PIMA and Major League Baseball--Day 8

Tucson, Arizona: the city of unfulfilled expectations, hot weather and oddly-spelled locations.

We all awoke in the morning to a beautiful morning followed by a fairly uneventful (and rather bland) continental breakfast on behalf of the Super 8 Motel that is nestled in the rougher part of town. With Aaron and Rick planning on driving into Phoenix for a pre-season White Sox and the rest of us planning on spending most of the day looking at classic planes, we all drove off to the Pima Air & Space Museum to part our ways—a task that took much more time than expected, thanks to Aaron's GPS system. On the route to Pima, we were all treated to a view of an Air Force field full of airplanes that rekindled our childhood fascinations: AV-8B Harrier II's, A-10 Thunderbolt (Warthog) II's and more C-130 Hercules' than we can count.

Once arrived at Pima, we were greeted to more planes that we had only seen in pictures and were eager to see and touch in person. As we had expected, the plane-related highlights involved seeing the SR-71, the A-10 Warthog, B-29 Superfortress, the B-377 Super Guppy and the numerous amounts of fighter jets—both foreign and domestic. Beyond the planes that were baking in the sun, we were able to look up in the sky and see actual fighter jets practicing maneuvers for quite a long time: real A-10s, F-15 Eagles and C-130s that were flying right above us at the museum. For some reason, all of us were fixated on the planes which were probably doing nothing more than routine flying, rather than the antiques that were within reach—but we weren't concerned at all. We had originally planned to be at the Pima museum from opening at 9 to closing at 5, but soon found out that we were tired and had finished our rounds at the museum by around 12:30, which was a far cry short of the full eight hours that we had intended on spending there.

Since we were roughly five hours ahead of schedule, we decided that we would find a way of getting back to our hotel, which seemed to be only a few miles away from us. Mike pulled out his cell and called us a cab, and we sat around creating general havoc and mischief only to find out that our cab probably wasn't going to come as we had intended. As we were heading out the museum entrance, a volunteer greeter at the museum offered us a ride closer to our hotel, and we decided that we didn't have much to lose so we gladly took it. Little did we know that this short ride would be the highlight of the day; our grateful driver happened to be a retired United States Air Force pilot, who told us more information about flying and the close-by air fields than we would have ever guessed. He told us about his days flying A-26 Invaders, F-80 Shooting Stars and T-38 Talons, and of how the USAF would let pilots borrow them for flying. We could have easily talked for a few hours, but unfortunately we had to part our ways. The rest of the day had been uneventful, with all of us getting our well-deserved rest and enjoying our relatively-cheap Subway sandwiches.

All in all, a good day with nothing to complain about.

FROM THE BASEBALL GUYS:

Anyone who knows Rick knows that he is HUGE baseball fan. HUGE in capital letters is perhaps something that is a bit too small for that sort of a statement. When we found out that one of his favorite teams--the Boston White Sox--would only be a short hop up the I-10 to Phoenix for a Cactus League game, a plan was hatched to make sure that we would be able to take it in. Major League beaseball! In temperatures that are much more than summer like! Whoo-Hooo!

Rick, for the entire trip, has been carrying along a baseball. He desperately wanted this ball signed by his favorite players, but we had a problem. We didn't have anything that would write on it! As we rocketed down I-10, we kept our eyes peeled at every interstate exit for something along the lines of a Wal-Mart or Staples. We saw one or two, but American Interstates are very different from Canadian Highways.... if you miss your turn, you are going to go a long, long, way before you have a chance to turn off again!

As we pulled into Phoenix, we decided that our best strategy was to get off the freeway, and to use our GPS to find the nearest Wal-Mart or Staples. It worked! We found that there was a Staples only a few blocks away! Armed with a pack of Sharpies, we headed for the ball park.

As we arrived, the Sox were still out on the field doing their Pregame warmup. Eager fans lined the dugout and field boxes, hoping for autographs, and Rick was no different! As the Designated Hitter of the Sox came out on to the field, a surge of fresh hopefuls lined up pens, shirts, and pennants waving. Somehow, Rick managed to work his way to the front, and Thome grabbed his ball, nodded, and signed!

"Wow," Rick exclaimed, "this is certainly on of the highlights of the whole trip!"

The Arizona sun shone brightly, and temperatures neared the mid thirties. Although it was a pre-season game, all the sounds and excitement of a full-fledged mid season game were there. We were sitting on the Soxs' side of the field, and many of the fans had traveled from Chicago to see them play in Arizona. Dedicated or what? Quite a few of them also were knowlegeable in Hockey speak, and were quite rightfully proud of the young and up and coming team that they now have in Chicago.

