Despite having had some rain and snow over the weekend, I decided I wanted to head back over to Lakeside to see if it was still dry. We were on our way by 10am and the air was calm and glassy smooth. Great morning to fly! After dragging the strip and seeing it was dry, we landed to the south. I thought I might have time to do sone hiking, but after getting a little later start than I had planned, and after making plans to meet family for lunch, we just took some pics and got back under way. So exploring that area will again have to wait until another day.
I figured that since we were over this way, I'd checkout an old west townsite that Allen and I had looked at earlier this spring. It was on our way to our lunch destination anyways. Terrace, UT was a booming town in the late 1800s. It was a maintenance station for the trains that ran from Omaha to the west coast. What a desolate and kind of weird place to choose to locate such a place. (You can read the pic of the sign below to learn more.) The road that goes by the townsite is very narrow and the strong south wind (direct crosswind) that we had last spring didn't give us a good feeling about it. So we left it for another day. Well, with calm winds, being light on fuel, and only one guinea pig on board, today was that day!
After several passes, each progressively lower, it was looking pretty good and I chose my section of road, touchdown point, and turn around point. On the last pass, things looked and felt good so I lined up to land. As I did so, I remeber thinking, "Owww...this is narrow!" I pulled the power to make my touchdown point and we were on the ground. The surface was smooth and firm and it was a nice landing if I do say so myself! We taxied up the road to our turn around point and parked the plane. Once out, my friend John paced off the width of the road: 10 of his feet. The wheel width of the 205: 8'2". I figured that left us 8-10 inches to play with on each side. Oh, and the edges of the road have some pretty good berms on them too! Needless to say, it was fun!
What a cool place! We took some pics and then decided to take the time to walk the half mile or so down to the cemetery. I'm glad we did. It gave is a chance to clear some brush off the road, smooth over a few gopher hole piles, and remove some spikes we found on the road. I also pushed a few railroad ties back away from the edge of the road that were close to protruding into it. The cemetery was really cool. It's hard to imagine living here in the old west. It had to be harsh. Soon we hussled back to the plane since we were already running a bit late for our lunch date. The takeoff was uneventful and we were on our way to lunch in Oakley, Idaho. Sadly I had to pass on a few hard pan landings I wanted to do, but it was worth going to the cemetery.
Despite having learned to fly 20 miles away in Burley, Idaho, I had never landed at Oakley's gravel strip. A cousin kept telling me to come up so today I decided that would be our lunch stop. The strip was in great shape and upon our arrival, my cousin as well as my dad were there to meet us. A short drive (also in walking distance) later we were at Searl's for lunch. Man, what a find! I've now got another close lunch run place! They make their buns fresh daily and also mix and press their patties by hand. One of the best burgers I've had in a while. Another cousin of mine met us there and we had a really nice lunch.
The day went by too quickly. I had planned on checking Albion out due to the topic of another thread, as well as see if Utah Maule was home and check out some property owned by my in-laws, but we just ran out of time. We did buzz Utah Maule's place, but when he didn't answer, we pressed on to Malad for fuel before heading home. All in all, a great day of flying. Flew a little more than 3 hours, landed some new places, and had a great lunch with family and friends. Ended the day with dinner and a movie with the family. I don't think it can get much better than that!
Here are some pics. Unfortunately I had some camera issues, so no video for now. I might be able to post a few clips that I managed to get when I get home.
Crossing the north arm of the Great Salt Lake
Lakeside
Terrace, Utah
John mumbled something about walking home.
The history of Terrace.
Old foundations at Terrace.
Clearing the "strip" for departure.
A unique type of runway hazard at Terrace. Some eroded down to pointy needles.
Parallel tracks coming into town.
Terrace cemetery
John and I after an uneventful departure from Terrace.
Oakley, Idaho
Great lunch with family and friends.
Tested out my warp drive again! We will see what they have to say. 2 or 3rd time this has happened while in the same area.
