This adventure was all about a family reunion in Truckee California at the end of June. Remembering that you can choose your friends but not your family, I decided to add in some fun stuff during the trip. So off we go.
Texas Grass Hopper Farm - money money money money money MONEY.
First fuel stop was Ruidosa NM. After we took off is when things went bad as the wife got airsick. My fault, I asked her to help me hook up the oxygen system cause the turbulence was terrible and I wanted to go high. High didn't help. Even the airliners were getting their asses kicked. Anyway this photo is of the Valley of Fire, just on the other side of the mountain from Ruidosa.
Valley Of Fire - where is the volcanoe?
Okay now we are in Williams, AZ. Spending the night and then taking the train to the Grand Canyon in the morning. Just outside the hotel is my favorite locomotive, a Shay. These were truly "Backcountry" locomotives.
Downtown Williams on Route 66. If you don't know the significance of Route 66, and haven't driven Route 66, well your life will remain unfulfilled. Williams is the last town on Route 66 to be bypassed by I40.
So just imagine you and your wife have left the east in your covered wagon headed west, to the land of promise. It's been about four months now, everyone is tired and thirsty. Your wife is really pissed cause you've taken her away from friends, family and shopping, all for the promise of the good life. All of a sudden you come to something blocking your path.
THE GRAND CANYON.
You can't go down it and up the other side. You have no idea how many miles this stretches. Your wife is STEAMING!
But all's not lost, there is water, lot's of it. In the bottom. The mighty Colorado river. Just how thirsty are you?
On our way back from the tour of the South Rim of the Canyon we were set upon by train robbers. These guys weren't the brightest train robbers either, the train had to slow down so they could board.
The next morning we were in the air shortly after sunrise. The wife was no longer pissed from being sick, the Grand Canyon (something she had never seen) saw to that. Now it was in our way. Fortunately my covered wagon is a 185.
What happens next isn't so good.
NEVADA.
Okay, you've now seen Nevada. That's pretty much it. Oh there is Lake Mead, but that's the same picture but with some water in it. In all fairness there is a tiny sliver of beauty up by Lake Tahoe. I'm pretty sure it was secured from California on sympathy. The California and Nevada guys were drawing the lines and the conversation went something like this: "Please please please! You can afford to give us just a little pretty land can't you? I mean have you seen our state? Utah is prettier!" So the California guy, feeling sorry for his neighbor, gave him just a bit. At least that's what I've been told. Of course Nevada got it's revenge when California became filled with loonies. Oh. Wait a minute. Harry Reid is from Nevada. Never mind.
TAHOE
There is really nothing much I can say. Okay just one piece of trivia. This ain't a shallow lake. Supposedly there is enough water in it to cover all of the U.S. in 4 inches.
So the wife and I were the first to reach Truckee. Our youngest daughter was in Reno gambling. I called her and asked her to drive over the mountain, pick us up, and take us to the house I'd rented for the reunion. She didn't complain so she was probably loosing anyway. We were starved so I fired up Yelp! to find a good place to eat, and found this.
As we sat there in the beauty and splendor of Truckee we continued to get group text messages from the other 15 people driving in from various directions, still hours away. Most of the conversation was about where they were stopping for food. Heard things like In-N-Out, Sonic, and Whataburger. Being the family patriarch I resisted the temptation to send them this photo. At least I did for as long as I could.
I'm not sure why I put this photo in. For those who think playing in the snow is a worthwhile expenditure of your time here is the gratuitous ski resort. SQUAW VALLEY. I'm actually offended by its name, disparaging as it is to the Native Americans. Think I'll send a letter to Governor Moonbeam and demand it be changed, even though the Native Americans aren't complaining.
I actually did snow ski once, twice in one day actually, at Mammoth Mountain. I was probably 20 years old at the time. In the morning I started out of Bunny Hill. In the afternoon I thought it would be good to try the Black Run. Boy was I pissed when I finally reached the bottom.
So here's our Granddaughter playing golf at a ski resort. Seems like a sensible use for a ski resort to me. Imagine what I could do with the ball with a driver.
After sending my Grandson and Niece for a glider ride, my wife and oldest daughter out golfing, and me fishing with "Gilligan" it was finally time to head back to Texas. First stop?
NEVADA. So we are flying along counting the minutes till we are out of the Garden State, when I spy a little town with a nine hole golf course. The only green for hundreds of miles in any direction. But wait a minute, the town isn't even on the map! Then I realize why, it's a mining town. Now I've never seen an active mining town before, but if I was asked if they had golf courses I wouldn't even hesitate to blurt out "NO". But there it was, and there was the mine. It must be expensive to import enough water to make a golf course green, I mean they ain't drilling down for it. I guess they are probably mining Unobtainium. Next to Gold that's the only thing with enough value.
UTAH! Just past Cedar City on the way to Bryce Canyon. Which is a great place to overnight with a great FBO.
BRYCE CANYON
Once again my wife is happy and taking lots of pictures.
As beautiful as Bryce Canyon is, it gets even better.
LAKE POWELL
Now back when I was chasing bass for a living on the professional circuit we didn't fish many western lakes. But two that we did were Lake Mead and Lake Powell, two of my favorite lakes. At Lake Powell the tournament would always launch out of Wahweap, down near the dam. The fishing sucked down lake. The further up lake you went the better the fishing got, but the less time you had to fish, you'd launch at 7am and had to be back by 3pm. So each day I'd get my bass boat up to about 70mph and ride up lake for 2 1/2 hours. Fish a couple of hours, and then ride 2 1/2 hours back. Day after day.
During the practice days I'd run up the lake and just tie my boat to a tree to sleep at night rather then running back down. In those days my hearing was still good and it was so quiet at night that you could actually hear the blood flowing through your veins. No kidding. Now I've got this constant hiss in my head like there is an air leak.
After flying Lake Powell we stopped for fuel at Halls Crossing. They were painting the runway and quit nervous when I radioed I was landing. Told me they didn't expect any airplanes. Really, no kidding.
I don't believe they'd ever seen anyone land a taxiway before. I learned that Lake Powell was actually 180 feet low. Certainly I'd never seen anything like that in my fishing days. Anyway, here is just a little bit of Lake Powell.
And now we leave Powell headed for our overnight, Taos New Mexico. July is Monsoon season in New Mexico, so just about every evening the thunderstorms build, the rain falls, and the wind blows. We landed, and I tied down, to an 18mph West wind. The storm that blew in that night bumped the wind up to 35mph and gusting higher, and from the East. I beat it back out to the airport to watch the wind pushing hard down on the back of the elevator. I looked to see if I could find a truck with keys in it to park behind the 185 and break the wind, but no joy. To top it off I was surrounded by other tied down planes, and not a soul in sight. I finally made the decision to untie the plane, fire it up and move it to a different part of the airport where I could face her into the wind and get her some relief from a building.
Ever try to un-tie, un-chock, and move a taildragger in a 35+ wind with other planes on all four corners? And with no one to help?
The following day I went fishing and the wife went golfing. Now I have to admit that even though I don't like golf, I don't mind playing it at the Taos Country club. What's not to like.
And if you do hit an errant golf ball here is where you get to look for it.
SAGE.
I could spend days wandering around in sage. It's my absolute favorite smell.
The flight from Taos back to Texas was without drama. And the wife is still willing to flying, as long as her golf clubs are aboard, and the flight isn't too long.
