Oshkosh & Cosmosphere 2019

Whether it be the smell of 'Jet A' hanging in the air, the rumbling sound of big radial engines thundering overhead, or simply the sweet chirp that signals an aircraft has just returned to earth, to me, these are the sounds of summer and that means it's airshow season.  It's the time when pilots yearn to point their aircraft toward Wisconsin and make their annual pilgrimage to Oshkosh.

Airventure, as I'm sure you are well aware, is an airshow and convention that has been conducted in the same place for so long that its very location has become its brand name:  Oshkosh, or just Osh if you're a pilot and want to sound super cool.  This year celebrates the 50th occurrence of the world's biggest airshow and I was once again eager to join ranks with the other 10,000 aircraft at the show.  The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), who organize the extravaganza, report that 642,000 people attended this year's week long festival of all things aviation.  That's a lot of people.  I'm pretty sure that won't remember everyone's name.

It turns out that the start of our trip from Grass Valley to Oshkosh was delayed by a day due to the unfortunate scheduling of Airventure relative to our local Grass Valley Airshow.  Although it was an annoying gaffe on the part of the EAA, I certainly hope no one at headquarters gets sacked over it.  I would have preferred to make the 1700 mile trek to Wisconsin in a more leisurely two days, but I was previously committed to help out with the Grass Valley Airshow which was held on Saturday, the 20th of July.  This left us just one day to make the trip if we were to arrive at Oshkosh on the morning of the first day of the show.  Our plan then, was to leave early on Sunday and fly to the vicinity of eastern Minnesota, so that on the next day we could arrive at the show early and with plenty of fuel.

The plane was fueled and loaded Saturday evening after the Grass Valley airshow had wrapped up and we made a nearly on time departure the next morning.  In the coolness of the 7 a.m. air, the Sierras quickly fell beneath us and soon we were passing a bit north of Lake Tahoe and Reno Nevada.

Our route out to Oshkosh lacked sightseeing objectives, but it did offer the fastest transit time. We were flying with the crow on this trip, a straight line.  But is it actually straight?  Because we live on a spherical surface, straight lines become arcs when projected on a map, which are easily detectable when traveling a significant distance.  In the flight plan above, note that our curving trajectory toward Oshkosh is in reality a straight line (more or less).  We were fortunate to find that there were airports that just happened to lie along our path so that we didn't need to deviate too far for fuel -- or the restroom.

Continuing on, we pass the restricted airspace of Fallon Naval Air Station, then I made our first unplanned stop at Wells, NV which was still some 200nm short of Kemmerer WY.  Nature calls.  It seemed to be a dry, dusty kind of place and it was completely deserted.  In the distance, there were some Ag planes on the ramp and I wondered where they would be spraying.  If there was any water around, I didn't notice it.

On to Kemmerer WY, but first, we would cross the Great Salt Lake and then pass to the north of Salt Lake City which was just visible on the horizon over our right wing.  At this point, looking straight down, I could see the ground level was slowly rising to meet us.  We were cruising at 9,500' toward the Continental Divide, but we would reach Kemmerer before we got that far.   Kemmerer's elevation is about 7300'.  We did not have to descend much to arrive at this high altitude airport.  After refueling, we were heavy, and the outside temperature was already in the mid 80's.  The density altitude had rocketed north of 10,500' by the time of our departure,  which meant that we might be using a lot of runway getting off of the ground.  Our takeoff roll was excruciatingly slow by RV standards, taking nearly half of the 8000' runway.

We were passing through a gap in the Rocky mountains where their peaks were lower and a lot less, well, rocky.  They appeared more hilly than mountainy and were generally grass covered.  This is a good path for anyone who doesn't like flying over actual mountains.

And on we went crossing the great prairie diagonally, ever northward.  We had descended from 9,500' after passing to the south of Casper WY.  We followed the lowering landscape at about 3,500' AGL for fear of getting trapped on top of a gathering layer of puffy cumulus clouds.  When we arrived at Winner SD (KCIR), we were hungry.  Although it was only about 2:30 p.m. for us, when I realized that we were now in the central time zone my stomach was instantly two hours hungrier.

We ate our packed lunch picnic style in the South Dakota wind.  After racing across the ramp a couple of times to retrieve wind driven napkins and baggies I was happy to be done with our not so relaxing lunch.  Refueled, we were soon back in the air and heading for Minnesota.

