Went out to the hanger to clean the belly of the Cessna this morning, but it was too cold to lay on the hanger floor and try to wipe frozen oil off cold aluminum, so I loaded up Pokey Joe and a buddy who is a taildragger CFI and headed over the Sierras to Truckee to meet another friend for lunch. Turned out to be a spectacular flight. Weather was crystal clear and cold on the west side with a broken layer at about 9000msl over the pass and out to the east. Had to merge onto the freeway to sneak under it at the summit, but it was breaking up pretty good over Truckee.
Had a great sandwich at the airport café, and got Rich to tell us the story of how he bought his first airplane with his wife's Keno jackpot on their anniversary years ago.. It was fun watching all the Pilatus's and King Air's come and go...Didn't see any black and white 180's though. Snow must be good in Alaska too.
After lunch, we flew out over the lake and checked out the ski areas. All the parking lots were packed and the conditions looked great after what we've been through the last couple years. Snow pack is about 120% of normal so far.
When we landed, everyone asked what I was going to do to celebrate New Years. With a steely eyed far away gaze that I have been trying to perfect since I was a student pilot, I explained that my year was already complete.
