New Sites

I was lucky to have a flying host to take me around to a few new sites in Austria and Italy this summer. No record breaking flights, but it is always a good thing when I can muster the courage to try a new place. The Monte Cucco area was gorgeous. The first few days the wind wasn't quite right, so we spent a bit of time hiking around and taking in the crisp clean air. But, eventually things turned around and we flew both Monte Cucco and another nearby launch site (can't think of the name of it). It was quite entertaining watching the Austrian team tune their gliders and prepare for the worlds next month. Out of respect, I won't post the best pictures ;-)






We flew Gerolf's home site just outside of Graz on a couple of unusually hot Austrian days. While the landing field left a bit to be desired (somewhat small, surrounded by trees and not the least bit flat), I managed ok and my reward for pulling it off was a long hike back up the mountain to retrieve the car :-/



Yesterday and the day before I spent in Greifenburg with Corinna. Friday was crazy windy and of the 50 or so gliders set up on lunch only 5 flex and 2 rigids flew. Oddly enough all of the flexies that flew were Combats. Boy those Aeros pilots must be the really tough guys. We used the no fly day to put Corinna's new sail and stickers on. Neither of us exactly knew what we were doing, but I had watched Gerolf a few weeks before replacing his sail and so I had some vague idea of how it was supposed to work. In the end it didn't take us more than an hour or so and with three test flights, it flew perfectly straight. Corinna was very pleased.

Happily the winds mellowed for yesterday and I got two flights in - one a bit too early when there was pretty much no lift yet and a second one midday when it was beautiful. I see why the Europeans love this site so much. When it's not windy or blowing out of the north (which seems to be a lot of the time), it is spectacular. The bumps up high made me think of Kari and Seppi and most recently Oleg, so I tried to say around mountain top level where it tended to be much smoother.



We finished off the day with a hike into the mountains to look for mushrooms to cook up in Corinna's risotto for dinner. They weren't as easy to find as I would have expected, but this last one popped up just as we were giving up and called out our names. These are quite expensive both in the US and in Europe. We estimated this one would cost about $20.

Croatia Again

I'm back in Munich after a few weeks of flying here and there and I started going through my thousands of pictures of the Croatian sailing trip. I thought I might post a few more. Tim also has some nice shots on his blog at http://international-bozo-of-leisure.blogspot.com/

The water was crystal clear at these little marinas where we would dock and spend the nights. Piskera was a very small island, part of the Kornati National Park. We arrived there just before a beautiful thunderstorm hit. It was a bit late for a 4th of July celebration, but the light show was the closest thing we had.

On Piskera we hiked to the top of a rocky hill to watch Bill take the big plunge. German had made his way in the dingy around to where Bill would jump to check the depth first.

More Monte Cucco

Monte Cucco was even more beautiful than the pictures I've seen from the worlds in 1999. The air was especially clear the whole time we were there, not a bit of haziness and perfect visibility all the way out to the Adriatic.

More Croatia Pictures

From Monte Cucco

I've been trying to get some pictures and stories posted from the Croatia trip, but the internet here is less than reliable. I'm in Monte Cucco, Italy where the worlds were held back in 1999. This place is spectacularly beautiful, although the weather hasn't cooperated for flying yet. We had a hike to the top of the mountain yesterday waiting for the wind to switch. Today we might try another site that's an hour or so from here.

In the meantime, here is a shot of the Raine and Becky getting crazy on the dock in Sibenik.

Wasabi - International Duck of Leisure

Jeffo put Wasabi on a flight to meet up with me in Florida so that he could join us in Europe this summer. He has had a blast and most importantly, fell in love. He and Raine hit it off immediately and were inseperable the whole time we were on the boat. Although he developed a bit of a drinking problem, we really loved having him. Everyone loves chatting him up and having their picture taken with him.

The picture of a woman holding Wasabi is cool. Her name is Leni and she is the best waitress in the world- according to us! We stopped two different nights on the island of Zlarin at this yummy restaurant on the water. Leni was a sweatheart and Wasabi instantly took a liking and started flirting with her. We tried hard to convince her to join us for our lst few days of sailing but she said we were just too crazy for her. What's new!

Apparently, Wasabi has been out of his natural habitat for a bit too long because we learned that he can't even swim!!! Shocking! He did try a bit of snorkling, but the mask didn't fit so well over his beak.

Just in...

We just got back into port in Zadar last night (and back to the internet). Today is clean out the boat day, so just pictures for now. I'll post some stories later. Bottom line, the trip was as close to perfect as we could have hoped for. A fantastic crew and overall fun group that got along beautifully, especially considering the close quarters for a week straight (7 people on a 37 foot boat).

