Meat and Three

I learned what a "Meat and 3" was when I lived in Nashville many years ago. But, anyone who isn't from the south would have no idea. It's a southern restaurant where you order one meat item and 3 side dishes (or in Jonny's case, it's just a 3). Here we are at the Kountry Kitchen having lunch....and there are a few other pictures I liked.

Keeping up with the Boys (NOT)

A few people joke that I'm really a boy trapped in a girl's body. I proved them wrong today trying to keep up with the boys on the quadrunners. I need a shop vac to remove the dirt and small animals from my teeth.

Our Palace

Lazy Morning Blogging

Gabcast! Roadtrip #1 - Lazy morning blogging

Route Correction

GW wrote saying that we had driven within 2 miles of him at Talladega Speedway. It was only then that I realized the map I put up was wrong. We didn't go via Atlanta, but through Montgomery and Birmingham. Anyway, here's the real route.

Belle Bridge

Quite often I have these very peaceful, pleasant dreams. Many times they aren't about anything in particular. Sometimes they seem to play on for hours when in reality they are more just a single snapshot, but because there are so many thoughts and emotions wrapped up into them, they seem like they are lasting much longer than they really are. This morning I got up and went for a run in this small town of Columbus, Mississippi. We are in one of those old southern neighborhoods where the most of the houses have names. Ours is called Belle Bridge. It was build in 1856 and is just a block or so from Tennessee Williams' house. It's one of those houses with a room for everything and a fireplace in every room. Jonny wants to take a picture of himself in every room for his blog. It is exactly the house you imagine when you think of the South....giant white pillars in the front and a huge back porch that's pretty much just another living room overlooking a well manicured back yard. So anyway, I went for a run along a path that follows the Tom Bigbee River running through town. The temperature was perfect as the path was shaded by woods on both sides. I felt just like I do in one of those pleasant dreams. Nothing overwhelmingly happy or exciting, just a very peaceful contentment. I don't know what causes me to feel this way, but often I remind myself how lucky I am to be a manic without the depressive downside.

Today we'll take the boat out on the same river and look for sharks teeth. Apparently, about 33 million years ago the beach was in Memphis....so I guess a few sharks lost some teeth around here. We'll see if we can find some. It's nice to be with the boys.

Wild Adventure

Well pumpkin, if you can't be more careful, we're gonna stop keeping the gasoline in your room.

On the Road Again

The Flytec meet and the big Race ended a few days ago and none too soon. I was more than a bit exhausted. The best solution, it seems, was to hit the road with two of my best buddies and absolutely no one to babysit or be responsible to. We spent today driving from Quest to Colombus, Mississippi where Chris' parents live.

The plan is to drive to Phoenix for Dustin's Santa Cruz Flats Meet. But, since none of us are particularly fond of that drive across the country, we decided to take a different route and see some parts of the country we haven't seen before. We will probably spend a few days here in Mississippi, visiting Graceland in Memphis, then we'll head out to Oklahoma City where we will meet a couple that is considering adopting me (Hyla and Mr. G). Next we'll drive to Santa Fe and pretend we are snooty, artsy types for a day before we finish off the drive to Phoenix.

I guess I should say something about the Flytec meets, but I just have zero energy left for that topic right now. I said to a few people that it was a bit like giving birth - at the moment, I can't imagine every organizing another hang gliding competition. But, I'm sure in another six months or so, I will have forgotten how painful the whole ordeal was ;-)

For Myshel.....

Had to change the picture....too much hatemail coming over that one ;-) This one looks equally dorky if you ask me.

The Carters

Kevin, Melani and sweet little Amber are preparing to move back down to Florida in about a week. It will be nice to have them back!

It's great to have Davis and Belinda back at Quest!

Back to the Florida we all know and love....

We have had perhaps the worst fall/winter flying season ever in central Florida (at least that I've seen). But today it seems like the perfect weather and perfect flying conditions finally hit us...and they hit big time. By 11am the sky was filled with beautiful cumulous. It killed me that I had to work all day, but its still comforting knowing that everyone is up there enjoying it. Paul, Lauren, Greg Dinaur and John Simon (flying my baby) took off to see how close they could get to Georgia. We haven't heard yet how far they made it.

Just before sunset Marilyn came pounding on my door and convinced me that I had been working too much and I needed to get in the air, even if just for a short one. Her Falcon was all set up, on a cart and waiting for me to hop in and enjoy a little sunset cruise. I would guess only other pilots really understand, but there is nothing like that feeling when you get your feet off the ground for the first time in a while. Kind of like a drug really. I feel great!

