Mount Hood

Having lots of fun in Portland!

After wasting time with Sprint who said they had never seen such a problem before and could NOT retrieve any of my missing pics and could only hope it wouldn't occur again, we set off for more adventures at Mount Hood.

We took the chair lift up the mountain and then rode down on the alpine slide. Never had done this before - felt like I was on the luge! And it was a half mile long. Good thing Amy and Dave never let me see the guy with two bandaged arms and his face covered with road burn from flying off the luge! I only saw him as we left and heard his gruesome story since I couldn't help but ask what happened. He didn't remember much, but certainly heard about it from all the spectators!

That's Amy and Dave with Mount Hood in the background. Perfectly beautiful day with crystal clear views of the mountain (11,000 feet high- we were at 3,500 and Portland is at 65 feet elevation).

Arrival Portland!

Here we are! Now we get to visit Amy and Dave!
This was the biggest airport we have landed in.  Just after we climbed out of our tiny plane, an F18 took off! But you know, they treat us just as well as the big passenger planes and fighter planes.

Just a comment on our flying. Rick always has "flight plan waypoints", spots he is flying towards. But most times we fly VFR - visual flight rules. That way we can veer off course if we want to go see something.  Rick requests flight following from the controllers so they always know where we are and alert him to planes nearby or even when we got close to Mt Shasta. "Are you aware of the terrain and do you have it in view?"

Three Sisters and Mount Hood

Lots of scenic views today with snow capped mountains. The first are called Three Sisters and the second is of Mount Hood. This one is close to Portland and we have been snowshoeing on it.

Crater Lake

As you can see from the map on Rick's IPad (yes, this is his navigation source, etc for flying), Crater Lake is a nice round body of water at 6178 feet. It is in the caldera basin formed when Mt Mazama erupted about 7000 years ago. It is 5 miles in diameter and 1,932 feet deep - the deepest lake in the United States - and way bigger than Barringer Crater we saw in Arizona.

Mount McLoughlin

Mount McLaughlin is just 9495 feet high. If you look at the photo of it from a distance, you will see a " haze" line above it. That is us seeing the horizon from the altitude we are flying. Because the mountain is below this line, we know it is at a lower altitude than we are flying. Rick taught me this.

Mount Shasta

We started at about 1000 feet above sea level and climbed to 12,500, circling to gain height before nearing Mount Shasta, which is 14,162 feet high. Isn't it stunning? We flew just 8 miles from it. Below the mountain is Lake Shasta, a reservoir and recreational lake.

Before flying

There is a lot to do before jumping in the plane and taking off. One essential is getting gas. At a big airport they do it all for you. Here in Redding is the gas station. Rick puts in his credit card and pumps away - just like it was a car - only takes longer since the plane holds 38 gallons. We fly for 4 hours with that with time to spare. This was cheap gas - only $5.45 a gallon.

Then comes preflighting the plane - 7 pages of things to check. I have nothing better to do at this time, so today I took pictures to show my lovely hairdos while the propeller is on and the cockpit is still open.

At the other end the reverse happens, but that is easier for me. After sitting for almost 4 hours with not only a seat belt but also a double shoulder harness, and remembering to keep my feet away from the rudders, it takes a while to move my body! That is why I often sit on the top of my seat before climbing out of the plane!

Then I wander over to the FBO (fixed base operations), where they provide water, tea, coffee, cookies, popcorn, candy, or whatever, and of course restrooms. They are nice to pilots. But the best part is talking to the people.  Always an interesting story to be heard.