Flight to Kenai and Hilltop Skiing

Had a great day, yesterday. I got a call at noon from a friend who needed to drop his plane off in Kenai and needed a ride back to Anchorage. I flew down to pick him up. This was the first time I have landed at Kenai. As I arrived, it was pretty windy but the winds were not too far off the runway heading. It took about an hour to get to Kenai and a little over an hour to get back to Lake Hood.



Taking off from Kenai.

Then, in the evening, John S. and I skied at Hilltop. The sun was going down across the inlet and the mountains above us were lit up. The snow wasn't great but still okay. I wish we had been skiing up here before!

Iditarod 2008

Unfortunately, I didn't get the skis installed on my plane so I was left looking at the Iditarod Trail and race from the air. Next year, I will be on skis and will land on the river to watch the race go by. I did see a couple teams.

Michelle's Birthday

Michelle's Birthday was last week. On her birthday, we went to Fairbanks so I could give a seminar at the University. That evening we had a great dinner with Mark Wipfli at a Thai restaurant. Then, on Saturday, JoAnn, Yvette, Heather, and Jolynne had a party for Michelle. First, we skied out to an overlook at Kincaid Park and decorated with bird treats. You can see a movie here:

http://www.vimeo.com/723408

Sunday's movie

Flying with Paul

I was feeling MUCH BETTER, today. I was tired of being around the house and it was a beautiful sunny day (but cold). Paul called at about noon and we decided to make a day of flying in his plane. I flew from Lake Hood to Birchwood. We put my plane in his hangar and headed out. We flew to the north and west and landed a few places. We got back to Birchwood at about 5:30 and I headed straight to Lake Hood arriving just before dark. It was a great day to fly and we didn't see many other planes out there.

I will post a movie, tomorrow.

Australia Hates Me!

I'm not sure what I did to Australia to deserve this, but they are getting back at me hard! I had a flu shot this year and was happily cruising along with no colds or flu. Then, last week, I got hit hard. Apparently, there is a flu strain that originated in Australia that emerged too late to make it into this years flu shot. I got it. And, I didn't know that there were drugs that could have nipped this in the bud, if I had gotten to the doctor in the first 48 hours. Damn...

On Sunday, Michelle did the ski for woman. I thought I was feeling better so I went along and took some photos and video. I should have stayed home. The photos are on my flickr page at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimak

and the video is right here:

Flying with Paul and Clint

Yesterday, I met Paul and Clint at Paul's hangar at Birchwood and flew north. Total flight time was 3.2 hours and I made a video: