Last addition: 3Sep08 1330 CDT
.........Driving Map.................................Flying Map.........4Jul08 Cascade Locks, OR
Ken: Nikki and Clare headed for Canby, while Bev, Dave and I drove back to Hillsboro. Said goodbye to them, and did the 15 minute flight to Molino Airport, where Nikki & Clare waited
(unhitched from trailer). We drove to Laura Lee and Steve's place for a couple of hours of chatter, then we had to get back on the road. Nikki & Clare drove, and I flew (30 min), to Cascade Locks on the Columbia. This airport is really nice. Set on a low lying step along the Columbia Gorge, it is 1800' long, 29' wide hard surface. Clear approach over the river from the west, tall trees at approach end from the east. Unloaded the Breezer and peddled the mile or so to the KOA Campground to join Nikki & Clare.5Jul08 Cascade Locks
Ken: Caught up on cleaning, laundry, etc. In the afternoon we drove to Husum, WA to home of
friends Jan and Tom (former Fairbanksans, and artist). Lovely cabin 
under construction high above the White Salmon River. The river is a popular float trip, and we saw several groups of rafts go by in the time we were at their home. Toured the area with Jan as guide, great views of the White Salmon several places. Here, the river flows through what many believe is a collapsed lava tube. Mt. Adams almost towered over us as we rounded bends and came across meadows which gave views to the north.6Jul08 Cascade Locks
Ken: We biked along the historic Columbia Highway Trail in the morning -- did about 10 mi. total. Clare, on the Breezer, was kind enough to idle along with us on our full sized bikes. These are images of streams along the bike trail.
Friends Chris and Carissa drove out from Portland for the afternoon. Clare and Nikki did an early evening of hot wraps and massage at a very interesting Spa just across the river into Washington. Great dinner at the spa lodge restaurant after. This spa/lodge is so sure of itself that there are no signs to it on the road, and no sign across the entrance itself. We had to go inside to be sure we were at the right spot.7Jul08 Cascade Locks
Ken: Put Clare on the plane back to Oxford in the evening.
8Jul08 Ontario, OR
Ken: Just the two of us back on the trail east. I'd planned to fly the Gorge to The Dalles, direct Baker, direct Ontario. However, on the leg to Baker I spotted smoke from a canyon to the south. Diverted to check it out (a part of AFS still in me). Several tens of acres had already burned. Active perimeter smokes. Something torched as I flew over. I called in the coordinates. This put me almost on the John Day River NW of Kimberly, so I flew the river to Kimberly to see if I could spot Cathedral Rocks Ranch, the home of former Fairbanksans Charlotte & Jim. Couldn't. Then direct from Kimberly VOR to Ontario. I got there well ahead of Nikki, so did some exploring. Must have been about a dozen jet warbirds, all belonging to a local collector. A few are shown here. In the bottom right photo, notice two of them tied down with the civilian singles.
I got out the Breezer and peddled the mile and a half to the RV park to scout. Really funky small RV park, mostly filled with permanent dwellers. I was greeted by a very red-headed gal sporting lots of tatoos, an ex hot air balloon pilot. A fellow in his early 20's, nearly shaved head, large tatoo on back, insisted I meet his dog (pit bull) so there wouldn't be any unfortunate happenings should I wander by his tent site in the night. Nikki pulled in and we set up, then biked to the grocery store and back. Getting hot, now. 1st time running air conditioner and we left it running while going to the store. On the way back a parade of fire vehicles roared past. As we came over the crest by the airport we could see smoke from the vicinity of the RV park. All kinds of bad thoughts zoomed through our heads until we could get close enough to see that it was right next to the park -- not our trailer going up.9Jul08 Willard UT
Ken: Flight from Ontario to Brigham City, Utah followed the pattern from yesterday -- lovely flying, 9500', trued out around 130kn (!), smooth air until near destinations, then thermal buildups made for some bumps. Nikki picked me up at the Brigham City airport on her way by, headed for Willard Bay State Park.
10Jul08 Willard
Ken: Peddled around the park, exploring, while we waited for our friends Olivia and John from SLC. Great afternoon walking in the heat, talking in the air conditioned trailer, sharing a meal.
11Jul08 Saratoga WY
Ken: We got going earlier than usual, as Nikki was headed to the University of Utah for an art show (Monet to Picasso) and I wanted to get ahead of the high temperatures. The first 20 minutes of the flight from Brigham City to Saratoga, WY were a bit intense. Take off from 4200' high strip in about 70deg temperature, quickly contact FSS to open flight plan, then SLC approach to get radar advisories, hug the mountains to skirt control zones for Ogden and Hill AFB while climbing as quickly as possible before needing to turn into mountain pass with 9000' to 10,000' peaks all around. I made 9500' about the same time as turning east to follow I-80 almost the rest of the flight. There was an alert out for moderate turbulence all along my route, but that didn't materialize. It was a bit strange to see the altimeter showing 9500', but the average terrain was only 2000' below me. I did some photography on this flight! I've been seeing wind farms across Oregon and Wyoming. The "oasis" is Little America, a major truck stop for decades. Two images show general terrain that I was flying over. The town is Green river.
