Flying - Visit to Fairbanks

With a new plane in hand, the travel time between Anchorage and Fairbanks was cut way down. So with a clear day and a long weekend, Chuck headed north to visit friends at Eielson AFB. There was barely a cloud in the sky so after a quick stop for gas in Talkeetna, there was a quick spin through Denali N.P. Photos
A great friend of ours Mongo Monberg, has a hangar on an airpark (group of houses sharing a private 'runway') in North Pole. There really is something about parking your plane in your yard.
It was a low key weekend with great long visits with Beth Sumner (& boys), the Hoovers, and Mongo. Cristen, Stephanie, and Sprocket Hoover all went for quick flights around the North Pole & Tanana River area. Chuck & Mongo got to take a two-ship of Scouts out as well - their first 2-ship in 7 years.
All in all, a fun weekend or flying, mountains, and friends.

Chuck's Trips - Las Vegas & the Colorado River

As part of this crazy travel year, Chuck signed up for yet another professional conference. This time for a week in Las Vegas. This was the first post-Air Force trip to Vegas, which was a bit odd.

Prior to the meeting, there was a 4-day field trip along the Colorado river to learn about the geologic history and the current issues regarding the usage of the Colorado River water. The trip (photos) took us to both the Hoover and Glenn Canyon dams, along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, down the Colorado River through Glenn Canyon, and through Zion National Park.

We buy a plane

The day Andi left (and at her urging) we bought an airplane - a 1974 Bellanca Scout. It is a 2-seater which can carry us and a few hundreds of pounds of gear around 300 miles. You might notice the tires are big (Alaska Bushwheels) which allow landings away from prepared fields - i.e. gravel bars, beaches, tundra.
Its quite a nice machine to get out and around Alaska - way off the road system.
In the first two months of flying its gone to Denali, Fairbanks, the Kenai (Homer, Seward, Kasilof), the Knick Glacier area (shown in the photo - more of a camping trip here), and the west side of the Cook Inlet.

Oh, and it also came with skis for the winter. More to come....

Andi heads east

At the end of June, Chuck headed to Las Vegas for a conference, and Andi got on a series of planes finally ending up in Iraq. She is working in a hospital on a US airbase there for six months. So her Alaska summer came to a abrupt end, but Chuck's continued.....