Our flight path would take us over Rochester MN, which was about as far as I wanted to go on the first day.  My thinking was that we would launch first thing in the morning with full tanks from eastern Minnesota for the 1 hour flight to Oshkosh.  This would allow us plenty of fuel if there was a hold in effect.  We diverted at the last minute to Austin MN instead of Rochester because the airport was smaller and it seemed that there would still be a good selection of hotels available.

As it turned out, there was a hotel right across the street from the airport.  It looked a little sketchy, I'll admit, but how fortunate for us that it was so close?  We quickly checked in and we went straight to our room as we were eager to find some dinner.  To our horror, we found that our room was already occupied.  Well, this is a little embarrassing, I thought.  Back to the registration counter, I went.  So sorry, blah, blah, blah, try this room, the registrar offers.  OK, with patience running thin, we finally get a room that we don't have to share with strangers.  The bed was a broken down heap, deeply sagging in the middle.  The rest of the room did not inspire much in the way of hygienic confidence.  Carol and I agree that we really don't want to stay here, but we feel stuck since we don't have a car.  

After dropping off our luggage, we head back across the street to the empty airport terminal building to look around a bit for a courtesy car.  Sometimes they leave the keys for late arriving pilots.  No luck.  Then I had the idea to call the airport manager.  Unfortunately for him, he had made the rookie mistake of publishing his phone number on Airnav.com.  Then a miracle happened that literally saved the day,  he answered his phone and offered to drive out to the airport to provide us a courtesy car.  Amazing.  The airport manager instructed us on where to find a nicer hotel and we were soon on our way with a car for the night, but we still had a hotel room that we didn't want.  

By 9:00 p.m. we were settled in a nicer hotel, had our dinner in front of us, and we received most of our money back from the not-so-nice hotel.  It was a good first day out, but after more than 8 hours in the air we were tired.  The only thing left to worry about is whether or not Oshkosh would be accepting arrivals due to the soggy ground conditions after having suffered 3 straight days of rain.  The weather forecast for the remainder of the week at KOSH was good, so I felt like we would get in sooner or later.

The next morning we were re-fueled and we again expressed our thanks to the awesome airport manager for the courtesy car.  He really went above and beyond.  And one final note about Austin: We found out that in addition to having a great airport, Austin is also the world headquarters of the Hormel foods corporation.  In our haste to get on toward Oshkosh, we passed up our chance to visit the "Guggenham" -- otherwise known as the SPAM museum.

It was a fairly short hop to Oshkosh and my concerns about getting in faded once we were close enough to receive the arrival ATIS.  They announced that they were receiving aircraft in the home built parking area and that is where we wanted to go. 

The first step in arriving at Oshkosh is to fly to the little town of Ripon.  As we approached Ripon there was a hold in effect, so we needed to circle around the adjacent Green Lake.   The airspace around the lake was fully saturated with aircraft.  On my ADS-B traffic display, the aircraft targets were packed so tightly that it looked like a solid line around the lake.  I plunged on ahead fitting into the largest gap I could see, but it was probably less than the 1/2 mile separation that the arrival NOTAM specifies.

Fortune smiled on us once again as the hold was lifted after we had made only 1/2 lap around the lake!  We turned for Oshkosh and left Ripon and Green Lake behind.  We were supposed to be flying 90kts, but the aircraft in front of us were only flying 75kts so we had to slow down to Cessna speed.  That meant that we had to deploy our flaps and fly very slowly.  At that speed, in level flight, the aircraft is nose high and the forward visibility suffers.  Not a problem though, since we have GPS and I can still see well enough to the left and to the right.  There is no need to see where we are going to know where we are; one simply needs to subtract out everywhere that we aren't :) 

We continued our approach and observed many aircraft whose pilots seemed to have little regard for the NOTAM.  While we were flying single file over the railroad tracks as specified, a Bonanza passed us on the right and cut in line several aircraft ahead.  Ever slower, we flew downwind to runway 27 at 70kts behind an RV who was himself behind a high winged aircraft, probably a Cessna 172.  I considered bailing out of the pattern when I was required to make a sharp 180 degree turn to final at around 65kts.  This was the most dangerous 5 seconds of our entire trip.  I dipped the nose down briefly while making the turn to unload the wings and prevent a stall.  I remember thinking that this was all so very unnecessary and unsafe.  If people would fly the NOTAM (90kts) no one would find themselves in a position where a stall spin accident was a real possibility.  We ended up making our arrival a little harder than I would prefer, but we were on the orange dot and in one piece.  Hurray!

