26 June 2008

day 2

Things were slightly more normal today. Dwayne got in yesterday afternoon, so order was restored. As restored as it can be when Dwayne is in charge… We worked a little bit before class; then I tried my hardest to stay awake through lectures about regulations. We had macaroni for lunch, and I once again passed out after my meal. The afternoon started as usual, with me and Erik fighting the bulkhead. While we were working on it, John Gregory came in and asked if anyone wanted to fly. Erik volunteered me to take it, and head down to pick up parts from Palmer.

It has been almost 2 years since I have flown a single engine aircraft. And I have never flown something as small as a 150. And I only have about 40 hours in steam gauge aircraft. And to top it all off, the winds in Palmer were strong: 20 gusting 31, about 40 degrees off the runway. It was exciting times, for sure. The best part of it was looking at the mountains as we were flying. I have never flown in anything other than flat, flat, flat Texas. We landed back at the Ranch just in time for dinner.

After dinner, some of the guys wanted to wander down to the river. And by wander down to the river, I mean that we tumbled down 200-300 ft through thick brush, blazing our own trail. When we got down there, we found a trail, so we were able to follow that back up. The river is awesome. It runs off a glacier, so it is freezing cold. And because it is from a glacier, it is brownish gray, full of silt. We skipped rocks, threw rocks in the water, and otherwise just hung out down there for a while.

We eventually decided to head back. It was easier since we found a trail, but it was still a rough hike. We couldn’t stop, because the mosquitoes were right there, and would start feasting on a stationary human. Eventually we came out, and I was very thankful to come and sit down.

I will post pictures later, I am working on dumping them on to my computer right now.

No comments: