern to reacquaint myself with the plane. The weather was great, but there was a strong crosswind with gusts to ensure I was paying full attention to the situation. Two times around the pattern and I was ready to load my family and head to Sanford.

The flight to Sanford was typical, with a little excitement caused by an incorrect frequency on my chart. At Sanford, I was directed to runway 9 Right, but was finally asked where I was parking, at which point they assigned me 9 Left. After landing, I parked and dropped off Susan and Andrew.

Mike was waiting with his wife, Heather, and younger son, Brandon. We loaded up and took off toward Deland. It was a very short flight, so I didn't have time to let Brandon fly the plane. I'll have to get him up again and let him take the controls.

As we approached Deland, I was surprised by the complete lack of activity. There were no planes in the pattern and more surprisingly, no parachutists. On the ground, I taxied around searching for a building that looked like a restaurant. I finally found it and, although it looked closed, it was open. We ordered teas and lemonade and relaxed for awhile.

Before long, I decided to get moving again and we walked back to the plane. With the big race scheduled for Saturday night, I thought it might be fun to fly around Daytona Beach and let my passengers see the track from a different perspective. So we climbed into the plane and headed east, this time with Mike in the front seat.

As soon as I leveled off, I contacted Daytona Approach to let them know my plan. While busy writing numbers and squawking codes, I noticed my Gear Warning light illuminate on my glare shield. I hadn't touched the gear lever and neither did Mike, so I was a little mystified. I probably stared at it for five seconds, trying to figure out why it was on. During this time, I felt the increased drag of the gear hanging in the slipstream of the plane. I first told myself and then my passengers that this was uncommon, but not an emergency situation. Daytona Approach vectored me around the airport to the northeast while I concentrated on NOT being distracted by the warning light. Once over the beach and heading south, I allowed myself to think about the gear situation. I put the gear knob in the down position and nothing happened. I put the knob in the up position and nothing happened. Then I thought about the gear system for a second and checked the circuit breaker. It was popped out. OK, that made sense. I asked Mike to reset it and the gear lifted back into the wings and the warning light went out. I lowered the gear and got the reassuring glow of three down and locked lights. I put the gear back up and all seemed fine. A few moments later, the warning light was back on... then off... then on again. While the light changed from off to on and back, I noticed that the ammeter and voltmeter were both bouncing wildly. I had Mike pull the breaker again. It was now clear that the gear would not stay up. Leaving the circuit breaker set would likely result in some type of significant damage, so that was not an option. The only option left was to briefly set the breaker, lower the gear, and pull the breaker. So that's what we did.

We were planning to return to Sanford, but given the circumstances, Mike suggested we fly back to Melbourne so I could have the plane checked out at home. I thought that was a fantastic idea. I hit Melbourne Direct on my GPS and continued to the south. The airspeed indicator, which usually shows something in the 130+ range was showing 95 knots. The ground speed on the GPS showed 77 knots. Oh my, we were in for a long, slow, hot flight home. My mind quickly turned to my fuel situation and my fuel analyzer and I determined that we had over two hours in the tank. So I tried to sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight that reminded me of my early training days in a Cessna 152.

As we flew south, I pointed out New Smyrna Beach and the Ponce de Leon Inlet lighthouse and other landmarks along the route. Soon we came upon a low cloud layer and had to descend to 1,500 feet to get below it. That's when the turbulence kicked in. And soon after that, I thought I heard Mike say something that sounded like "sick". I said, "What???" He replied that he was going to be sick. He pulled a plastic bag out of his pocket and proceeded using it. Unfortunately, his aim was less that totally accurate. OH JOY!

So now, I was feeling bad for having a broken plane, feeling bad for making everyone fly low, slow, and hot all the way to Melbourne, and feeling bad for making Mike sick. Turns out the third one was not my fault. He explained that the pizza he ate earlier wasn't sitting well and that's why he had a plastic bag in his pocket. I tried to joke around and keep a positive attitude for the remaining 20 minutes of the flight.

The arrival to Melbourne was ordinary, except for the strong crosswind. I landed safely and I taxied back to my parking spot with my door held open to let in some cool (relatively), fresh air. Once parked, we summed up the indigestion damages. I decided to sacrifice the seat cover rather than trying to clean it. We transferred to my CR-V and headed home. I figured a half hour of stink was all I could take. At home, I grabbed a clean shirt for Mike and he wrapped up his contaminated shirt tightly in another plastic bag. What a flight.

Flight To Desert Aire

Months ago while planning our trip to Washington, I contacted my friend, Todd, to arrange a visit. He suggested that we could fly over to Eastern Washington for the annual Desert Aire Fly-in. That sounded good to me, so we put it on the calendar.