Some of the campers were still suffering the effects of the prior rain.

This is a single seat privet jet.  It belongs to Paul Dye, editor of Kitplanes magazine and former space shuttle flight controller.

There is an airshow every day starting at about 2:00 pm.

"Doc" is one of only two B-29s still flying.

We spent most of the time at Airventure listening to seminars on various topics like weather, cool places to fly, engine maintenance, and how to survive long trips with your spouse.  I think we could have taught that last one.  We also like to browse the vendor's displays and occasionally we stop to watch the airshow.  The best part of Oshkosh is the chance to meet other aircraft owners, especially other RV owners from all over the country.

Keep in mind that going to Airventure means more than just seeing an airshow, there is also eating and Walmart.  It is a curious thing that we somehow find it necessary to visit Walmart no matter where we go.  I won't bore with all the details, but this time hair product, nail clippers, and Dr. Scholl were involved.

We found time to visit Ardy and Ed's drive in.  This might be the last place where one can find car hops wearing roller-skates.  It's located just east of the airshow at the shore of Lake Winnebago.  I don't know if they just do this during the airshow, but it was truly a "blast from the past."  Or at the very least, it was a blast from my father's past.  Either way, I enjoyed the experience.

After three days of airshow, we were about done with the whole airplane thing and we were happy to depart midday Thursday.  Our next destination would be Hutchinson KS, where we would find the Cosmosphere Museum.  But first, our route would take us near the "Field of Dreams" from the movie of the same name.  I found its exact location in Iowa from Google Earth and then copied the coordinates to a user waypoint in my Garmin navigator.   The airplane knew where it was going, but I didn't spot the field until we were just about on top of it.

"If you build it, he will come."  I guess it's true.  Some of us by airplane.

Following the super exciting FOD flyby, we bounced along inscribing a canted path across America's heartland, and unfortunately, we were facing 10 to 15kt headwinds. With a little experimentation, we found them to be least determined down low.  Mile after mile of green farmland passed slowly under our wings as we left Iowa, passed briefly through Missouri, and then across the unnecessarily large Kansas.

Now the constant headwinds were causing us to dip into our fuel reserve, so we made an unplanned fuel stop at Herrington KS.  It was windswept, hot, and completely deserted on this Thursday afternoon. I wasn't sure by the look of the place if there would be fuel available.  There was, and we were soon back in the air for the 62 mile epilogue to our day's flying.

Hutchinson airport has a rather complicated arrangement of intersecting runways. My Garmin moving map displays extended runway centerlines which make lining up for a particular runway a lot easier when you can't visually identify your runway.  The tower controller cleared me for runway 17 and with a little help from Garmin, I somehow managed to land on that very same runway.

By chance, I happened to meet the airport manager in the terminal who was helpful with directions, but unfortunately, there was no courtesy car so we would have to Uber it to our hotel. We ate a nice leisurely steak dinner at the airport restaurant where we also enjoyed some wine and beer after a long afternoon of flying.  

The next day we were off to the Cosmosphere.  It's a well stocked space museum that you've probably never heard of.  At least I hadn't until very recently.  Inside there were exhibits on everything from Dr. Robert Goddard, early liquid fuel rocket pioneer, to Apollo artifacts.

Here is a lunar lander (LM) built for engineering test purposes.

The mangled machinery below is a part off the top of one of the F1 engines that powered Apollo 11's first stage on its way to Earth orbit.  The first stage is discarded when it runs out of fuel some 38 miles in altitude at which time it falls into the Atlantic ocean slamming into the surface at high velocity.  The twisted wreckage that remained then sank 14,000 feet to the muddy ocean bottom.  Nearly a half century later, an expedition funded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, found the broken pieces and raised some of them to the surface where they eventually made their way to various museums including the Cosmosphere.  Incredible!

The lunar module pictured below was constructed by Grumman as a pressure test article.  I enjoyed this exhibit particularly because it allows one to see the internal construction of the LM close up.

It's fascinating to see how similar the construction methods are to my own aircraft.

Apollo 11 moon rock.

Actual Apollo era mission control console.

Apollo 13 command module.

