|
|
|
|
July 17 Joan�s brother, Jim and his family live in the San Diego area of California. He was recovering from shoulder surgery and his frustration level was at its highest. We both had shoulder surgery within eight months of each other a few years ago and know only too well what a difficult time it is for three months after the operation. We were off to cheer him up and lend a hand. |
|
![]() Just after the break of daylight we took off with Joan at the controls and Ueli juggling the charts. We headed direct to Prescott, Arizona a stretch that we had traveled many times, just 500nm ( 930 km). First across the Rocky Mountains in the direction Durango and then across Navajo country with it's distinct pattern of erosion. The weather held up until Flagstaff, Arizona. There it rained so hard that any bug having splattered our windshield disappeared in a matter of minutes. Joan was more than happy as she had already filed IFR. After landing in Prescott (KPRC) we headed into town to check into one of those �Historical Hotels�. One thing we have learned on our travels that in these well noted special places the beds are often uncomfortable and usually too small. However, here the quality of the food and atmosphere was terrific and the staff was simply wonderful. It was also quiet.
|
|
|
|
July 18 The next leg was planed for McClellan-Palomar Airport (KCRQ) in Carlsbad, California. Ueli battled strong winds along the route to Palm Desert VOR. After getting the latest weather update for Palomar, it was not in the cards to land there. The coastal fog had not cleared and was not expected to lessen in the next hour. We chose the alternate. N85S worked hard against the wind into Palm Springs (KPSP). Once parked, unpacked and hangared, we rented a car for a three hour drive to Vista, north of San Diego where Jim and the family live.
|
|
The
next four days were great fun with restful visits and lots of time to catch
up on things. Jim�s wife, Mary Jane took us on an unexpected sightseeing
excursion to the Scripps Aquarium. It was fabulous and we must have taken
over fifty pictures of various fish and unusual under water creatures to add
to our scuba diving folder of
|
|
|
|
![]() |
|
|
|
Ueli�s cousin, J�rg resides part of the year in Cloverdale, to the northwest of Napa. (The other half of the year he lives in Switzerland.) He is a bona fide cattle rancher who has developed a profound passion for growing olive trees. It is hard to believe that he is a lawyer, hotel owner/manager and his own handyman who drives an old clunker of a jeep no thief would be interested in. It was a terrific experience to spend the day with him exploring the ranch. Upon leaving, he gave us some homework to find a �build it yourself helicopter� to keep track of his cattle the comfortable way. His horse was getting old, he told us. We reminded him that he would need to learn to fly. We don�t think it registered |
|
Before continuing on our flying journey we could not resist a trip to San Francisco. It takes about an hour and a half to get into the City if you choose the right time of the day. The usual weather prevailed with winds that were chilling to the bone. We walked and rode the streetcars up and down countless roads and this time, our pockets started to wear a bit thin and our arms began to stretch from the souvenirs. To avoid added damage we delayed further exploration for some other time. Anyway, it was so cold that we literally ran to the car, raced across the Golden Gate, not forgetting the compulsory picture stop and joined the late afternoon traffic north to Napa. We had to get ready for the next day. How would the weather be? What route should we take?
|
|
Visit our other trips | |
Westcoast Loop part 2 | Napa - Portland - Kalispell - Billings - Boulder |
Santa Fe | Boulder - Santa Fe - Boulder |
Aspen | Daytrip to Aspen |
Pittsburgh | Boulder - San Joseph - Indianapolis - Pittsburgh - Des Moines - Boulder |
Cleveland | Boulder - Salina - St. Louis - Cleveland - Cincinnati - Kansas City - Boulder |
Four State Swing | Boulder - Dutch John - Wendover - Ely - Marble Canyon - Montrose - Boulder |
|
|
Return to Trip 2003 Overview page | |
Return to HOME page | |
Return to our main web page of WeFly4Fun.com Response and suggestions are appreciated to [email protected]
|
|
This page was last serviced on 23. February 2004 |