Unfortunately, the Sox ran into a some pitching trouble in the third, and this led to four run lead for the A's. Although the Sox starting chipping away at this lead in the innings that followed, they never completed recovered, and a two run Eigth inning by the A's pretty much sealed the deal... 6-2 A's!

However, the autographs, (particularily the one by Jim Thome!) more than made up for the shortfall on the field. The ball is safely tucked away in a camera bag, safe from the heat, and incapable of sustaining any injury!

Day 7

So breakfast was amazing...as promised. While most of our group woke up at an unusually early hour, the two Ben's took advantage of our day off and slept in to a sweet 1045 local. We spent our morning playing frisbee and enjoyed another homemade lunch from Grandma Hanson.

A few of us spent some time with the Hanson's Neighbor across the street, Gene. All of the locals
refer to him as the "Cactus Man." His yard is a desert oasis... with every type and sort of desert plant that one could imagine on display. It is nearly impossible to imagine that there are so many different types and varieties of cactus! To say that the Cactus Man's yard is a work of art would only understate things. Stone walkways lead one through an amazing yard filled with aloe trees, tropical plants, and of course cactus. The birds also appear to appreciate the garden, songbirds filled the air with sweet soonds, and a hummingbird complete with a nest in progress is hidden and nearly impossible to spot! These nests are only the size of a thimble! The Cactus man also has a selling area, where he sells the plants that he pots. "My kids joke with me," He say, "they tell me that it's incredible to think that I sell Cactus in Arizona!"

The Cuctus man claims that gardening cactus isn't all that difficult. "You learn how to handle the plants and aviod the stickers." He grins. "You dig around them and grab them by the roots.... you stack them in bags, and move 'em slow. They are pretty tough plants, and you can be a bit rough with 'em and they will bounce back!"

With no time restrictions we took our time getting to the airport and were airborne around 2pm. Our flight to Pima, Arizona was supposed to be a pretty regular 2 hour leg. However about 2/3 of the way I was in the back of PTO looking through the binoculars at Rory's plane behind us and noticed two small dots behind him that were growing, and fast! Within 30seconds there were two A10-Warthogs within 700ft of our left wing. After climbing above us, they dipped just in front of us and rocked their wings as a freindly "hello". For most this would be nothing special, but seeing these high performance planes so close made all our day.


The rest of the flight was uneventful and we landed succesfully in Tuscon, driving the rest of the way to Pima. This was the low key day that we all desperately needed. Tomorrow morning we are heading to the Pima Air Museum to take in some more incredible aircrafts and an even closer range, and hopefully get to sit in a few as well. I guess the pictures will have to wait until tomorrow yet, and we forgot a key component to yesterdays blog so reading maybe take another read through that. Tune in again tomorrow for more exciting updates, thanks for your prayers and we will see you all in a short 5 days!

Day 6

After a long day at 6 flags and about as much of California as we could handle, a 630am start put us at Van Nuys and ready to go by 730. With the planes loaded and the pilots ready to go, we had only one problem, EIN was not in the mood to start. After about an hour of troubleshooting and some serious praying, the powerful hand-bombing skills of Aaron got her started and ready to go.

It was a short hop from Van Nuys to Yuma, Arizona where Bev and Foster Hanson (Mike's Grandparents) were anxiously awaiting our arrival. We were fortunate enough to have picked another good FBO, CAREFLIGHT, where we were greeted warmly and killed time playing frisbee in their parking lot while we waited on our ride. Grandpa Hanson picked us up and brought us to our warmest welcome so far (by far!!). Immediately we all felt at home, receiving food and hugs as soon as we stepped out of the van.

Once the sleeping arrangements were settled we quickly were introduced to a Hanson Family Favourite, "The Bean Bag Toss". A picture will be easier than an explanation but our internet has been less than ideal so you will have to wait until tonight when we can upload all our pictures.
What we were not expecting in Yuma was our close proximity to the Mexico/United States border. After some discussion we decided to be the first Providence trip to do all of North America in one trip. Our wonderful chauffeur, Grandpa Hanson, shuttled us to the border and let us roam free. It was a different world. The poverty was evident but the people were friendly and none of us had ever seen so many "pharmacia's"!With the excitement of Mexico fleeting quicker than expected we hopped back across the border and were back en-route for home cooked food and the company of the Hanson family patriarchs.