I arrived in Saratoga (8800' long runway at 7000', arched so you can't see the other end from either threshhold), tied down, hit the loo, and called Nikki just as she was getting ready to leave SLC (about noon). So I unloaded the Breezer and spent a couple of hours biking around Saratoga. The number of private jets parked here corroborated my impression that it's a popular upper class getaway. Nikki picked me up at the airport on her way by, and we headed for The Place, another Alaskan looking RV park about 20 miles SE of Saratoga. We are right on the west boundary of Medicine Bow NF, Snowy Range. Set up trailer and tent, awaiting arrival of former Fairbanks friends Misty and Joanie, who arrived about 9pm, from Denver.12Jul08 Saratoga
Ken: Breakfast at The Place, then headed into NF to find some hiking. The four of us spent about 3 hours enjoying moving through the forest at about 7500' - 8000'. Then headed SW to
Encampment, where there is a really great museum at which we spent some time. Then into Saratoga looking for late lunch. Finally found an open place, sitting on the banks of the North Platte River. Lunch done, we found the public swimming pool and hot springs. Many years ago, the natives had worked an agreement with Saratoga to make the hot springs available only if the City never charged admission. So we paid $2 to swim in the regular pool next to the hot springs, and could move back and forth from pool, to HOT (~118F) springs, to a branch of the North Platte River where folks had made simple "pools" with a ring of large boulders. I managed to get my feet in the cooler part of the hot springs for only 15 seconds or so at a time. Less sensitive souls actually submersed and survived. I felt like we only needed potatoes and carrots to make a stew.13Jul08 Saratoga
Ken: We tried to get up early and go for a short sight seeing flight before the thermals got too bad. Getting in the air by 9am was way too late! One of our group had never flown in a small plane, and we cut the flight short in deference to her stomach. Back to the trailer to nap, chat, munch, chat, nap, chat. Misty and Joanie had to get back to Denver for work/school in the morning, and left around 5pm. And I'm using the time to reconstruct the last 10 days. Now Nikki and I can plan what we want to see over the next few days.
14Jul08 Saratoga
Ken: Today was supposed to be a day for cleaning, organizing, repacking, etc. However, a trip to town for laundry, lunch, gallery grazing and shopping, was followed by a drive through the
Snowy Range to Centennial and back. What beautiful country. Dinner at a lodge along the way. 
Coming back an hour or so before sunset, we took one of the county roads to get photos of the many Mule Deer and Pronghorn Antelope. This Mule Deer was back in the shadows of the forest.15Jul08 Saratoga
Ken: We had planned to fly to Cody today. Lots of attractions there to fill a day. Plane did not cooperate. Mechanical problem kept us attending to the plane until mid-afternoon. So we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening doing the cleaning and organizing we'd put off yesterday. Try for Cody again in the morning.
16Jul08 Saratoga
Ken: We made it to Cody today. Two hour flight over what looks like utter desolation. However, there are roads scattered around quite a bit of it. Weather was great for the trip up. 8500' gave us at least 500' clearance without needing to sidestep any peaks. Spent most of our time in the really awesome Buffalo Bill Cody Museum complex, which includes four museums. We spent quite a bit of time in the Whitney Museum of Western Art, and a quick pass through the Plains Indians Museum. We did not even try to get to the Firearms Museum or the Natural History Museum. We also hit two art galleries, spending much more time in one than the other. Return flight, at 9500', was fairly bumpy. Briefer had not found an airmet for turbulance over much of our path. The Garmin 496/XM feed let me know. It also painted light showers around the Saratoga area. This GPS is a tremendous tool, and we use it heavily.
17Jul08 Saratoga
Ken: Worked on trailer, van, mailed a bunch of packages to folks (including ourselves), repacked airplane, generally getting all in order to launch another segment in the morning. We even got in about an hour of biking up a Forest Service road and back. After talking with the TrailManor service guy, I found the ground connection for the battery. Missing set screw in clamp explains the lack of battery power. Temporary fix until I can find replacement. Dinner and trip planning rounded out another relaxing day.
