Seeking Coastal Utopia

Image via Wikipedia So I was lucky enough to start my conversations a few weeks back with the folks at L3 Avionics in order to discover costing and availability of the Trilogy   Electronic Standby Instrument for the Lancair Evolution  avionics package.   Mark Linsley  has been extremely helpful by answering my questions and was kind enough to ask me if I would be interested in going on a practice flight with the Aeroshell Aerobatic team on Wednesday morning.  My response was along the lines of "Uhhm, yeah?!?!  Are you kidding me?!?!" Wednesday morning rolls around and we are down there at the Aeroshell booth awaiting the turn.  The four T-6's sitting there on the grass on the side of the taxiway just begging us to come for a ride.  We sign our lives away, they strap on our parachutes and get the briefing on the flight.   Steve  in #3 gets the pleasure of me as his passenger.  As we are briefing, he tells me "O...

The family decided to spend the day on Elk Lake here in central Oregon .  We borrowed some Ocean sit-on-top kayaks like this one  from our close friend Mellanie and proceeded to load the kids and our day gear and set off. These are nice kayaks to use for poking around and it allows us to load a reasonable amount of gear and have the kids sit between our legs as we paddle about.  We have used these type of kayaks on dive excursions off Catalina  ( Guide to diving Catalina Island ) and with an eco-resort (Matava) in Fiji . The weather on Elk Lake couldn't be any more perfect, a nice warm day, no clouds, and a calm lake.  The idea was to find a nice beach to sit out on and play with the kids and do some swimming.  Dax and Ivy found some friends they play with while hanging out at Kids Corner at Juniper Swim and Fitness  making the most of it.  Has anyone tried to use a paddle board yet?  Laurie is a natural at it!  It really wo...

The company plane N927LE (Pratt and Whitney  turboprop ) and N427LE ( Lycoming iE2 piston ) are en route to Oshkosh as of 6:30AM PDT (1330UTC) and they can be followed on FlightAware  a live flight tracking website where you can track private aircraft by the tail number.  You can also track commercial flights and flights from specific airports.  You can watch the Lancair Evolution's by clicking on the tail number ( N927LE  and N 427LE ) so you can see the track, speed and altitude.  This time of year we have to get an early start because the thunderstorm buildups that occur in the midwest are not so fun to fly in.  However, the Evolution aircraft are in a class by themselves, and are capable of getting to their destination safely and quickly.  With the Garmin G900X display and using XM Aviation weather , the aircraft can get en route weather information and deviate as necessary. If you wanted to get creative, displaying your Jeppesen chart...

The company plane N927LE ( turboprop ) and N427LE ( Lycoming iE2 piston ) are en route to Oshkosh as of 6:30AM PDT (1330UTC) and they can be followed on FlightAware  a live flight tracking website where you can track private aircraft by the tail number.  You can also track commercial flights and flights from specific airports.  You can watch the Lancair Evolution's by clicking on the tail number ( N927LE  and N 427LE ) so you can see the track, speed and altitude.  This time of year we have to get an early start because the buildups that occur in the midwest are not so fun to fly in. The Evolution powered by the Lycoming iE2 is an impressive solution by incorporating electronic control to increase overall engine efficiency.

So the Tour de France is in stage 17 and it looks like Contador is in a good position to possibly win again this year.  If he doesn't crash like darn near everyone else has this year, he will make this his 3rd win in four years.  Check him for drugs!  He has to be using some sort of fish paralyzer (see Floyd Landis , who happens to be here in bend right now riding in the Cascade Cycling Classic ). Meanwhile, old man Lance ( Magnificent 7 (2005 Tour de France 12-Hour DVD; 6 pc.) needs to help push Levi up into the top 10.  At least Radio Shack is at the top of the team standings and that makes me want to go buy some resistors !  Or a 9V battery I can stick on my tongue.  Ahh, well, the only yellow jersey I am going to see is one that I buy from Sierra Trading Post . I spend way too much money with Sierra Trading post and when they have deals where you can save additional 30% off the already reduced or clearance priced items, you can't go wrong. ...

So, as I have been recovering from knee surgery, my Gary Fisher Supercaliber 29er is gathering dust in the garage and Spits71 sends me a video from his YouTube account of his latest ride in Rock Cut State Park  set to music.  Punk.  Go ahead, rub salt in my knee.  The only thing I can com back with is that he is riding a mountain bike in a part of the country that seems to be rather flat , and not near as technical as our local Bend, Oregon favorite (thanks to COTA and lots of volunteers), Phil's Trail .  I know there are many other trails out there, and we will eventually talk about them, but since this is pretty much in my backyard, we will talk it up.  Now if you aren't from the area, you can take the time and find some maps of the area, and Adventure Maps, Inc  has a few maps to choose from.   Phil's Trail is easy to get to, especially if you have been dumbed down by using a GPS, (of which the Garmin 705 Edge has to be the best...

Since late 2009 I had been having chronic pain in my left knee while running and significant swim kicking. After going to Kauai in May and running about 6 miles (because I really felt good), I finally realized that after 5 months of tolerable pain was nothing compared to the swivel I then had for a knee and the swelling that resembled elephantitis (ok, not that bad, and I am not poking fun at lymphatic filariasis). So once we were back stateside I decided to get it checked out and Dr. Cara Walther and Michael Dennis at Desert Orthopedics gave me the news - a torn meniscus. Okay, so will I be able to run again? Sure, but we suggest not running another marathon. Three weeks later I had the pleasure of having a spinal to numb my legs and having Cara and Michael shove small diameter tools in and around my knee to trim away the tears and poke around to make sure I didn't ruin anything else. It was nice to be able to watch the video. Fun times. Yesterday, I spent time gettin...

Now that it is the final week before Oshkosh the rush is on to make sure the aircraft are at their finest. It is amazing how much work goes into a show like this, and how much work it takes to successfully deliver products that the customer is expecting to see. Home-built aircraft are not supposed to look like this . They aren't supposed to be a million-dollar machine that is capable of reaching speeds of over 300mph. That is why Lancair is where it is at. They have always been a leader, since the first composite kit airframe was delivered, the company continues to grow and push the envelope - to evolve. The Evolution is the next general aviation aircraft that will change the way people think about general aviation. There is nothing like it out there, and the closest competitor is double the price. You really do get to build it yourself, plus it just looks good . EAA Air-Venture is the penultimate airshow for the general aviation crowd showing off the latest and gre...

How often have people visited a place and knew that it was right? The right place at the right time. The perfect piece to the puzzle that made everything fit? When you visit someplace new, is it with the wide eyes of discovery or is it the racing, hectic look as you frenetically look for the next place to visit, or to go back to the daily grind of life? Why do we hurry back to a life that we know is not as relaxing or a s beautiful as the place we are visiting? Making money so to someday hopefully move there? Chasing a dream that is out of reach or unreasonable? Who is to say that you cannot go today? Be there and live there now? What would you have to do to change your life so significantly that would allow you to live in that perfect place? This will be the beginning of a discovery to understand what we consider important and what is noise. Life is worth living and experiencing - "where" is the first topic.