Weekend down south

We headed down to Hurricane Friday afternoon to meet up with Cody and Greg along with their families / wives. We took our family as well. (the dogs)

Enjoyed dinner and conversation before finding a spot to camp for the night. I noticed the thermometer in the truck counting down 34, 33, 32 degrees as we pulled into a suitable spot on the mesa above town. We pulled out all our sleeping gear and arranged the truck for the evening. My hands were going numb as I finished up, and I huddled up next to amber and we tried to position the canines for maximum warmth.

We tossed and turned during the twenty degree night, and when Amber rolled over to complain in the morning I answered with a grin, "Well, we survived didn't we?"

Anyone with dogs knows that if you take them camping and there's a carcass within olfactory range, they'll find it.

We met up for a great breakfast over coffee at the quaint Main St. Cafe before heading up to launch. Looking behind launch with Gooseberry Mesa on the right horizon.

While we waited on the wind, a Civil Air Patrol plane was towing up a sailplane giving rides?, Or just doing training flights. The pilot would do circles around the nipple, wingovers, or buzz launch giving us some entertainment.

My favorite photo from the weekend.

The sailplane going downwind, making a pass around the nipple.

Eventually the wind puffed up enouth to lure Cody into launching. I suited up right after him, and Greg and I watched him work hard just below launch level. He rose briefly above launch, but did most of his work on the cliffsides just below.

Cody prepped for launch.

We watched Cody work really hard trying to maintain, and he made the best of it, landing after a 30+ minute flight. I thought the day might be waning, and took off when the wind puffed up a bit.

I enjoyed working the light lift, and eventually got up over the nipple to the north. When I branched out to try to find something else, I was rewarded with little, and landed after about thirty minutes.

Greg waited to see if things would improve, and they mellowed, so he had a shorter flight down to the LZ to end our day. It was good to get SOME airtime, and we all enjoyed jovial conversation over dinner, before we arranged a heated hotel room for Saturday night :)

Airtime: :30. Flights: 1.