Croatian Graffiti for Jeff

If I Had A Boat, I'd Go Out on the Ocean and If I Had a Pony, I'd Ride Him on my Boat

First night on the boat last night. We stayed in port because we didn't arrive here and provision up until late. The 8 hour train trip was great fun with the whole group. With an hour plus stopover along the way, we got to explore a little nearly abandoned town. Half the buildings were bombed out and had never been rebuilt after the war. It looked like people preferred to just go elsewhere over rebuilding their homes.

Trains

Last year in Croatia I stayed in a great house up on top of the hill overlooking the town where meet headquarters was. On mornings walking down the steep hill I crossed railroad tracks and imagined what a beautiful train trip that would be. Today we are on an all day train trip from Graz, Austria to Zadar, Croatia passing through just those mountains and I was right, it is a spectacular trip. We have about 5 hours until we arrive in Zadar and load up the sail boat for the week long trip around the southern part of the Croatian islands.
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Graz Gang

I've been in Graz since Tuesday. My baby made the trip without a scratch! Those guys at LTU are the best. Unlike most days here, we've had little rain, so it's been really nice for showing my friends around. Tim, Rain, Bill and Gay arrived Thursday afternoon and then German (sounds like Herman) arrived Thursday night. We have spent the day today siteseeing around Graz. Here are a few pics before we head out tomorrow morning for a long train ride to Zadar, Croatia.

They for hunger for home, but they cannot stay....

I'm on my way back home, but only long enough to short pack Damien, do some washing and repack for the next leg. I leave out of Miami for Munich on Monday. Cloud 9 was a great detour. I only got to fly three times - we had a few windy days- but those flights were nice. Tracy and Lisa have a beautiful home and we are very lucky to get to fly out of their front yard.

Name Change

I'm beginning to think the name I chose for my Litesport is not so appropriate anymore. "Damien, Spawn of the Devil" speaks to his heritage, but after today's flight I'm considering something new. Remember Herbie the Love Bug? Well today I'm pretty sure Damien (or Herbie) was in charge. After two hours of one handed thermaling, I came down for a perfect spot landing 2 feet from the center of the circle. God I love my glider! If only I could find a boyfriend this perfect, I'd be set.

Cloud 9 is spectacular. I will try to put up some photos tomorrow. I was too busy flying today. The field is a sod farm so everything is green and soft and you can run around (and fly) barefoot all day. It's great!

I made a short stop in Cleveland yesterday to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I had heard it was a worthwhile stop, but it turned out to be much cooler than I expected. Like many people, I assume, music speaks to me and enhances whatever mood I happen to be in so hanging out at this museum was something of an emotional experience....strange thing to say, I know. But, that's what it was. Many of my all time favorite musicians/songwriters have been inducted and so it was a day of hearing heaps of great music. I highly recommend stopping by if you're ever anywhere near Cleveland. The theater on the top floor shows a year by year, sort of montage film of each of the inductees for the past 20 years. I nearly sat through the film twice, I enjoyed it so much.

Home can be the Pennsylvania Turnpike...

Anyone who knows me well knows that one of the things I value most in my life is freedom. I've never had more it than right now and it feels really good. Somewhere near Pittsburg my odometer clicked over 100,000 miles...maybe not the best milestone in the life of a car, but it made me take notice of how much I've traveled this year. When I get back to Quest at the end of the month, I will have driven nearly 5000 miles in just under a month!

Assateague National Seashore

I've never camped on a beach before last night. This is a national park on the eastern shore of Maryland and it's a bit touristy, but nice. We had wild horses invade our camp last night. I fell asleep to the sound of them munching on the grass next to my tent.

We opted for the ultimate tourist activity last night and hung out at the boardwalk in Ocean City about 10 miles north of our quiet beach. I rode one too many cheesy park rides and made myself a bit sick....could also have been the corndog....both bad ideas.

These are some pics of the Nicole and Adam.

Tomorrow morning I'll leave for Cleveland!

Next Leg

It hit me a few days ago that I didn't have any pressing obligations in Florida so I should check out some new territory until I leave for Europe on the 25th. Davis and Belinda are heading to Cloud 9 flight park in Michigan and that seemed like a good idea. So, that's the plan. After a few days at Assateague National Seashore here in Maryland, I'll drive to Cleveland and check out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's suiting after paying homage to Elvis last month. Hopefully I'll wind up in Michigan by the weekend at the latest and do a bit of flying with Davis. Davis just bought a new WW U2 and wants to get some good flights on it. I will see if I can't keep up with him.