18Jul08 Hot Springs, SD
Ken: Hour and a half flight from Saratoga to Hot Springs. On final, after several announcements of my position on radio, I get a call that a glider is about to launch. So I bank into a lazy 360, and don't see them when I'm ready to land. Radio call to verify, and they'd forgotten to call off the runway. Sigh. Tie down, get out Breezer and head for the
campground on the Reservoir. Hot, hilly ride, but I got a site reserved at the entrance and biked on to the site. Nikki arrived a few hours later and we spent two nights here. Very nice campground, lake to swim in, interesting historic sites around town. This substantial old school dates to 1893!20Jul08 Canton, SD
Ken: Two and a half hours to cross South Dakota. If I had pegged an autopilot to fly due east, I wouldn't have been very far off. Found an old phone that would dial with difficulty and closed my flight plan. I unpacked the Breezer and toured Canton for a while, then back to the airport to wait for Nikki's arrival. We found Newton Hills State Campground, and it was delightful. Lots of trees, grassy areas around widely spaced camp sites, hiking trails in the hills, much of the area too hilly to farm so still covered with original vegetation. We biked a mile to the associated lake to put our toes in the water. Nice relaxing evening.
Nikki: Changing landscape – barns, silos, barns, silos, corn fields, locals say they get tired of it, but to these Alaskan wilderness trained eyes, it was visual candy. Posting photos to the blog takes good Internet connections and lots of time, otherwise I would place photos of transitions from green to brown to dry, back to green again. Driving across country is filling a life long dream, and I'm not disappointed.21Jul08 La Crosse, WI
Ken: 1.7 hours to cross Minnesota! Coming into La Crosse I must have misunderstood the tower. Traffic was only another light aircraft ahead of me and I thought I was cleared to land. But when I called ground on rolling off runway, he asked me what happened to my call at base. I rarely misunderstand, and often double check, so I felt very chagrined to have missed this one. Good wake up call! Nikki came in from the SW, so dropped the trailer at the Pettibone RV park before coming to fetch me at the airport. This campground is on an island in the Mississippi. We spent three nights here.
22Jul08 La Crosse
Ken: Drove up to Eau Claire to visit Diane, one of the O'Brien relatives. Good day of visiting, some exploring Eau Claire, etc. On recommendation from Diane, we stopped at a hotel in Trempealeau overlooking the Mississippi for dinner. Wonderful food, great view.
23Jul08 La Crosse
Ken: We set out on a bike trip that was supposed to have been 10-15 miles round trip. Drove bikes to Onalaska, on outskirts of La Crosse, where trail along the Mississippi starts. We were more than 7 miles up the trail when we realized we were very hungry and had brought nothing to eat. Talked with another biker coming south to see if there was a town coming up. "Nothing until you get to Trempealeau, but this is the best section of the trail." So we went the 6+ miles further and had lunch in the same hotel as the night before. By the time we got back to Onalaska, our butts were sore from the 28 or so miles we'd ridden. Drove to Winona to find an art museum Nikki wanted to see, but by the time we found it, we were past closing time. Found dinner there, then headed back to the campground.
24Jul08 Madison, WI
Ken: This is the start of AirVenture time. I flew to Juneau, WI, where my formation flying training will take place. Nikki drove to our friends in Madison, Helen and Akeem, and parked the TrailManor in their driveway. Then she and Helen drove to Juneau to bring me back to Madison. Wonderful evening relinking with Helen and Akeem. Helen is Nikki's mentor for the Watercolor business, and taught at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival last year.
25Jul08 Juneau & Madison
Ken: Helen drove me back to Juneau, while Nikki hauled the TrailManor to Oshkosh to set up on the AirVenture grounds. Helen drove on up to meet her, and the two gals spent the day around Oshkosh, getting our home settled in, shopping, etc. Our van was left on site in Oshkosh. My training took most of the day, and the weather was not the best as these photos show. They also show the ramp with lots of Cessnas, some tents, and folks hanging around the lounge.
There were about 15 in this training group (several other classes had been held around the country previously). We spent the morning in the classroom, going over the basics of formation flying. After a lunch break, we split into groups of two or three aircraft, each group with a trainer. I was in a group with three. Since I have only one radio, I could not be lead (nor #2 who would take over if lead had a problem). But we did rotate the other two through lead and both wing slots. I got a chance to fly both wing slots. We flew in a V formation, ideally about 140' apart with the wings 45 deg. back and about 20' down. We had some gaps in radio use, and I never did get the commands that had us changing position. However, the morning training and the briefing were sufficient that I knew what was going on and could follow the movements of the others. By the time the half hour flight was over, I was beginning to be able to anticipate movements and pretty much stay in position. More importantly, I was convinced we could do this safely. Nikki, Helen and Akeem came in time for the BBQ, then we headed back to Madison for the night.26Jul08 Oshkosh!