After enjoying the museum all day we availed Uber to get us back to the airport at about 4:30 p.m. After some complicated taxiing due to airport construction and my own inability to follow instructions, we departed to the west for a two and a half hour flight to Centennial CO.  There were blue skies over Kansas, but the further west we went the more clouds were about.  Afternoon thunderstorms over the Denver area seem to be mandatory in the summer months.  As I was contemplating our arrival to Centennial, it was clear that we would be racing the thunderstorms that were building over the Rockies and moving east.  The ADS-B weather radar that we have in the cockpit matched exactly the conditions that we could see ahead of us.  This gave me the confidence to continue toward the advancing storm.  We did have to fly through some light rain during the last half hour of the flight.  For some added excitement, the air traffic controller switched runways on me at the last minute.  The runway change was prompted by a switch in the wind direction as the storm passed over the field.

By the time we had the airplane unloaded at the Centennial Signature (FBO), the rain had stopped and the winds had calmed.  Shortly after, my good friend Melanie arrived to collect us.  Then she treated us to a nice dinner at Bad Daddy's burger bar.  I was especially delighted to find that the restaurant offered my favorite Colorado beer: Dry Dock Apricot Blonde.   Oh, happy day!

I've mentioned visiting Melanie and Centennial on other trips, so I won't go on about it now.  I think it bears repeating that one of the great dividends of having one's own aircraft is that geography needn't be such a big impediment to maintaining connections with friends.

The next morning Melanie prepared a light breakfast and then we headed back to the airport.  Although we would have much preferred a longer visit, we needed to get going before it got too hot and the trip home became unnecessarily turbulent.  We still had to clear some of the highest parts of the Rockies.  In addition, the mountains lie in close proximity to Centennial which necessitates a steep climb out in order to clear them.

As is usually the case, the highest terrain always lies inconveniently centered on our flight path.  In this case, it was Mt. Evans at an elevation of 14,264 feet. Compounding the issue is that the peak is only 27 nautical miles from the western edge of the Denver class B airspace.  We must fly underneath the class B until it ends and only then can we start climbing in earnest.  Our climb rate is hampered by our fully fueled weight and of course, last night's huge dinner.  To keep our engine cool, we need more airflow than our airplane's maximum angle of climb would allow, so we're not climbing as fast as I would like.  As the minutes tick by the mountain peak looms large in the windscreen.  It's not at all clear to us that we are going to clear the peak.  It begins to feel like I'm playing chicken with Mt. Evans.  The mountain, it seems, has a bit more nerve than I do.  When I got within a 1/4 mile or so, I turned a bit to the right and then flew a climbing semi-circle around the peak.

Once we were clear of the peak we donned our oxygen cannulas as we continued our climb up to 14,500' and then up to 16,500' while looking for more favorable winds.

Way up high, we cruise across Colorado and Utah darting left and right to avoid the large puffy cumulus clouds that seem determined to block our path.  Crossing into Nevada, we literally drop into Ely NV for our planned fuel stop.  Arriving from the east, one is faced with an ear-popping dive to the desert floor after clearing the nearly 12,000' high mountain peaks a scant 13 miles prior.  The fuel stop in Ely was mercifully short in the desert heat.  We were now just 2 hours from home and our trusty aircraft was again clawing its way back up to some cooler air.  Our return path across Nevada was only a little bit to the south of the eastbound path we flew less than a week ago.  This time we flew to the south of the restricted air spaces around Fallon NV and then straight over Carson City NV and Lake Tahoe, before descending with the western slope of the Sierras all the way down to Grass Valley.

And so, we covered 3126 nautical miles and accumulated 26 hours of flight time in less than a week.  We attended another Oshkosh in Wisconsin, saw the best space museum in Kansas, and visited a friend in Colorado.  All of this because we built a plane in California.

My 49th State*

A couple of years ago Carolina and I took a two week vacation to fly to all of the "lower 48" states.  See 48-states-part-1.  Ever since then I've been quietly contemplating a trip to Alaska and one to Hawaii to finish off the set, as it were.  Well, Alaska is still under consideration, but I am happy to announce that my 49th* state is now in my logbook having completed one hour of PIC time, 1 touch and go, and 1 full stop landing.   Yes, Hawaii will always have an asterisk in the almanac of Joe's flown to states, very similar to Roger Maris' single-season home run record.  The asterisk, of course,  refers to the fact that I didn't fly my own plane while in Hawaii.

Obviously, I wasn't able to take my RV-7A to Hawaii.  It is interesting to note, however,  that had I tried to fly there in my normally equipped RV, I would have been forced to ditch in the Pacific some 750 nautical miles west southwest of San Francisco for lack of fuel.  After that, it would be a refreshing 1400 mile swim to Maui where I would arrive on the beach hungry and perhaps, a bit winded.  So either way, if I try taking my own plane or we fly commercial, we still don't have an airplane when we get to Hawaii.  So the next best option is to rent one.