After the fun and games we were served a fantastic pork roast, mashed potatoes, and a variety of veggies. Home cooked food, what a treat! Soon after dinner we started to crash (mainly Rory.."sorry guys"). Tomorrow we are told that breakfast will be bacon, eggs, toast, fresh OJ and home made blackberry jam (jealous much?) We are hoping to leave sometime tomorrow afternoon for Tuscon, AZ for some Baseball and the Peema Air Museum. Stay tuned for pics and more info!

Day #5 Van Nuys and Six Flags

It was a warm and beautiful morning! The weather was good and despite our difficulties the day prior to, we made it out without any problems. After a pleasant flight through the L.A. basin, we came to the Van Nuys airport. Now we as pilots have a special understanding of Van Nuys due to the movie 16R(One Six Right), and upon arrival at Van Nuys we were all hoping to hear the controller say, “cleared one six right.” When we finally got there the words were sweet music to our ears. I can’t speak for Rory’s landing, but I greased PTO right onto the ground.

We had some creative taxiing (ie got lost) but the controllers there were more than friendly and we got the planes unloaded and went to find transportation to a hotel. The FBO was extremely nice and the people working there matched the aesthetics with personality. We even got a red carpet welcome.
After getting to the hotel, we sent Aaron to the beach for the day while the rest of us headed to Six Flags.

What confidence and anticipation there was in those five young pilots as they headed to the front gates. A quick wait in line for tickets and we headed in towards the park. And then we saw the metal detectors. Now all of the Canadians know that the American was born in jeans, a tee shirt, with a belt and multi tool around his waste, but the security at the Park didn’t think it so natural and sent me running back to the car. The rest of the guys said they would wait up at the newest ride for me. So I hoofed it back to the car and dumped my Gerber, then with a slightly off step I made my way, naked, back to the gates.

After working my way through the entry process and up to the new ride, I discovered my Canadian companions were nowhere to be found. Expecting them to find me there, I waited in line for the newest and supposedly best ride in the park. After about two hours I got on without any of my friends and after a five minute round of intense loops and speeding drops, I set out to find my compadres. I spent the rest of that day wandering from ride to ride stopping at each one to try the ride and then moving on in hopes of finding the lost foreigners. By six in the evening I was bored with the park and convinced Border Patrol had finally caught up with us. With nothing better to do I went back to the first ride and had another go at it. On my way out I glanced at the large lineup of potentials and there beheld the red hair and shirt that I knew to be Jeeber. I had finally found them and with new vigor we spent the last two hours of the day getting in as many rides as most of us had gotten up to that pointing the day.

By the end of the evening we were all sunburned and spent. It had been a good day, and I felt great for having spent at least a little time with my friends (also having put my Gerber back on I was much more inclined to see the rosy side of life).
We caught up with Aaron at the hotel, he had spent the day enjoying the beach and roads that have turns in them (poor flatlander from Manitoba). When we finally crashed for the night, we could all look back and say it was a great day.

Quite a day, indeed! While the rest of the guys were enjoying the twists and the turns of metal tubes, I was sent off to enjoy the twists and turns of another sort...

As Mike mentioned, Manitoba is somewhat landlocked. Manitoba is somewhat flat!

However, (and allow me to take on the role of an apologist here for a moment!) Manitoba occupies the heart of the continent. There are few places where one is allowed the ability to sense and grasp eternity. After all, when both land and sky stretch out before you and disappear into a limitless horizon, how can you not get a sense of being part of something that doesn’t end?

Sky and land are everything in Manitoba!

Shortly after our wheels touched down on the immortalized pavement of 16 Right, I realized that this would be an excellent opportunity to soak in some more of that limitless horizon, and to experience it in a manner somewhat different. California is the place where sky meets ocean.

It was Sunday, and we were soon to find that getting cars on a Sunday (particularly at 8AM!) was going be a challenge. However, Becky at Pentastar Aviation was up to the challenge, and she managed to put together a package for us that worked! I was going to head out and explore the California Coast, while the other guys were to take in an afternoon of thrills at Six Flags.

Becky suddenly found herself working as a tour operator.

“Aaron, “ she said, “You want to get onto the Pacific Coastal Highway North…. However, you want to get there along the pretty and scenic route!”

“Take the Ventura Highway West,” she continued, “and turn south down the Las Virgens Highway. Going this way, you’ll see some beautiful landscape! Once you hit Malibu, turn west again, and head towards Santa Barbara!”

All that I can really say is WOW!!!

Becky’s recommendation put me down canyons and switchbacks. A short turnoff down the Malibu creek highway led me to a little lake nestled in the mountains, and to rolling green summer-type foothills. Getting back on the Las Virgens highway, a journey through a tunnel eventually led to sheer cliffs just off the road, and eventually to the coast and Malibu… the place where sky meets sea.

