11:17 p.m. - 2013-08-05
SW vacation
Back from a quick vacation to the SW as usual. Of course the worst possible time ever you can fly an 180hp airplane across the desert southwest would have to be last week. Yet year after year, my husband insist we visit his folks in AZ then!
We decided to venture off with our final destination being my favorite park ever... Carlsbad Caverns. That place is amazing, it feels like entering a new world.. very refreshing break from the sky above.
Skipping Santa Fe was a mistake, thought we'd try Albuquerque instead. That town, at least our rental car tour was not too impressive. Reminded me a lot of combining Fresno and Anchorage.
Roswell was fun as always. Jojo was a little scared in the UFO museum.
The oil cooler on our plane sprung a leak from the weld we had done last year. Mechanics all said it be ok, just keep adding oil and take it easy. There were too many thunderstorms to pick our way through with an injured airplane, so we ended up staying an extra night in Roswell.
The next day we flew 3.5 hours (watching the oil pressure the entire time) around all the restricted airspace in NM, back to AZ to visit my old friend in Flagstaff. I never have enough time to have a quality visit with her. It was nice to ride her new horses and show her girls our plane. We both hope they will become pilots like their parents and the rest of us weirdos.
I'd have to say the flight back from Flagstaff to Cottonwood over Sedona was pretty amazing. We were only about 2,000ft above the sharp red ridges and I actually got a little nervous looking down!
Got back yesterday, horrible headwinds which took us almost 4 hours!
I really needed to get away, even if it was only one week and under some pretty stressful conditions. Gave me a little clarity and energy to try and get my shit back together. When you get this energy you got to run with it before either it runs out before you reach your goals, or some major distraction jumps in the way.
Now I want to get back to studying for my ATP and I'm looking at the empty room we call "the parlor" which we plan to turn into a sort of hobby, sewing and study room. I just need a quiet space where I can cram in the evening. I study best in the wee hours before bed where my brain processes and digest it all while sleeping. The problem is do I take the risk of loosing this energy to work through fixing up a workspace?
Trying to get back into some sort of routeen now...
Got a call today from an old colleague of mine. He said both his wife and daughter are ready to start taking flying lessons with me in the plane he just bought. It's a Gruman Cheetah, I can't wait to fly something new and rare! Just in time to make some money for my broken airplane and paying off all my lame medical bills... both never ending!