I happened to see an AOPA video on flying around Maui in a Cirrus SR22.  "That could be me", I thought.  I followed that happy thought with, "Wow their advertising is really working."  So I broke the bad news to Carol that we would soon be on vacation in Hawaii.   I don't think I mentioned the flying part until after she had the travel and hotels arranged.  Then there were the requisite scheduling issues, but in the end, it all worked out well except for the weather.

Maui Flight Academy appears to operate as a flight school, but based on their advertising, it seems that the bulk of their business is probably just pilots who get to Hawaii and want to go flying, but then realize that they don't have an airplane.  Whatever their business model, the owner, Laurence Balter, is a heck of a nice guy and is really easy to fly with.  For the purposes of these flights, he is acting as CFI, but he allows the pilot to fly as much or as little as they want in order to maximize the experience.  Our original plan was to fly from Maui over to the big island to view some active volcanoes.  We would have lunch over in Hawaii and then scoot on back to Maui to wrap up a nice day of flying and picture taking.

We enjoyed glorious sunshine on the preceding three days in Oahu and again in Maui on the day prior to our "flying" day.  It would appear that after four consecutive days of this balmy nirvana my weather luck had been stretched beyond its limit.  It was about 6:00 am in the morning when I got the first of several texts from Laurence advising me of his current weather concerns over the big island, which now included low ceilings and widespread precipitation.  Our flight wasn't scheduled to depart until 10:00 am, so I wasn't too concerned -- yet.

We stood by at our hotel for several hours and it didn't look like there would be a weather miracle in the offing, so we bravely ran away, as they say, and decided to fly in the other direction.  Instead of volcanoes on Hawaii, we would instead be seeing the very high sea cliffs and waterfalls along the north coast of Molokai.  It actually made very little difference to me as my main concern involved making a full stop landing somewhere in Hawaii and securing my 49th flown state.

We arrived at the Maui Flight Academy hangar a little bit early which was truly surprising considering the excruciatingly slow pace that the islanders drive.  After driving in Hawaii for a week, I needed a vacation back home to allow my blood pressure to settle.  

After the introductions, Laurence and I briefed an abbreviated flight that would take us northwest over to Molokai and Lanai then back to Maui.  This new plan would (hopefully) allow us a better chance at some decent weather.

While we taxi at Kahului international, Laurence and I discuss the differences between the Cirrus' Avidyne avionics and the Garmin displays in my RV.

Fortunately, there wasn't a lot of Jet traffic to wait for.  We were only the second in line when we had finished the run up and checklist.  Here we are just after takeoff, about to cross the beach and head out over the water.  The fanny pack looking thing I'm wearing is actually a life preserver, which is kind of ironic because I've often thought that I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a fanny pack.

Soon we are crossing the Pailolo channel towards Molokai's north side.  I fly very close in at about 1000' and follow the coastline to the west.  Even at this altitude, the cliffs tower above us.  

There is crappy weather ahead and the oncoming air traffic is causing frequent traffic alarms.  The air traffic is all 500 feet above us and going the other way.  Do they know something?

Occasionally the cliff faces give way to beautiful valley inlets allowing us a peek at the very lush and verdant interior.

After a bit, the weather cleared up nicely allowing me a chance to execute a touch and go at Kalaupapa. I made left traffic for 05 and followed the cowling mounted AOA display all the way to the pavement. Kalaupapa is the site of a former leper colony. Of course, we're ever so sophisticated these days, and now we say Hansen's disease instead of leprosy.  Never-the-less, I made a mental note to count my fingers and toes when I got back.

Final for Kalaupapa airport (LUP), Molokai.

And then the weather closes in again.  At this point, we decide to cut the tour short and we fly in the rain all the way back to Maui.

But just a few miles out, the clouds part, and I enter a left base to 05 at Kahului.

After a short taxi back, Carol snaps this final picture.  Then we exchange signatures.  Laurence signs my logbook and I sign his credit card slip.  We part ways and cheerfully go on to other adventures like finding some lunch and surviving the Maui driving experience.

