Blueberry muffins, Pioneering, Tucson, Cloggy!
Hi all
Been a bit of a break for me these last few days. I was feeling quite ill on Friday so cancelled the early morning solo I had planned, moving it to Sunday. I was already due to have Saturday, Sunday and Monday (Labor day holiday) off, so moving the flight to Sunday broke up the break... but we still had a nice time chilling out.
On Friday we stayed in while I recovered, I don't think I left the apartment at all.... but it meant that on Saturday I was feeling better, well enough to head over to Pioneer History Village, north of Phoenix. This was a pretty smart place; an old style pioneering town that had been recreated using salvaged and renovated buildings brought in from various areas in the midwest. It was shockingly hot though, and we all soon overheated - which meant a break for lunch in the restaurant and some much needed water. After a nice cooling break, we braved the heat again and saw some more of the place, checking out the mule, pigs and goats.
On the way home stopped at Walmart and got the ingredients together (read: bought a packet mix) to make blueberry muffins - and let Georgia help with the mixing and preparing. We even bought her some 'Dora the explorer' cake cases :-)
Here's a few pics of her helping mix, stealing the mix, icing the muffin, then savouring the results:
On Saturday night we were hit by another massive storm - and this one deposited a huge amount of water down on us. I got soaked running from the car to our apartment after I'd gone to the airport to see Gilbert - and when I got in Clare decided to take Georgia out in it so she could feel what it was like...
On Sunday I had my early morning solo navigation - taking me down to Tucson International Airport - my first touch and go at a 'proper' airport. I'd spent quite a lot of time on the preparation, and it paid off - my headings and timings were all pretty much spot on, which left me time to relax a little and enjoy the view. Once I was nearer Tucson things got much busier - firstly avoiding a load of parachutists falling out of the sky, then going through the procedures for contacting Tucson approach and getting clearance to enter their airspace. Thankfully it all went really well, although the landing was a touch rough - but then we haven't ever been properly briefed on the procedures for arrival. One thing that was surprising was the altitude - Tucson is 2000 ft higher than Goodyear, so descending from 5500 meant I was very close to the ground at what I thought was 2000 ft above it!
The departure went well, listening out to the big jets arriving in the area - then I managed to get Flight Following for the journey back to Goodyear, which makes things even easier as you're on radar all the way, and have someone else look out for other traffic for you.
Yesterday was Labor Day holiday here, but most places stay open so we headed up to Metrocenter Mall, just off the I17. He called in at Toys R Us on the way and picked up a pack of cards - ready for my Dad arriving on Thursday.
Just as we were leaving Toys R Us my good buddy Jeroen pulled up outside! It was great to see him, after having parted company in the UK a couple of months ago. He followed us up to the Mall, and hung out with us for a while before heading back to Goodyear with some of the other guys from AP258. Last night however I drove down and picked him up and brough him back to our place, and we all had a good time catching up on things (and fixing his laptop - fortunately I brought repair discs with me)
And that brings us up to date I think. I'll put a proper photo album together on my Website at some point, but now I have to go give Baby G some breakfast, then go swap out hire car, then plan a flight for this afternoon.... no rest for the wicked!
Adios for now
Simon
Been a bit of a break for me these last few days. I was feeling quite ill on Friday so cancelled the early morning solo I had planned, moving it to Sunday. I was already due to have Saturday, Sunday and Monday (Labor day holiday) off, so moving the flight to Sunday broke up the break... but we still had a nice time chilling out.
On Friday we stayed in while I recovered, I don't think I left the apartment at all.... but it meant that on Saturday I was feeling better, well enough to head over to Pioneer History Village, north of Phoenix. This was a pretty smart place; an old style pioneering town that had been recreated using salvaged and renovated buildings brought in from various areas in the midwest. It was shockingly hot though, and we all soon overheated - which meant a break for lunch in the restaurant and some much needed water. After a nice cooling break, we braved the heat again and saw some more of the place, checking out the mule, pigs and goats.
On the way home stopped at Walmart and got the ingredients together (read: bought a packet mix) to make blueberry muffins - and let Georgia help with the mixing and preparing. We even bought her some 'Dora the explorer' cake cases :-)
Here's a few pics of her helping mix, stealing the mix, icing the muffin, then savouring the results:
On Saturday night we were hit by another massive storm - and this one deposited a huge amount of water down on us. I got soaked running from the car to our apartment after I'd gone to the airport to see Gilbert - and when I got in Clare decided to take Georgia out in it so she could feel what it was like...
On Sunday I had my early morning solo navigation - taking me down to Tucson International Airport - my first touch and go at a 'proper' airport. I'd spent quite a lot of time on the preparation, and it paid off - my headings and timings were all pretty much spot on, which left me time to relax a little and enjoy the view. Once I was nearer Tucson things got much busier - firstly avoiding a load of parachutists falling out of the sky, then going through the procedures for contacting Tucson approach and getting clearance to enter their airspace. Thankfully it all went really well, although the landing was a touch rough - but then we haven't ever been properly briefed on the procedures for arrival. One thing that was surprising was the altitude - Tucson is 2000 ft higher than Goodyear, so descending from 5500 meant I was very close to the ground at what I thought was 2000 ft above it!
The departure went well, listening out to the big jets arriving in the area - then I managed to get Flight Following for the journey back to Goodyear, which makes things even easier as you're on radar all the way, and have someone else look out for other traffic for you.
Yesterday was Labor Day holiday here, but most places stay open so we headed up to Metrocenter Mall, just off the I17. He called in at Toys R Us on the way and picked up a pack of cards - ready for my Dad arriving on Thursday.
Just as we were leaving Toys R Us my good buddy Jeroen pulled up outside! It was great to see him, after having parted company in the UK a couple of months ago. He followed us up to the Mall, and hung out with us for a while before heading back to Goodyear with some of the other guys from AP258. Last night however I drove down and picked him up and brough him back to our place, and we all had a good time catching up on things (and fixing his laptop - fortunately I brought repair discs with me)
And that brings us up to date I think. I'll put a proper photo album together on my Website at some point, but now I have to go give Baby G some breakfast, then go swap out hire car, then plan a flight for this afternoon.... no rest for the wicked!
Adios for now
Simon
posted by Simon Davidson @ 8:33 AM
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