At Burningman Alex (my 88NV airport manager predecesor) and I talked about connecting at Chicken Strip in Death Valley shortly after the event.

Unfortunately, chicken strip is closed because of flooding.

When I reached out, Alex was on his way to Kern Valley for a fly-in, so I said “see you there”!! Never mind the magneto problems I was having……

I arrived in the morning and met Anthony. The organizer of the event and his SO Shannon.

The plan was to fly out to backcountry airports. I was nervous, so Alex let me fly with him. Wow!!! We made it to amazingly beautiful places in the high Sierra!!

We landed at three of the airports on the map and then headed back to Kern Valley.

The evening ended with an outdoor aviation movie. What fun with great people. I’m so fortunate to have, and to get to make, new great, friends!

Charlie Mike Flew again yesterday! I have a loaner mag and a new spinner. Whew! That was a LOT of work!

Thank goodness for Flash and Sandy!

Now, I’m basking below the peaks of the Eastern Sierra. Last night, I camped out at the Lone Pine Airport, a place Scott and I discussed flying to many times. I rode my bike up toward Whitney Portal and checked out Alabama hills on the way.

This morning, on to Kern Valley to meet up with some burners. After that, Vegas to see my full BM team. Feels so good to be a pilot again!

Finally made it to Alpine Aviation in Nevada City for my oil change. Flash is the BEST! I pulled in and we got right to work. The first thing was a big soapy bucket of wash water to try to get the final layer (ha ha) of playa dust off the plane.

Then, we went to work on the oil change, (which Flash calls the “50 hour”). We found a cracked nose cone – ugh problem #1, but fixable after some sleuthing on Murphy Builder’s Site.

Once the oil was changed, we did an engine test….and I had no right magneto. Upon another hour (or so) of testing, with the manufacturer on the phone, we determined my Right Magneto is dead. WFT! It’s brand new!

So, what did we do? We went mountain biking, hot tubbing, and hiking!

What a great weekend! We will get back to work first thing Monday morning and in the meantime great time enjoying the Sierra’s with Gordon and Sandy.

The Pendleton Round Up has always been a special memory for me. It was an annual trip when Cindy and I were kids. We joined our cousins, aunts and uncle’s for a great time.

This was literally Jerry’s first Rodeo, and Cindy, Ross (our cousin and local guide) had a blast! We Rodeo’d, danced, shopped, and kicked up our cowboy boots!

What a blast!! Thanks to Ross for hosting us and spending so much time with us! We will definitely be back again.

I’m stuck in the smoke in Truckee. I’ve been trying to fly west or north for three days. No luck. I took off yesterday morning, only to turn back to the airport after only four miles of flying. Yikes. It was scary.

My fingers are crossed that the smoke will have subsided by next week.

When flying VFR, it pays to have a plan A, B, C and D. I have executed A and B without success. First plan was to go to Grass Valley to get my oil changed–no-go. Then, I thought, I would just get out and go north. That was my short flight yesterday. – Another no-go.

Now, I am on to plan C. Rent a car and drive. Since my plan was to go to Pendleton, meet up with Cindy and Jerry and then head back south, this makes sense. Summer Lake Hot Springs are on the way, at about the halfway point. One of my favorite places in central Oregon! Here I come!

I will drive to Pendleton for the Round-up, then drive back to Truckee. Once back to Truckee, I will pick up the plane and resume my plan. I’ll first go to Grass Valley and get the oil changed. Then I’m off to places South.

Flying VFR is rarely the fastest, but it’s sure the most fun!!!

How was Burningman? In a word, dusty! Overall, it was a huge success – especially at our 88NV special airport.

The art was inspiring, the music was great and most of all my team was beyond amazing. We all received compliment after compliment about how well the airport was run, how fun it was, how organized we were, and how much everyone loved our ATC staff. Wow!! We did it. We are all proud.

Now we do the debrief. I can’t wait to see my team again. Of course, there are things we can do better next time. I’m out, and the team will continue on our fun, appreciative, loving trajectory. 💕

It has been hot, with rain and windy. Looks like we might be past that weather now.

Regardless, we are building an airport. It’s SO fun! The crews are great and everyone is taking such great care of us. I’m just going to load a bunch of photos. They say it all.

The 88NV, Black Rock City, Burningman airport began rising from the dust this weekend.

We surveyed, pounded lath, threw cones and had a lot of laughs! What an amazing crew!! By 3pm on Sunday we had built two 6000’ long x 75 feet wide runways plus a 4000’ long x 40’ wide runway.

As icing on the cake, Saturday night we were dazzled by the Persed meteor showers and later a full moon.

Tomorrow morning I get to land on our new runway!! I can’t wait!

I made it to Reno this afternoon! Wow, does that feel great. Purple Haze is letting me camp out in his hangar this week before I head to the playa to set up the runways.

Lander Wyoming was awesome! It’s so pretty, and the wind river range is a treasure. I went for a bike ride up Sinks Canyon, then, the next day ran a trail to beautiful waterfalls, finishing off with a 50 something mile loop through the south range.

On to Utah. I like Logan. It’s in the hills and has bike and running trails everywhere. I went for a ride up Logan canyon hoping to hike to Wind Caves, but I ran out of time. It was a fun ride. Mostly on gravel with my trek. LOL.

And then the rain came.

And then the fog. Ready to go at 6:00am…..wheels up at 10:10am.

That meant I was going to be flying in hot, in wind, and it was bumpy!!

Yet, I made it!

What a blast!

So much to learn, do, and experience at Oshkosh! There is just too much to list. I had a great time, made some new friends, and really did learn a lot.

Ephraim and Justin showed up and we had a great time hanging out together. What a treat to spend time with them!

I decided to fly out on Sunday morning. It was calm, and the weather was great.

The first stop was in Minnesota at Albert Lea. Now, I am in Hot Springs SD. I find that I love this part of the world. South Dakota has many beautiful places and this is definitely one of them.

I’m just chilling in a cabin (with a bed!) for a couple of days before I head further west. Next stop is Lander, Wyoming.