I found the Cirrus' side stick easy to get used to and I liked not having the control column in my lap.  The control forces on the side stick were considerably higher than those in my RV-7A and the roll rate is noticeably slower.  In the back of my mind, I had the feeling that I wasn't in my Miata anymore.  The Cirrus felt more like a Crown Vic.  But it was stable beyond all reason.  Once it was trimmed out, it took very little effort to maintain altitude or heading.  This was a cross country cruiser!

Back at our hotel room, we had this rainbow to look at.  The colors were so vibrant it looked like neon.   It's a pity that they aren't faithfully reproduced in this photo.  That's when I had this idea:  Carol could guide me using her cell phone from our room's balcony, while on the ground, I would try to locate the pot of gold at the rainbow's end.  Had we been successful, we might have just paid for this vacation.    

The unsettled weather persisted for the remainder of "flying" day, but the next two days were warm and clear.  

And so it goes.  49 states flown.

Colorado and Arizona

I think I've mentioned before that I have a good friend in Colorado. Her house was the location of our first over-nite stop on last year's 48 State trip.  I recently employed the 'old friend in Colorado' gambit as a pretense for another trip in our RV-7A.  On this outing, we will also check off a few boxes that we missed last year on a different trip that included Tuscon and Las Vegas.  Namely, Sedona and Meteor Crater.

7:00am on a Tuesday morning saw us headed east.  I was very excited that we were leaving on time.  I don't want to mention any names, but someone on this trip, let's call her Marol, is hard to get going early in the A.M.  Never-the-less, we were in the air and it was still early morning.  Amazing!  First up: the sun rising over the Sierras.

From an elevated point of view, Nevada is a nearly endless series of mountain ranges aligned roughly North-South with desert valleys in-between.  I enjoy the change of scenery from California for a while, but hey Nevada, why not mix it up a bit?  

We had originally planned for our first stop at Price, UT, but nature intervened.  An unscheduled potty break brought us to earth at Ely, NV for a few minutes.  Their main runway was under construction which was a nice surprise on entering the pattern there.  The good news for my bladder was that they have another runway.

After a brief chat on the ramp with a local pilot and RV-6 owner, we departed Ely in a mad climb to get over a nearby mountain ridge.  RV's are good climbers, but a mountain wins in a game of 'chicken'.  So we made one S turn and then we were high enough to clear the ridge.

After refueling at Price UT, we began our ascent on the Rockies.

This flight over would give us the chance to try out our new oxygen system.  The "system", such as it is, is really just an oxygen tank mounted in the baggage compartment with a couple of tubes coming out that you stick in your nose.  The main advantage of having oxygen on board is that it allows us to go directly to our destination by attaining an altitude that permits us to fly over even the highest peaks along our route.

In the picture below, Carol is checking her oxygen level using a pulse oximeter.

We climbed out of Price UT, and leveled off at the VFR cruising altitude of 15,500'.  At this altitude, the airplane's engine doesn't produce a whole lot of power, but in the thinner air, we have less drag which partially compensates for the loss in power.  At our cruise altitude we were still producing about 45% power which yielded a climb rate of about 300 feet per minute.  We could have kept going right on up if we needed to.  At least up to 17,999' beyond which, I would need to be on an IFR flight plan.

But 15,500' was plenty high to get over the mountains that lay along our route.

That white blob was the only cloud that lay along our entire route.

We had good weather, a slight tailwind, and smooth air.  I'll have to say that crossing over the Rockies was pretty much a non-event.  This crossing stands in stark contrast to our previous experience with Colorado.

The last time we visited Centennial CO, we ended up racing a thunderstorm to the airport after weaving our way through high mountain valleys all the while endeavoring to stay beneath an ominous cloud layer.  

This time however, the air was clear and calm, and as I mentioned, we saw only one little cloud along our entire route over the Rockies.   KAPA is the closest airport to our good friend and host Melanie's house.  The airport is very busy with GA and business jet traffic and so I was expecting to get vectored around a bit before landing, but I was only taken off course a few miles before getting turned back in for a 3 mile right base for runway 35 left.  A few minutes later we were back on terra firma and taxiing over to the Signature FBO.

Melanie arrived in the lobby as we did.  I think she was surprised that we were already there. Or more likely, that my arrival time estimate had been accurate.  After a few minutes of paperwork at the front desk and we were out and on our way to lunch.  After which, we spent much of the afternoon at an outlet mall in nearby Castle Rock.  Later that evening we were treated to a delicious home cooked meal by chef Melanie herself.  Our tummies full, we settled in and enjoyed some more serious conversation.  Here Melanie discusses the benefits of wine vs. a remote control.  It's better to have both, I agree, but if you could have only one...

