Waterspouts

Having the first day of ugly weather since I've been home from Europe. I guess I've been spoiled with so much sunshine for the past 3 weeks. This morning I woke up to a lot of overdevelopment, but a super cool sight out over the water - two developing waterspouts! I couldn't grab my camera fast enough. Because the battery was in the charger on the wall, by the time I had the camera ready, one had already dissipated, but it was still an amazing thing to see. I have dreamed of seeing a tornado for as long as I can remember, so I was pretty tickled to see two waterspouts - closest things so far.


Apparently waterspouts occur more frequently in the Florida Keys than anywhere else on the planet. The shallow water surrounding the islands and the regular east and northeast tradewinds make for the perfect conditions for waterspouts. After the Keys, the southeast coast of Florida is the next most active waterspout area. I'm a bit far north to be considered the southeast part of Florida, so I guess today was a special treat!

A good day aint got no pain....

Bobby is teaching (reteaching) me to fly the Dragonfly. It's been 4 years since we were in Zapata and I was so close to soloing. I feel like I'm starting from scratch again.

Flying Agaaaaaaaaaaaaain

Out at Quest yet again for the weekend.  I can't seem to get enough airtime these days.  Lauren, Steve the Brit and I called a little task to Dean Still Road and back.  In the end we didn't venture too far south as at altitude there was much stronger wind out of the south than we expected.  Totally blue day, but still gorgeous lift and nice high cloudbase.  

Steve finished off the day with a fun little landing ;-)


....and I'm going to finish off the day with a little Dragonflying with Bobby!!

My Little Sampson

Maxie got the first haircut of his life. Yes, turns out he is a boy!

My Maxie

Here's a picture for Natalie. I'm on auntie duty today. I love it!

Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History

Saw that on a bumper sticker tonight. I think it's a famous quote, but I don't know who said it.

I hope I never have to be well behaved.

When I Wake up in the Morning....and the Sunlight Hurts My Eyes

Woke up Saturday morning and the surf was excellent....the were a dozen kids out there. Thought of spending the weekend on the beach, but remembered I don't know how to surf, so I thought flying might make more sense.



Another gorgeous weekend at Quest....it was nothing but girls flying. I'm thinking of starting my own all-girl flight park.


Great party at Paul and Lauren's Saturday night.

We Gotta Get Right Back to Where We Started From

Rough day at Quest today. The sky looked terrible....

...but I thought I would try to make the best of it anyway ;-) Elvis and I got our feet of the ground for the first time in over a month.

Jimmy P towed me ridiculously high above cloudbase and then played beside the clouds with me. It pays to be a girl around here! Visibility was so great. Jim towed another girl up super high earlier in the day and said he could see both coasts. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face all day...it's still there!


A bit of indian summer around here. Even after landing it had to be 90 degrees. Nice place to cool off while we watch the others come in and land.

Am I tempting anyone? ;-)

Home James

Another gorgeous Florida sky and I can't seem to drive fast enough. On my way to Quest and my feet are burning attached to this earth.

For a Jealous Guy

The sun has been shining every day since I've been home. The hurricanes that have missed us on the Space Coast have brought a bit of wind, but not enough to soar my seawall. I'm guessing 20mph would do it, as long as it was straight in. Monday we had about 15 and with my glider rigged on the beach, it felt close but no cigar. So, in the meantime, Steve and I are heading to Quest for the weekend to get our feet off the ground.

Take me to the Pilot

I flew back from Frankfurt on Sunday with Corinna. She had a working flight and I was able to come with her and even bring my glider (thanks again Corinna!!!). I got to play a small part in the Lufthansa in-flight magazine video story that the airline is doing on Corinna as a flight attendant/hang gliding world champion. It was fun having my dinner handed to me, then taken back and handed to me again and taken back, for several takes to get just the right camera angle. The camera crew then came with us to the beach to set up my glider and get some video of Corinna suited up to fly on the beach (which isn't possible, but looked good on camera anyway ;-) Mark and Maxie came out to the beach and Max had fun playing around in my glider.

I love being home in the heat and humidity and looks like I'll even dodging the Ike bullet. My house might survive its first hurricane season unscathed.

Far Have I Traveled and Much Have I Seen....

....dark, distant mountains, with valleys of green.

Spent a great fun weekend with the Kynastons down in Wales. The sun was shining and the flying was lovely if you don't mind dodging a few paragliders.




Miles made a tasty paella and we listened to everyone play, tried a few silly games and even had a crazy dip in the pond at 2am.



I really do love the people here...everyone has been so nice and so much fun and they don't even seem to mind that I'm American ;-) I hope I get to come back soon.