As recommended, I continued northwest bound for some time. The smell and feel of ocean spray surrounded me, and it wasn’t long before I elected to stop and do some wading. The water was clear and warm, and the power of the surf amazing.

Sunset seemed to come far too soon. With the fading light, I turned eastward, to retrace my path back towards the hotel room.

It had been an eventful day. I had been permitted to see the location where a seemingly endless sky met a seemingly endless sea. In some ways, it was very much the same as what is known in Manitoba, but yet, at the same time, different.

Eternity can be seen, and felt, here too.

Grand Canyon Finale, and one amazing FBO!!!

Yet another eventful day!

The goal was to get from the Grand Canyon (which is more than warm enough!) to an even warmer location which is Palm Springs!

As you will soon see, today's adventures included a most unexpected surprise!

Anyone who flies can tell you that high-altitude airport operations are completely different from operations at an airport nearer to sea level. Like people, smaller airplanes (like the ones that we are flying!) don't particularly like high altitudes. The air is thinner, and this results in significant decreases in engine performance. Airplanes don't climb so well at high altitudes, so getting to the cruising altitude you have planned for takes a lot longer.

To offset this, we can use a couple of tricks, but only up to a point. One of them is to take off before the heat of the afternoon kicks in. Hot air is much thinner than dense air! By taking off early in the morning, we make sure that the air is as dense as it can possibly be, and that the plane will have a little bit of an advantage.

The second trick that you can employ is to do your best to keep the plane as light as possible! A light plane is not bound to the earth in the same way that a heavy one will be. If one remembers the four basic forces of flight, they will note that weight is opposed by lift. If we generate more lift than weight, then the plane will fly. If weight is more than lift... well... I am sure that you get the picture!

So then, what can we do to keep our planes light?

Well, one of the most obvious items is that we can carry less baggage! Long before we embarked on this trip, we carefully calculated the baggage that we could carry (incidentally there is a reason those airline guys ask you to limit the weight that you carry as well!) and committed to carrying less than the maximum that our planes could carry. However, now that we are actually executing this trip we can't really reduce our weight any further. We are all now pretty well committed in terms of the baggage that we are carrying. We all need our socks and underwear, so ditching them is not really not an option! (A few of us, however, will confess that there are a few pairs that are yet to be laundered that we may wish were ditched!)

So then, what to do?

Well, for our part, one of the only things that we can do is carry less fuel. Fuel weighs about 6 lbs per gallon, so shedding a few gallons of fuel can lead to significant savings in terms of weight. This means the plane will be less sluggish on the takeoff roll, and that it will hop heavenward with a greater rate of climb.

Reducing the amount of fuel, however, comes with a serious and potentially dangerous trade off.

Less fuel means less endurance and range! We cannot stay in the air as long now, nor can we fly as far! Less fuel in your car might not be a big deal. If it quits, you pull over. If your airplane quits, then you are in trouble. We all agreed that carrying less fuel was the way to go, but we also made a very conscious decision to fuel up further at an airport halfway to Palm Springs, and very nearly at sea level! The town that we agreed on was one that none of us had ever heard of before... but it was perfectly on our route. Further investigation also reveled that they were advertising fuel at the cheapest rate we have ever seen... Bonus!!!

Without a doubt, however, none of us were aware of the surprise that was awaiting us!

We took off early morning towards the rim of the Canyon, and then headed roughly west so that we could skirt some high terrain that was in the way for our journey to Palm Springs. In a short while, the full magnificence of the Canyon stretched out below us. We overflew the Western sector, soaking in the amazing width, depth, and breadth of the creation below us.

After overflying the Peach Springs VOR, (and watching our flags flop!) we headed nearly due south for Lake Havasu, our fuel stop.
Coming from the east, you literally "drop in" on Lake Havasu. Initially, you are at an altitude of 8500 feet or higher as you clear the mountains to the east. After doing this, you have to descend to nearly sea level for the airport! Talk about ear popping! After two days of being at altitudes above 6,000 feet, our bodies told us a0ll the way down that the pressure was increasing. Our water bottles that we had drunk from became "raisins" as the difference in pressure compressed and squeezed them. Now we know how our pressure instruments work!

The approach into Lake Havusu is absolutely breathtaking. As was mentioned before, it is surrounded by mountains to the east, and north. To the south, there is a lake filled with pleasure goers and boaters, fed by the clear waters of the Colorado River. Amazing!