Flights of the Condor

Steve Wendt is here doing a scooter tow clinic and he had the enormous Condors out teaching people how to teach with them. They are HUGE! I feel like a tiny little thing hooked into one of those (and I am anything but tiny!). The pictures don't do them justice....they look even bigger in person.

Nasty Weather

I got several calls today from pilots in different parts of the world wondering if we were still on the map. Happily we are. But, it was a scary night! I've been through I think four hurricanes here at Quest and I was more scared last night than I ever was during a hurricane. We had very high wind, severe thunderstorms and numerous tornados touching down here in Lake County. Luckily none was too terribly close to us.

We had a cookout tonight at Jim Prahl's place where I learned that I wasn't the only one getting more than a bit worried during the night. The storm hit us around 4am and I laid in bed wondering if I should tough it out in my trailer and possibly end up like Dorothy or run through the pouring rain into the concrete block clubhouse. I though I was just being a sissy, but I learned tonight that everyone was having the same thought. Of course, my biggest worry was that my baby Damian (my Litesport) was all set up in the hangar. That might sound like a safe place, but this hangar we call the washing machine. It's not completely enclosed on any side, so sometimes things get tossed around in there. I was relieved to get up this morning and find him safe and sound, none the worse for the wear.

How to Have Fun Getting Whiplash!

At the Florida Mall in Orlando someone has come up with a great way to get really hurt. Inside a shop called Adrenaline, they have built an indoor surfing simulator. You surf on about 4 inches of water that is moving very fast across a somewhat padded (clearly not padded enough) "wave". Since I don't surf, I don't know how close it is to real surfing, but it sure is a blast.

Because we haven't had the best winter flying weather, we've been having to find new ways to entertain ourselves. This was a good one and I hope to get back there again as soon as I'm over the concussion and the neck spasms stop ;-)

Key Largo

I had a great couple of days in the Florida Keys a few weekends ago. I've always wanted to swim with the dolphins and I finally got the opportunity. My "dolphin training" partner was a sweet little girl named Adrian. She's in a few of the pics.

I'm amazed that after 5 years in Florida I'm still finding fun things to do when the flyingn is no good. The weekend in the Keys we had heavenly weather - mid 80's - and that's January! I wonder if I ever want to live anywhere else.

Red

Here is me, Max and the real love of my life (SUGAR!!) on the strip in Vegas.

A Not-so-Traditional Christmas

I've become quite a scrooge over the past months and this year more than any other I really just wanted to pretend there was no such thing as Christmas. But, for someone that shops as much as I do, that is of course, impossible. With absolutely no way to ignore it, the only option was to go sit in a smoky room with a bunch of nearly drunk people and throw money straight into the trash can. So, we went to Vegas!

I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people wanted to smoke, drink and gamble for Christmas. We were not alone ;-) The hotels, the strip and of course, the casinos were jammed.

When the money ran out, we drove home via the Hoover Dam. Pretty cool site actually. I've never been overly interested in dams, but this one is spectacular. Aside from the engineering marvel of it all, the designers had some taste and the structures have a nice Art Deco style to them. Dad claims that the urinals in the men's room are even Art Deco.

There were 96 deaths attributed to construction of the dam. Oddly enough, the first was a surveyor that drowned in the river and the last was his son, exactly 13 years later to the day.

We're Trying Out Some New Things Here at Quest...

Immersion Therapy

I thought maybe I could cure my snake phobia. Nope, didn't work. That is NOT a happy smile on my face.

You're Going Flying Aggggaaaaaaainnnnnnn??

This is another gorgeous beach soaring site a few hours south of Canoa. We stopped along the way to Raul's beach house, but unfortunately the wind was about 75 degrees cross so it didn't make for ideal launching conditions :-( It sure had a nice set up area though. It's hard to see, but there is this barbed wire everywhere to prevent PGs from laying out their gliders and launching (it was a private site for hang gliders only...he he he).

And the Winner Isssssssss......

The top three in the sport and open classes....and the Queen ;-)

I Think I Feel Something in my Head!

Here's a final shot of the whole gang. Left to right is Scott, Jack, Sharon, Mike, Michael, Dusty, Me, Raul and Eduardo

Who Stole My Cookie??

Andes Hangwaiting

We're here in the foothills of the Andes completely socked in and hoping for a clearing soon. I'm trying to stay warm and dry in the car and thought I would post an update.

It was a sad day leaving Canoa. So many new friends and flying experiences. Leaving is my least favorite thing. The competition went off beautifully with three perfect task days. Dustin smoked everyone winning all three days. Mike Glennon and Raul were close on his tail in 2nd and 3rd. I was very pleased with my Litesport finishing in 5th overall. They gave me a gigantic trophy for being the top placing female (out of 2). I was just happy to beat a few Talons and T2s ;-)

Halfway between Canoa and Guyaquil is Raul's beach house in San Jose were we had a short stopover on the way home. We had hoped to fly there too, but conditions prevented it this time. Of course we were treated like royalty there, just like everywhere we've been in Ecuador. I am forever endebted to Raul and Mike for being the most generous hosts I could dream of. We also had a sweetheart crew consistng of student pilots (Michael and Eduardo) who made sure our equipment made it there and back without any problems! These guys are the best!!!

