Things get worse, and then, they get better. I stayed overnight in Seattle and had a backpack full of my favorite clothes and jewelry stolen. Ugh. Meaningless to the person(s) who stole, and quite meaningful to me. Another painful lesson. One we all know, yet sometimes forget.

Attending Taylor and Allyssa’s wedding was a joy. Hanging out with Dru and Wendy (parents of Taylor), a gift.

Now I’m staying at my Dads place, getting ready to head down the Grand Canyon for three weeks.

While here, I’ve been able to sneak in a mountain bike ride

And an amazing day of skiing…..in a cape, just for giggles.

I’m off to the river Friday and will be out of communication for 21 days. Can’t wait.

Trying to absorb and learn from everything that has happened in the past week is beyond painful. Writing this post hurts too, and my hope is that it helps me sort through the mess.

I found out that Ray is a criminal He milked me for money, then held my plane hostage until I paid. I had a verbal estimate only – (I know, how stupid am I)? He did everything he could to add, add, and add to that estimate – and then when I said I had lost trust in him, and that I was taking the plane, he really upped the charges. I could pay or sue him. I decided that getting a lawyer would cost more, so I paid up, got my stuff and now I’m trying to find a way to move forward.

My life has been so privledged. I have been married for most of my adult life. Never did I fully appreciate all the perks of being a married woman. Married women hold a very different status than widows. Until now, I did not know this. Until now, I didn’t really understand.

What I DO know now is that I am a big, fat, target. There are people who prey on situations like mine: single, some money in the bank, and trusting. Throw in an airplane with an emotional attachment and Ka-Ching$!

Trusting people is my first instinct. They seem nice, legitimate, and I proceed. I live up to my end of the deal, and they are just finding a way to get my money into their bank account. I trust = I’m screwed, I’m out the money, and I need to move on. Bruised, battered and belittled.

Yes, it hurts bad. The feeling of being stupid is not one that I am very familiar. I don’t want to become familiar with this place – I refuse! Learning from this and never leaving myself open for it to happen again is what I can do to restore my self-trust. I’m not going to dwell in a pity party. I’m going to move forward stronger, resiliant and wise.

I think of how Scott would respond to this situation. He would be mighty disappointed in me. It would hurt him to see me hurt. He did, many times say, “….and I love you anyway” – which he would now too. Knowing this will help me put the pain behind me. Love wins.

I woke up this morning in an adorable yurt near Sandpoint Idaho. After a press of coffee, it was still too early for skiing to be good, so I went for a run through the neighborhood. The growth in Sandpoint is stunning,

After my run, I packed up and headed to Schweitzer. The sun was beaming. Schweitzer is a huge area! I always confuse it with Whitefish, and just didn’t remember it so large. I skied until the snow was slushy and then headed back toward Chewelah.

The drive was lovely, mainly following Priest River. I had not driven this route before, which made it doubly fun.

The drive took me over a pass on Chewelah Mtn, which is the home of 49 degrees North. I couldn’t help but stop for a quick skin to the top and ski down.

It was the best run of the day! Nicely rounding out my Triple Play Day.

I am extraordinarilty fortunate to a friend like James Bush. He is one in a million. When I need someone to talk to, he is always there. When I need someone to fly me to Reno, he’s game. When I need someone to help me program my new instrument, he is eager.

Yesterday, as I was leaving Seattle to head back to 243CM, I pinged James and asked if he could help me program my new AV-30. They have had a recent software update, and since the instrument is not yet installed, I thought it would be easy to update it while I was in town. Nothing is ever easy……..

I first stopped by a retail store to find “jumper wires”……no luck. I then had to swing by my neighbor’s (Glen’s) house to pick up my mail (one of the plugs I needed for the programming update were in my mail). While there, I asked if he had some jumper wires I could borrow – voila! Yes, he had some! Glen needs his own post. More on that later, but here’s a great photo of Glen!

James met me at the airport with his windows laptop and we set upon the project. Stan (SW tiedowns’ resident mechanic) stopped by with some very helpful plugs and knowledge. Soon-ish, we had power on the AV-30 and it sprang to life. On the first screen we learned that the device already had the most current software and all of this was unnecessary. James just laughed.

James is one amazing person. We met flying to Burningman in 2013. He parked his plane near us at the aiport in Seattle, but we didn’t meet until we were both in Kelso, WA, weathered out on our way south. Scott was a bit snarky to James at first, but warmed up as soon as he learned James was also going to the Playa. We have been great friends since.

I am so, so grateful to know James and to have him in my life. Everyone needs a friend like him. He’s a gem whom I treasure.

When I walked into the hanger this morning there was Charlie Mike standing on new landing gear. I immediately dissolved into tears.

What a milestone in this long, painful, circuitous journey. They were tears of joy.

Alas, there are some setbacks with the axels. I guess that’s the process of a prototype. Tony has been great and I know he will get this fixed just to soon as possible.

Those weren’t the first tears I have spilled over this project, and they will not be the last. If I get to choose, I’ll take the joyful version every time.

We are nearing the finish line! When I say we, I mean 243CM, me, Josh and Ray. My airplane is mainly getting hands-on attention from Josh. He’s a 24 year old A/P mechanic student in Spokane, who holds a PPL and commercial pilot’s license and is a very impressive young man. He goes to school Mon-Thursday and then works for Ray Fri – Sun. Along with that, he has time to ski and do other fun activities. Another fun fact about Josh is that he went to the High School at Boeing Field.

He has done a great job working on Charlie Mike. Today he is replacing the landing gear for the second time. We were ready for final assembly (of the landing gear) when we realized the gear was bent and would not line up. Tony, from TK1 racing, was kind enough to overnight us a new set. This should be the last time the landing gear need to go on and off. Once the gear is on, we add new axels the big tires and then roll the plane outside and put the wings on.

