Searching for clouds

Me, Don, Ed, Mac and Chuck and the 206

Today, four buddies and I took off at 0-dark-thirty to fly to Prescott to get our bi-annual flight physicals. We all live here at the airport and all fly different kinds of planes. Ed has a Debonair; Don, a Mooney; Mac, a Sierra; and Chuck has two RV-6s that he built himself. Today we took my Cessna U206 since it has six seats.

What a beautifully smooth flight. We were surprised to see no snow on the Hualapai Mountains near Kingman. There was only a smattering of snow on the peaks to the south also. Although we didn’t see much snow, we did see a few trails that would be fun to cycle or hike in the summer time.

In less than an hour we were there, way too early for our appointments. The temperature was a nippy 24 degrees F. Flight Service said -5C. Cold however you say it, especially in the shade. BBBrrrrrrrrr. We all wanted coffee just to warm up our hands, so we went first to the airport coffee shop. Breakfast was an afterthought. It was pretty reasonably priced as well.

Getting back to the plane was interesting as we had to go through a locked gate and none of us bothered to remember the code that was printed on the other side. With a little help we made it through and were able to taxi ourselves to the other side of the airport to Ritt-Aire where Dr. Ritter has his practice. The Doc is an old friend of mine from Bullhead City. He used to have the only clinic in town, many years ago. We reminisced about old friends as I got my physical. We all passed, even Chuck, who will be 90 this November. He is also the only one of us that doesn't wear glasses.

The flight home was actually slightly longer even though we were going downhill. We skirted some mountains rather than skimming the top in order to avoid the bumps. As I skimmed it onto the runway there was a great round of applause. Whether it was for my landing or for getting them back alive they wouldn't say. One thing I have to say, though, it is a lot easier to push the plane back up into the hangar with five people than it is with only me.

Cycling the Laughlin loop

I got up this morning, took a shower, got dressed and made my way to my computer waiting for everyone else to get up. About 8:00 my brother, John, I.M.ed me asking if I wanted to ride in about an hour after it warmed up. There was no wind today, no excuse there, yesterday I told him I had to wash my hair and he wouldn’t buy it then, I had to resort to my needing to wait for Jon the mechanic to finish fixing my plane. I couldn’t use that one today as he finished yesterday. There was no way out, especially since I got him started in riding in the first place. “I have created a monster!” was a quote that came to mind. “Give me a 15 minute heads-up.” I texted back, hoping he would find his own excuse or maybe the wind would pick up.

No wind, it was time to go. “Want to go to Laughlin?” he asked? “Are you nuts?” I thought. “How about the Parkway?” I asked. “Why?” he asked. “Who are you and what have you done with my out of shape sedentary brother?” I thought to myself. By that time, a half block from home I realized I had forgotten my Edge 705 GPS. I am not riding anywhere without “logging” it so I went back and got it, along with some Cliff Bars and two bottles of water and a wind-breaker. OK, let’s go to Laughlin.

John wanted to go clockwise so we started out and coasted most of the way to the Avi Casino. It is mostly flat for a couple miles before a long gentle uphill to meet up with the Needles Highway. I waited for him at the top, ate a Cliff Bar and admired the view. So clear we could see 50 miles, even more if the mountains hadn’t been in the way. Then I fixed my chain-rings. The bolts holding them onto the crank were getting loose, again. Of course I had thought of grabbing my tools before leaving the house, but, nah, I wouldn’t need them. I hadn’t even brought my wallet of phone. We used the spring clip on the back of John’s garage door opener and all was well. Just another reminder of why I bought the Long Haul Trucker. Unfortunately it is in Taiwan and I am here.

The next leg was flat and then a little downhill. Then the wind started. It is winter, so it came from the north, kind of the direction we were heading….. When we turned onto Casino Drive in Laughlin I had to downshift even though going downhill. That was not a good sign. We had three hills to go up, only one would have been a pain without the wind. With the wind they were all a pain. Finally we passed Harrah’s Casino and peddled downhill to the flat, and directly into the wind. We slowly passed the casinos until getting to the Riverside. There, the casino is close to the road on one side and the parking lot is close on the other and a skywalk connects the two creating a venturi that stopped me in my tracks. I struggled through and then waited to watch my brother get his surprise.

We made it around the corner, over the bridge and back into Arizona. We barely had to peddle for the next four miles. I rarely drive on Arizona 95 through Bullhead preferring instead to use the Parkway and bypass the lights and traffic. But, 95 is flatter, so….. I was surprised to see the number of vacant lots, there seemed to be more, and the businesses that were closed or closing. Modern day sandwich men were out with signs directing us to the stores that were closing: KB Toys in Laughlin, Office Max, etc. a sing of the present economy.
The wind was with us most of the way home until we turned east to head up the hill the last two miles. Big crosswinds are a nuisance. Finally up the hill and into the airport and we were home. The wind was pushing us all the way.