This am we leave the cool but pretty skies of British Columbia. Will spend the night somewhere in Oregon and then to Mammoth Lakes for a couple of nights. While there I will try and fool my long time doctor into saying that I am healthy enough to fly a plane. Next stop is Van Nuys for a night with an elderly friend. Monday we go to Bermuda Dunes to torture our new puppy. There she will undergo "rattlesnake avoidance" training. After this event we fly to Oceanside where we will house/dog sit for about 5 days of relaxation and shopping. Then we cross the border, spending the night in Mulege at the Hotel Serenidad. Finally the next am we will be home, ready to face what is awaiting us and hoping the snakes leave us alone. Got to go, e-Apis is next. FF

Have a safe trip!

You are leaving at the best time of the year, again. Don't sunburn there. Steve

Best made plans, oh well. After a nice flight into Oroville, WA for customs and fuel, we launched for Burns, OR. Thought we might as well get further south than Pendleton and might see Bub. As we approached John Day airport we saw a big smoke cloud dead ahead of us. When I cancelled my border crossing flight plan into Oroville, I asked what the winds aloft were for my trip to Burns and if there were any TFRs, a bit of a head wind and no TFRs. I called McMinnville radio abeam John Day and asked what was happening, they said they did not have any TFRs but Burns was closed and for fire fighting useage only!!!!

A quick 180 and slam dunk into John Day for the first ever visit. New terminal building, pilot's lounge with shower and bunkbeds, AND a courtesy car. Stopped at Chester's Thriftway Market for some adult beverage and were confronted with food samples of all kinds, from prime rib, chicken numerous ways, cheese, wine, beer, salads, etc. If wife had been more understanding we could have eaten dinner there with a couple of rounds, awesome. Another bit of good news was that we had a free room at the Best Western, yipee. Now if I can figure out a way to lessen the impact of the $4.88/gal av gas, all will be good. Dinner tongith will be at the Outpost Restaurant, sigh, the chicken tenders and prime rib are still rumbling around in my stomach.

Almost forgot, had to jump start this am, my 3 yr old $450 battery may be giving up the ghost. With a 28 v system, I am now carrying 10 #s of jumper cables and a 2 ft piece of wire to connect a couple of batteries together, grrrrr. If tomorrow brings low voltage, I will order a battery from Aircraft Spruce and have it shipped ahead of me. $298 and free shipping, I love the USA. FF

Have good trip. Is your new dog as good as Tipsy?

Tim

Hopefully you'll be in Mulege on a friday night for the pig roast at V.S. M'mm good.

Tim, is Tipsy your short coated border collie? Raven is still just under 6 months old and learning the ropes, time will tell. Friday night pig roast in Mulege at the V.S.? I don't know what this is, the only pig roast I know is the one on Sat nights at the Hotel Serenidad?

Titsy is the smooth hair border collie that jumped in your plane as soon as you opened the door. That is a good pig roast at Hotel Sorinidad.

Tim

TiM: Please make up your mind whether your dog is named Titsy or Typsy??

The saga continues, launched from John Day and was happily chugging along at 9.5 eating my Subway and reading a book when all of a sudden it seemed that somebody pulled the throttle back to almost idle! I threw the book and sandwich at my co-pilot and started pushing and pulling on everything. I was 5 miles from Fernley so I knew I wasn't going to in up in the bushes but things were tense. Got things runnining again but engine seemed a bit rough at the same fuel flow. I played around with the mixture with no good results and saw #3 cylinder EGT temps way above normal. I decided to hang a right and go to Carson City where I have my annuals done in the spring. The shop checked and cleaned injectors and fuel lines and couldn't find anything. We did a full power run up and then I flew around the pattern a couple of times with no bad results so we continued to Mammoth with no further problems.

In case any of you EVER consider flying to Mammoth, a lovely spot, don't do it. After owning a hangar there for 20 yrs and being based there for almost 30, I was stunned to pay $6.17 per gallon AND $10 per night tie down. Hot Creek Aviation is the biggest gouger in this area by a landslide.

After 2 nice nights and a successful medical check up, we left this am for Van Nuys. Got down and the basin was solid and no hope of a hole or scud running. I landed at Fox Field and looked for a rental car, nothing, anywhere! Got a guy to let me make copies of some approach plates and inroute map and relaunched with an IFR clearance. As I intercepted the ILS it did not take me long to see that I had no glideslope, yep, went missed. Back to Fox Field to trouble shoot. Decided that we would skip Van Nuys and head to Bermuda Dunes and be early for the dog's snake training. Sigh, a double martini is calling. Later, FF

You are having a heck of a time. Hope all the problems are behind you now. Where do you keep the plane when in Baja?

And it is Tipsy.

Tim

I like Titsy more.

Dang Ford, sounds like you are not getting any breaks. Stay frosty.

Life is a challenge. After landing at Bermuda Dunes Sunday afternoon, we got a ride in the courtesy van to a motel and had a nice dinner. The next morning we had a $40 cab ride back to the airport. Had our session with the snake trainers, very interesting and we will probably do this again next spring. I am pretty sure that Raven will avoid all snakes if she alerts on them.

Now the fun starts, trying to get into Oceanside. Weather was reporting about 2,500 scattered, 3,000 overcast. Off we go over the mtns and it looked like a big white blanket. Headed to Banning and went underneath the marine layer but could not continue SW as the clouds went virtually to the ground. Decided to land at Palm Springs where we were more sure of getting a rental car. Had to be in Oceanside for our house/dog sitting stint. Got a car and while loading it I found a shop to look at the glideslope problem. They had to take out the audio panel, the old GPS, and the #2 radio to pull the #1 radio, after that they swapped positions, got their test box and, voila, glideslope/localizer problem fixed, grrrrrrrrrr. We decided we didn't want anymore hassle and decided to drive anyway. BY THE WAY, SIGNATURE HAS AVGAS FOR $6.75 gal!!!!!!! They also had a $45 landing fee was would be waved if you bought fuel, some choice. The good news is that I parked my plane at Dessert Aeronautics for the night and avoided all fees but got a $300 bill for working on my plane. So Mon I drove back to Palm Springs arriving about 1 pm. I was late by 2 hrs returning the rental car but the office gal took pity on me and didn't charge me for an extra day. Raining like crazy, lightining, black and ugly. Now the coast was reporting 300-500 ceilings, below minimuns. I sat around talking to flight service about every half hour, printing more approach plates, had borrowed a low level enroute chart, and tried to find a window when the weather was moving thru. Finally got a semi opening and took off, IFR to Thermal then Julian, and on my way to Montgomery Field as they had the only weather above minimuns. While getting close I listened to the ATIS at Carlsbad and it was about 800 and 3 miles. Diverted their with no hassles and when the airport was in sight, the tower told me to head 180 degrees and climb to 4,000 msl!!! A lifeflight helicopter was on it's way so off I went. Flew around in the clouds for awhile, asked So Cal apr where I was in line and he said #3. Asked how my fuel was and I told him I was ok but hadn't planned on a lot of diversion. He said he would give me a short approach and then slam dunked me into Carlsbad. Nice to have a slow plane at times so I landed in heavy rain, called my wife to come get me. Since she hadn't heard from me for about 3 hrs, she was thinking where she would be moving to as a widow. Good to needed. Now I am going to rest up awhile, put in my new battery and let my nerves settle down. Mexicio to come.