During our visit, we availed ourselves of the sights of Denver, and we ate.  We went bowling and we ate.  Carol and Melanie went to a concert at Red Rocks amphitheater while I ate.  Actually, Melanie's brother-in-law took me out for pizza and beer.  The next day we ate then went to a Rockies baseball game and then we ate again.

I'm still working out the kinks in this whole selfie thing.  

Carol on the move.

I've learned that there is a lot of eating to do in Denver.  We had a great time and I was able to visit at least four brewpubs and tap houses.  But, alas, all good things must come to an end.  Had we stayed another day, I'm not sure that we could have gotten off the ground.

After three beautiful days of clear weather, we woke up to an 1800' overcast on the morning of our departure.  We said our good-byes and thank-yous to Melanie and then settled in for a long wait in the Signature FBO's lobby.

Perhaps you are thinking that the 1,800' ceiling is plenty high enough to get going?  Ordinarily, I would agree, but in this case we have the Rocky mountains to cross and they're a bit higher than that.

And so I moved our bags out to the plane while we waited for the weather.  Here is some Dry Dock Apricot Blonde, one of my beer discoveries from our previous trip to Centennial.  No way was I leaving Colorado without a liquid souvenir.

After about two hours I was done waiting.  We still had the overcast, but I learned that it was clear to the south.  We departed Centennial under the ceiling and continued southwest for about 40 or 50 miles before the ceiling gave way to clear skies.  Then we set our course for Meteor Crater and started climbing once again to cross the Rockies.

Our course took us over Durango CO where the Rockies just kind of petered out, and landscape below became more and more brown until the color green had been completely vanquished.  Here is Ship Rock off to our right just west of Farmington NM.

And then to my surprise, the greenery returned on the tops of the high mesas as flew further into Arizona.

In between the mesas, the reds and browns of the desert landscape prevailed.

Some very interesting canyons carved into the mesa tops.

And this one though the desert valley.

Eventually, we arrived at Meteor Crater.  Quite literally, a big hole in the ground.

The crater was formed only 50,000 years ago, so erosion has not yet been able to erase the evidence that the universe is actually out to get us.  Of course, by geological standards, this is a very recent crater and I have no doubt that some of our local pilots may well remember it hitting the ground.

We did a clockwise loop around the rim and then continued on toward the nearby town of Sedona.  I was especially cautious on entering the vicinity of Sedona; not only because of the convergence of spiritual and harmonic energies, but because the town is a trap and I am a tourist.

Entering the Sedona area from the east, one climbs out of a broad valley and then skims over a flat ridgeline or mesa that extends north and south.  The mesa then gives way to another broad valley below with the town of Sedona set centered in-between several jagged prominences striped horizontally in red and brown layers of sedimentary deposits.  The landscape is quite striking and it was a challenge to stay focused on planning my approach to the mesa topped airport just above the city.

Descending down into the valley,  I momentarily lose sight of the airport as I fly between and behind two of the jagged mountains as I set up the left 45 degree entry to the airport pattern.  The wind at this altitude was gusty but completely manageable.

Here we are on final to runway 21.

Once on the ground I quickly tie down and head into the terminal building looking for transportation.

We were able to get a cab ride from the terminal without any difficulty, although we did have to wait for the driver to finish his lunch first.  It is a very short ride into town, but in that short moment, the cab driver managed to regale us with tales of the various celebrities he has driven into town over the years.  I was much relieved to arrive at our hotel after only a few minutes drive, although it seemed longer.

As I unloaded the trunk, the driver was searching his iPhone with the characteristic rapid finger swipes of someone looking for something really good.  I knew his efforts were rewarded when his face lit up and he quickly offered us a look at the phone.  Yep, that was he and 70's TV star Lynda Carter -- it was Wonder Woman herself.  

I don't want it to seem like I am making fun of the driver.  He was just trying to be pleasant and interesting and he wasn't entirely unsuccessful.  After all, had I been photographed with Lynda Carter, I too would want everyone I met to know about it.

Our hotel faced the main street with all of the restaurants and gift shops, contrasting the natural beauty beyond.  Here is the view from our balcony.

After checking in we crossed the street to a bar and grille for lunch. Although the flight in was not at all stressful, it was fairly long at 3 hours 10 minutes.  It was nice to kick back and enjoy a pint.