Ken: The day of the mass Cessna fly in. Our briefing time was 1200, so Helen drove Nikki and me to Juneau about 1000. I got the plane loaded, preflight done, short briefing for Nikki, etc. Another group, of diverse aircraft, was forming and briefing ahead of us, and these are a few
pictures of their departure line up. We ended up with 35 aircraft on the flight line and about 50-60 people in the briefing, which took a bit more than an hour. I was assigned to a group and we met to do individual briefing. My flight lead was a bit intense, but we worked out some little issues of placement and got tail numbers and colors so we could ID each other on the ground during taxi and line up. Then everyone headed for the aircraft to get settled in and await the engine start time. Startup, taxi and lineup went very smoothly, and we had all 35 aircraft lined up along the taxiway on the west side of the runway for a northbound takeoff. The flight lead was in telephone contact with the AirVenture tower, and we were assigned runway 36 left AND right (actually the taxiway for 36). So when we took off from Juneau, we were essentially on a 24 mile straight in to OSH. At the last minute, something happened so that a person who had not been thoroughly briefed was assigned as the take off controller at Juneau. He did not know the 3 plane elements, and did not understand the spacing between different speed types which had been computed earlier. Consequently, the spacing between elements was a little less than the planned 15 seconds. Planning had the 172s off first, then 2.5 minutes after the last 172, the 18x series would launch, with similar spacing between them and the 210 folks, followed by a pair of 310s similarly spaced. That more lengthy spacing did not happen, so we fought bunching up all the way to OSH. My lead was flying a bit faster than the briefed 100 knots, so we slowly gained on the unit ahead. #3 wingman of that group was never in tight formation, so was considerably behind and outside that elements lead. Flying behind him meant that Nikki spent most of her time keeping an eye on that plane. At one point, we were almost alongside that plane instead of in trail as expected. Two of the aircraft in elements ahead of us couldn't maintain their spacing and had to go around. They rejoined in trail with the flight. Aside from that bit of tenseness, the flight went well, we all landed safely and it was a very good experience. Taxiing was another matter. Since we have the TrailManor on the grounds, we did not park with all the others in the camping area. So we had to taxi in the grass the full length of the cross runway, around the end, and 3/4 of the way back down the other side. We were finally directed into a spot, got the plane tied down, and I peddled the Breezer around to join the post flight briefing. Then biked through the AirVenture grounds to find our TrailManor and finish setting up home for the duration of the show.27Jul - 3Aug Oshkosh, WI
Ken: Wow!! What can I say about eight days immersed in nearly all aspects of aviation. Hundreds of seminars, vendor booths, display aircraft; acres of homebuilt and vintage and military aircraft. Acres of private aircraft. Tents set up next to vast numbers of aircraft. Acres of RVs of all kinds crammed together. Daily airshows. A major aviation themed movie every night. Celebrities of all kinds. Harrison Ford introduced the "Indiana Jones..." movie and touted Young Eagles. John Travolta flew his 707 in to introduce "Broken Arrow". Performances and talks nightly. Awards given. Clusters of folks talking flying every where you went. Workshops on construction practices. Demonstrations of products and aircraft. Introductions of new products and aircraft. Lots of aircraft noise all day long, but particularly during the daily two hour airshow. My votes: loudest, the Harrier; quietest, the electric airplane; most awsome performance, the Raptor; most interesting homebuilt, yellow delta wing. Dozens of fascinating home built designs. I resisted dozens of really appealing product offerings, buying only a set of smoked plexiglass sun visor replacements. The new Insight GEM color engine monitor looks very inviting, and prices are coming down. I would have bought a 2.5" cutout mount transceiver, if I could have gotten it installed during the show. I did buy a few books on techniques to encourage continued learning. And I walked and walked and walked and walked. Below is a variety of images from AirVenture, with comments.
The Harrier lifting off vertically. Noisiest plane in the whole show!
"Glacier Girl", the P-38 recovered from 230' of ice in Greenland, and the newest personal jet, the Eclipse.
Boeing's Dreamlifter among crowds of people, and a SMALL part of the parked airplanes.
The Rocket Racer taking off, and landing without power. That yellow plane is the delta wing homebuilt I mentioned.
The Raptor, our newest and fanciest warbird. The maneuverability of this aircraft is astounding. It's capable of Mach 3 flight, and it made a low pass at 90 knots!! We saw it hover in the vertical, slide back under full control then tip to horizontal and zoom away. It can do a 180 in about 1/2 mile. The next two images show it in action making a low pass subsonic (of course), then abruptly tipping up to fly vertically. Notice the condensation from the shock wave across the leading edge of the wings from the abrupt change in angle of attack.
The Raptor shows ended with a formation flight, old and new. Actually quite moving!
Nikki: EAA Air Venture would have been more enjoyable if I hadn't been worried about assisting Helen Klebesadel at Bjorklunden, Door County. Silly me! Anyway, pictures that sum up
Air Adventure for me are here. There was a nightly ‘Fly-In’ theater in which a host would talk first. Harrison Ford and John Travolta were the most interesting.
Now on to Phase 3.