While Josh has been working away, I have been doing a couple of projects too. Yesterday, I installed VG’s to the horizontal stabilizer. They also go on the wing, but I think I’ll wait until the wings are on to install those just to eliminate the risk of damage.

The oil is now changed, the avionics person has begun work, and next we install the prop, and fire CM up! My tentative (hopeful) departure date is April 14. Keep your fingers crossed.

I left Missoula this morning for the last leg of this journey. Thanks to David and Leea for letting me stay. It was a treat to meet Leea for the first time. We stayed up way past our bedtime chatting about life.

Mid way back, I stopped at Lake Coeur d’Alene for a run. Spring is in the air and I’m ready.

The plane made huge progress, the trailer is in ship shape, the snow has melted off the ground, and I’m ready to re-set me focus on being a pilot and flying!

Today, I skied at Lost Trail ski area in Montana. What a place! When I arrive to the parking lot at 8:00am, there were a couple dozen cars, many with lawn chairs, Coleman stoves, and camp chairs set up. It felt like a celebration! People were smiling and the vibe was happy.

The sun was bright, there was not a cloud in sight, and seven inches of fresh powder have dropped on the hills in the past 48 hours. David Brown drove down from Missoula to meet up with me. I was super excited to see him, and to have a local guide for the day.

A few quick details about Lost Trail: They are closed Mon-Wed, so THE day to ski, if you want fresh powder, is Thursday. Tickets are $41 for the sixty-plus set, $48 those under 60. The Lift operators were super fun and enetertaining. The top of Chair #1 has snow sculptures out front, which they feature on their dedicated FB page. The chair #4 crew posts their playlists on Spotify, they have a prayer wheel and burn incense.

After doing a couple of groomers on chairs #1 and #2, we headed over to the later-opening Chair #4. We were probably among the first 20 chairs and the fresh powder was untouched. David knew just where to go, and we glided down the untouched snow, through the trees, and then more trees, and then more smooth snow….. WOW! I said to David “Let’s do that again!”.

We skied that area many more times, choosing a fresh line on each run. The sun was out, but it was cold enough to keep the snow light and smooth. We finally took a break for lunch about one and then finished the day when the lifts were closing.

Today was my best day of skiing of the year! And that is saying a LOT!

A short note: I posted this earlier today and then just had to go look for images to go along with my story. I had all of my photos digitized before I hit the road. Voila! I found a photo for each of my trips to the Tetons. Sorry for reposting…..

This part of the world continues to amaze me. I started my day skinning up White Pine ski area. At the top I was looking at the Wind River Range.

I then drove NW to Jackson. The drive continued to take my breath away.

Then, I arrived at the Tetons. What makes it so special?

My first visit was in 1982 when I was a Yellowstone Park employee. I drove down from Mammoth Hot Springs (where I was working and living) with Al from St Louis and Bob from Chicago. They were two inner city kids. Bob’s dad was a City of Chicago bus driver and Bob had never left his neighborhood before coming to Yellowstone. We were all equally blown away by the Tetons. Jackson, at that time, was a small town. We partied at the Million Dollar Cowboy bar and The Mangy Moose before heading out to Teton Village (where there was almost nothing other than the ski area) where we rolled out of the car, and slept in a ditch.

My next visit was in the late 90’s for a Kili reunion. This photos says enough…..it’s a long story and we didn’t get to do the climb we had planned (not the Grand).

In the early 00’s I was back to climb The Grand Teton. I was with my usual climbing partner Kevork. He flew in and was on a tight timeline. We decided to play it safe and climb the Owen’s Spalding route. When we got to the top, we were both really disappointed, the route was just too easy. We juggled our plan, and figured out that we had enough time to climb the classic Exum Ridge. We had to really be efficient in order to get Kevork to his flight, and we made it! We were so happy that we didn’t settle and went for it!

My fourth trip back to the Tetons was in 243CM with Scott. We flew into the Jackson airport. I remember being surrounded by lear jets. Airforce two was also on the ramp. Dick Cheney was VP at that time, and was “home”. We were treated as though we had arrived in a jet. By filling up with fuel, they let us tie down among the many jets. We thought it was hilarious.

Scott and I pulled our climbing packs out of the plane and headed to the road to hitchhike into the park. It was easy to get a ride and the women who drove us kindly let us out just short of the park gate. When we arrived at the gate, the ranger was so impressed we were on foot, he gave us free entry for a week! We went around the corner from the toll booth (the ranger said hitching in the park is illegal) and stuck out our thumbs and had a ride to the Teton Climbers Ranch in minutes.

Our climb was uneventful, and we summitted well ahead of the threat of thunderstorms. We had so many laughs on our way up the peak. I thought of those moments over and over today, laughing out loud a couple of times.

Then, as I was skiing to Jenny Lake the song that always makes me think of this place came on. There is something so special for me here. I will always love The Tetons.

is the one who can enjoy the scenery, even when they have to take a detour.”

― Sir James Jeans

This is how I felt today when my phone directed me to a dirt road today. The directions said to go this way for 75 miles. At first I thought, “oh no……what if?”

Then I thought, well, this looks beautiful! I will just head this way and see how it goes. Within a mile, a very special canyon started to take shape. It was beautiful! Then, I came to this sign:

Well, this sounds super cool, so onward! The canyon just kept getting better and better.

The road was hard packed dirt for about 30 miles. At that point, the road shifted from Colorado to Wyoming and pavement began. I passed two cars in those 75 miles.

What a gift to see this part of the world. A lucy break by choosing the route that was 8 minutes longer when given the option. Not really a shortcut, but you get the idea.