Then we walked the length of the main drag, both sides. The natural beauty of the landscape surrounding Sedona seems to be commensurate with the number of shops selling crystals and geodes. Which is to say that there are quite a few. I suspect that if a new shop wanted to open somewhere in Sedona, it would first need to build a new picturesque mesa to maintain that proportionality.

In Sedona, there are almost unlimited hiking opportunities offering breathtaking views of the rugged desert landscape.  There are jeep tours for those not inclined to perspire.  There is a natural water park at Slide Rock state park just outside of town.  We didn't do any of that.  Instead, we strolled lazily along the main thoroughfare. Now and then Carol foraged a gift shop for the perfect souvenir while I mostly waited outside at a convenient park bench or other such means of specifically not shopping.

It was hot and I was tired.  For no legitimate reason that I can think of, but watching people shop has that effect on me.  We were in the home stretch now (I could see our hotel just up the street) when we happened across an Ice Cream shop.  Considering the afternoon heat, this was certainly a welcomed discovery.

I asked for a cup of chocolate ice cream which I thought would be a simple order.  The cheerful teenaged clerk informs that I get two scoops of ice cream.  Fine, "I'll have chocolate and chocolate."  For just a split second I thought I had stumped the young woman, but her confused look quickly changed to one of thinly veiled agitation.  I had clearly failed to make a proper ice cream order.  I didn't get the eye roll that this situation clearly called for, but that expression was probably reserved especially for her parents.  "What kind of topping would you like?", she asked now with just a tinge of impatience thrown in.  Wow, this ordering of ice cream is complicated, I thought.  "Butterfinger crumbles, of course."

The ice cream was a welcomed afternoon treat and we soon made our way back to the hotel.  Later I snapped this picture in the fading light from our balcony.

Carol's prior research had revealed that there was a recently opened brewpub nearby, so we decided to give it a try for dinner.  Along our walk to the brewpub, we passed the Peace Place and I just had to take a picture.  I think I felt more amusement than tranquility, but to be fair, I was at least 50' away.

It turns out that the Sedona Beer Company was out of my first beer selection, but my second choice worked out OK.  Over the years I've learned not to take a brew pub's beer menu too seriously.  I always have a plan B and C ready if at all possible. Unfortunately for Carol, they did not offer any vino whatsoever.  She did nurse a Kombucha, but only as a preventative of dehydration.  I'll say that our dinner was passable, but we didn't really linger as we were not really enjoying their low energy vibe.  Since it was Friday night, I guess we expected a little more.  There was probably something wrong with my chakra.

Saturday morning we were up and out by the crack of mid morning.  We paid our tie down and fuel bills and we were ready to go.  The airport was quiet when we buckled in, but by the time we taxied out several aircraft were in the pattern.  We waited as one by one they landed, while we cooked to medium rare under the bubble canopy.

We departed Sedona to the northwest and enjoyed more of the beautiful scenery.  

We were headed home now, but we still had a couple more sights to check off before we got back to Grass Valley.  Grand Canyon dead ahead!

Unlike almost everywhere else, at the Grand Canyon you just can't fly around anywhere you want.  There are five designated areas for VFR traffic to cross the Grand Canyon.  Before this trip, I made special waypoints for our Garmin navigator that would place us in the center of the corridor called TUCKUP.  Having these waypoints really made finding the corridor easy:

After leaving the Grand Canyon VFR corridor we turned northwest on a course that would just miss the restricted airspace north of Las Vegas.  Here is a view near Mesquite AZ looking northeast toward St George UT.  The image doesn't leave much doubt about where the water is.

And then we pass by Groom Lake, AKA, Area 51 from 12,400 feet 25nm distant.

I considered a fuel stop at Tonopah NV, but my desire to get home outweighed my desire for a potty break and we had plenty of fuel either way.  In another hour we were crossing Lake Tahoe.

We began our descent from 12,400'  as we were crossing the west shore of the lake.  I can already see Grass Valley some 40 nautical miles away.

20 minutes later we were on the ground at Nevada County Airpark, Grass Valley CA.  Another great trip made possible by the little plane that could.  The trip home from Sedona totaled 3 hours 36 minutes, covering 535 nautical miles, and naturally, headwinds all the way.

Altogether, we flew 1730 nautical miles in 11.8 hours. We crossed the Rockies and the Sierras, twice.  We visited a friend, saw a baseball game, and flew over a big hole in the ground.  It was awesome.