My business partner and I had to give a presentation in Salem Oregon at noon, so the plan was to ditch the suit and tie and head up to the Black Rock mountain bike area before flying home. However the night before I read that Black Rock was an hour from Salem, and with a 2.5 hour flight that meant getting home very late. So at the last minute we switched and put road bikes in the plane.
Fortunately someone at the company we were visiting gave us directions to an excellent ride up to the small town of Silverton, OR. We basically rode up State Street into the country side past xmas tree farms, sod farms, flower farms and lots of clumpy grass stuff that was obviously grown and farmed but we couldn’t figure out what it was. Anyway, a gorgeous ride.
The flight home was spectacular. Clouds add drama to the sky and make everything more interesting, including flying. Fortunately, there weren’t enough clouds to add any risk to the flight, although it turns out there were thunderstorms at home that dissipated as the sun went down. I have XM satellite weather in the cockpit so we were able to keep an eye on that as it played out.
As the sun went down I steered left about 10 degrees to head away from the sun while Graeme took the controls. I leaned out the window and froze my hands while capturing the sunset photo. Yes, it is really windy out there (and in the cabin when the window is open), but the window is certified to open during flight and not get blown away. At first I had the strap around my neck, but I couldn’t get the camera out far enough. So I then I just hung on to the camera mightily while taking the photos so it wouldn’t blow out of my hands.
West Coast Flying Adventures 