Shortly after touchdown, it was what happened next that was a surprise to all of us. As we taxied to the apron, we saw two golf carts with different colours and logos racing towards us at breakneck speed. The two of them were obviosly vying for our attention, with bright flashing lights and waving arms! However, each golf cart seemed to try and pull us in a different direction. Who to follow? They both wanted our business, and it showed! In the end, we followed the cart with the price posted on the back... $2.75 a gallon! Desert Skies FBO. Wow! Can't miss!

Desert Skies is definitely not a run of the mill FBO. They have a Monster Truck and a souped up V8 Hot Rod Lawnmower. They have a couple of restored classic trucks, low fuel prices, and an "I love my job attitude." What's more, they have a low fuel prices! They handled our aircraft with speed, precision, and a great deal of friendliness. They welcomed us to have a look at all of thier neat "toys," firing up the lawnmower, and letting us pose with the monster tuck. Whats more, we were able to slug back some free slurpees... (Does a Canadian run this place?)

We highly recommend Desert Skies to anyone in the area looking for fuel!

You never really know when an "ordinary" stop is going to turn into something extraordinary. Funny how there are so many things in life like this little stop. Just another boring fuel stop, and whamo! Something neat comes out of the woodwork. As one of the employees at Desert Skies said... "this is all about having fun! If we can't have fun at what we are doing then we might as well be working!"

Life is full of little surprises, and they often turn out to be good ones!

Our day finished with the journey to Palm Springs. Tonight, we'll review some shared learning experiences, reflect on a few of our adventures, and then move forward and onward!

Next up, we hope to reach Van Nuys, the coast, and Six Flags!!!

Stay tuned!

"O Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever." Psalm 131:3

Day 3

Ok guys so we are here in the Grand Canyon, but its a little balmy at 24 degrees Celsius. It's February 27th and our day had an early, but great start. Up at 5am we had to skip our continental breakfast and hitch a ride from the helpful folk at Double Eagle Airport to our planes for a planned departure of 7am. With full oil, plenty of fuel, clear skies and minimal winds we had both planes off the ground by 715am and en route for the Grand Canyon!



The flight went well and was fairly uneventful. With some minor flight plan confusion and a quick fuel pit stop for the Piper Warrior we were finally at GCN, the GRAND CANYON! We arrived with empty stomachs and hit the buffet at our hotel for a hearty lunch. With full bellies and time to kill we took off to the Grand Canyon National Park for some trecking. Following one of the trail heads we hiked about 2000ft into the canyon and spent some time messing around the cliffs, throwing rocks, and making our Prov Trip insignia on the mountain...unfortunatly our 1 american companion missed the spelling unit in primary school and results in Prov 0P, rather than Prov 09. Oh Mike.

With all our gear (no food, no water, and street shoes) we had to abort our mission to the bottom and head back up to the rim of the canyon. Finally we reached the top, exausted but satisfied we hunkered down and watched the sunset. We are back at the hotel now, satisfied with our hotel dinner these Canadian (with an exeption) pilots are hitting the sack with tired legs and our sites set on Palm Springs for tomorrow morning. The plan is to be gone by 930am and simply take a rest day in Palm while we wait to see whether the weather will permit us to continue flying West or if we might be grounded. We are thankful for all your prayers and you can see how tomorrow goes by tuning in around the same time tomorrow!










The four fly boys.

Day 2

Well, the end of day two finds the six of us in a two bed hotel room in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We're arranged in sort of a sardine can manner but it's a cost cutting measure and after spending as much time as we have in the heart of meno-land frugality is king.

We started off the day this morning at 8 am with the hopes of departing Hugoton by 10 am. Once we had eaten, all the planning was done and we were in the planes it was 10:30. We had been watching the winds intently during the morning and there were reports along our track of winds gusting up to 38 kts. We decided to go, loaded the planes, taxied to possition but neither of us had had any communication with the other by this point. We did all the trouble shooting that we could think of at the time but to no avail. We were not going to go with no communication so we taxied back and shut down. As it turns out it was just a simple misscommunication on frequencies but it brought us back to the ramp and as we looked at the wind again it was decided that in the interests of self preservation we should probably stay put. I am fairly certain that it was not mere missfourtune that made us have this mix up. It was yet another reminder that someone bigger is looking out for us.

We ended up getting away just after noon when there was a break in the winds We continued to have an exciting and uncertain flight through mountain passes direct to Albuquerque. The plan for tomorrow is to get up at 5 am while it's still cool and fly the remaining 2 hrs through the mountains to the grand canyon where we will spend the day.

Want to find out what happens to the group? Tune in tomorrow, same time, same channel!

Call it