Mike has invited Dustin, Jack and me to Cali, Colombia for a flying tour in January! I can't wait. I'm in love with South America where the pilots are the kindest most generous people I've met anywhere.

Well, all this babbling and still no clearing :-( Only 100 meters down the hill and we would be below the clouds and in the clear to launch....but no launches down lower.....boo hoo.

Moyes Chicken Over Ecuador

Ferry Mess

There is a ferry boat along the coast here that cuts across a waterway and saves about 2 or 3 hours on the drive from Guayaquil to Canoa. We arrived and found a line of enough cars that it meant we would be catching the ferry on its third trip. No one was happy about waiting 2 hours, so Raul found three cars near the front of the line that were willing to trade their places in line for ours (for a fee). Seemed like a great idea at the time, but it didn´t exactly work out the way we planned. Some of those further back in the line didn´t like the idea so much and complained to the port authorities. After fighting endlessly with them, the police, the mayor and possibly even the president of Ecuador, they simply decided not to let us on the ferry at all. Oops! $80 down the drain :-/ Well eventually Raul and Mike worked some magic on them and we were driving onto the ferry, in the very position we would have been in had we just waited in line. All we could do was laugh.

Day 1

Yesterday was the first day of the ridge race here at Canoe Beach. What an amazing site!!! There are about 40 or so competitors, most in the sport class. Just 11 in the open class. The ridge we race on goes on forever. I don´t know exactly how far you could go in either direction, but yesterday´s task was 46km and that was twice to the south and back. Conditions were perfect for flying although the launch is a bit on the rough side. We had a single start at half past four after having to dodge the clouds at a 600 meter base. Here is a shot just before heading down to the edge of the start circle. The beach is gorgeous, very wide and landable most anywhere along the course.

Que Pasa?

My father likes to tell that when I was a kid he would say "Jamie do you want to go?" and I would say sure and not even ask where we were going until we were in the car on the way. So, I guess nothing has changed ;-). Dustin called me a week ago and said hey, come to Ecuador with us! Without thinking twice, I had a ticket to Guayaquil. I didn't learn much about where we were going or what we were doing until we were on the plane crossing over Cuba.

We've been here now for three days, staying in Guayaquil for a few days of local flying. Raul Gurerra is the key player in the Guayaquil hang gliding scene. There aren't many pilots in the area, but Raul is the main (maybe only) instructor and he is doing quite a lot to try to grow the sport. They have a small group of pilots (probably 8 or 10) and an Airborne trike that they use to tow out of small airstrip on th edge of the city of about 3 million people. Also, just 2 weeks ago, they were able to secure a foot launch site very near the airstrip and bulldozed and nice little patch to land on below. The launch is low (about 200 meters) so you really just get one shot at it. But it is a fairly consistent site and if you can get up a little you can bench up to the higher hills behind and have a great view of the city. We flew there two days in very very light conditions which I totally love because it is perfect for me and my Litesport. Many of the flights were no more than 15 or 20 minutes of scratching. But yesterday, after bombing out 3 times in a row Dusty managed to kick all of our asses and get up and back on the high hills. Finally he was happy!

Now we are on the road driving to Canoa Beach for the ridge racing competition. Everyone tells me it is a beautiful beach site with a 30something kilometer ridge you can cruise up and down all day. They've held this comp for several years now - Kevin won last year, Betinho the year before and Raul the year before that. Dustin is determined to win it this year ;-). It isn't a huge comp (yet) but they are hoping to draw more a more pilots every year. This year we are 4 from the US, there are a few from Peru, a few from Colombia and of course the Ecuadorians.

I couldn't be having a better time - my favorite south/central Americans are here, Raul and Mike Glennon who I met many years ago at Wallaby Ranch and have loved seeing every year at the Florida and Texas meets. They are incredible hosts and when I told them I felt like a princess here they said "No way! You're the queen!". Its fun to be a girl in hang gliding ;-))
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Unusual Gaggle Flying

It's difficult to see, but this is Raul thermalling with three helicopters over Guayaquil. Wouldn't be my favorite gaggle buddies.

The Queen of Ecuador Launching

I've been dubbed the Queen. I sure love these Ecuadorians ;-)

Unpacking in Guayaquil

After only about 14 tries, I managed to get my glider back together.