Here it is several months later and the day has finally arrived. We got an early start and arrived at Renton Airport (KRNT) earlier than I've ever managed before. Todd prepared for the flight while I enjoyed the beautiful, cool morning sunshine.

The flight across the Cascade Mountains was beautiful. I could see peaks including Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Hood to the south. Our route took us along interstate 90, past the towns of Cle Elum and Ellensburg. We turned south as we approached the Columbia River and landed at Desert Aire Airport. According to Wikipedia:

The area is sometimes referred to as 'The Palm Springs of Washington', a moniker also proclaimed by a billboard at the entrance to the community.

Desert Aire has some of the hottest temperatures in Washington during the summer and is one of the driest places in the state, being located in the rain shadow of the Cascades.

Average temperatures in July are a maximum of 91 and a minimum of 64. In January, the average maximum is 40 and the minimum is 26. Rainfall averages only 7 inches (180 mm) per year and the average snowfall is 6 inches (150 mm).

Desert Aire hosts a Pancake Breakfast at the airport every year near Father's Day. The price was right and I was completely satisfied with my meal. I did feel bad for the gentleman manning the pancake station. He flopped two pancakes onto the floor during the time I was working my my past. Too bad there wasn't a hungry dog in the area.

After eating, we were shuttled back to the plane and headed back to Renton. Along the way, we passed Suncadia Resort. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Suncadia:

The resort is a joint undertaking between Jeld-Wen and managing partner Lowe Enterprises. When completed, the $1 billion project will feature a mountain lodge with convention center facilities, village center with restaurants and shops, a mountain springs themed spa, a sports center with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, an outdoor venue amphitheater/lake with winter ice skating, trails and recreational areas, 2,000 residential units, and three golf courses. Two of the golf courses have been completed as of 2006.

Thank you Todd for sharing this fantastic flight with me. I owe you one.

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		Flight to Desert Aire 2013 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Columbia Gorge Waterfalls

After a weekend of graduation activities and with family going back to work, it was time to start thinking about what was next. One option that everyone liked was seeing the waterfalls of the Columbia Gorge. The weather forecast was looking good for Monday afternoon, so the plan was put into motion.

After breakfast, we packed the cooler and loaded the rental Suburban. We needed a big car because we knew we'd be taking a carfull everywhere we went. In addition to myself, Susan, and Andrew, we also had my mom, my aunt Patti, and her grandson Mike. The trip to the gorge was long, but we passed the time calling out bumble bee cars, diggers, and eventually jets arriving and departing Portland.

Our first stop was at a grocery store up on the hill in Troutdale. We bought some ice and snacks, then drove back to a park we passed on the way up the hill. The park had picnic tables and a playground. The challenge was to find a spot in the sun that was protected from the chilly breeze.

After lunch and some playing in the awesome playground, we headed east up the south side of the gorge along the Historic Columbia River Highway. At our first stop, we could see the Columbia River for miles, and Vista House at Crown Point to the east.



Continuing east, we stopped at Vista House. We toured it from top to bottom, enjoying the views and the architecture. They had ice cream in the gift shop, so we had to buy some.

Our next stop was the falls at Guy W. Talbot State Park. To see the falls, we had to do a short hike through the woods. The boys loved it and I knew we picked a winner with this trip.

The next stop was Bridal Veil Falls. This falls also required a little bit of hiking - something the boys were very excited to do.

Our final waterfall of the day was the big one - Multnomah Falls. Multnomah Falls is easily one of the most famous falls in the U.S. I can't count how many calendars I've seen featuring its distinctive double falls separated by the walking bridge.

Although I'd visited this falls before, I had never followed the trail to the top. The boys were all gung-ho about climbing to the top, so we went for it. The trail was about 1.25 miles long and climbed about 700 feet, actually passing the top along a ridge and dropping back down to the creek on the other side. The trail was marked with signs indicating what switchback you were passing. It was narrow and fell off quickly in places, which required me to keep a close eye on the boys. I told Mike that his mom would kill me if I let him slip and fall down that mountain!

At the end of the trail, there's a small platform overlooking the falls and the gorge. If you are afraid of heights, then you probably won't be interested in walking out and looking down.

We then continued east until the highway merged with I-84. We followed this up the gorge to the park near the Cascade Locks Historical Museum, at the foot of the Bridge of the Gods. We had another picnic, then went exploring around the old locks. The boys were fascinated by the currents flowing through the narrow locks and spent way too long throwing pine cones in and watching them get caught up in the many violent whirlpools in the river.

Before returning home, we made one last stop for ice cream and watched a train go by. We crossed over the Columbia River and drove west along WA-14.

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		Columbia Gorge Waterfalls 2013 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL