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I have been traveling a lot in the last 6 years. This trip stands out as
one of my favorites.
March is still cold in Chicago. Getting away to the Enterprise (the
motorhome) is a wonderful way to get out from under the winter blanket
laid across the Midwest this time of year.
Jeff and I flew into San Diego Friday night and picked
up the Enterprise.
The first major stop was just west of Yuma, AZ at Glamis Dunes in
California. It's an amazing site to see all the sand like in the
movies (which have been filmed here).The big dunes farther west are crawling with dirt bikes and
four wheeled vehicles (I don't really know what they are but I did see
what I would call a dune buggy).
We met up with some other paramotor pilots on Saturday night.
This would be my first paramotor flight since early December. It was so
awesome to get in the air again. The next morning wasn't good flying
weather so Jeff was the only one to fly. That night was beautiful though. A
little windy but it was smooth. Jeff and I wanted to check out the new
border fence along Mexico. There is also a canal that runs near
by and the smaller dunes are right there too. Jeff was filming using the
helmet cam and got some great footage for the video series. I had been
to the larger dunes before but never flown there. Swooping down around
the mounds of sand is just a lot of fun. With the sun
setting it made for some great pictures.
   
1) Dune Buggy at one of our stops 2) Me
flying around a dune 3) Me with the Mexican border fence in the
background. 4) The canal along the border. |
That night we went into Yuma to do some shopping at Wal-Mart. We spend a
lot of time "camping" in Wal-Mart parking lots. They always have a
special area designated for motorhomes to stay at. A knock on the door
in the middle of the night woke us...that's never good. A very nice security officer
explained that the local RV parks have been losing revenue. So they
complained to the city and they eventually passed an ordinance that there couldn't be
any over night parking of RV's anywhere in the city. He was really nice
about it. He said his authority was only over this parking lot but right
over there is not my jurisdiction and he has never seen the police kick
anybody out. Needless to say we moved and it actually put us closer to
the front of the store.
After spending most of the day sitting in the parking lot on Monday, we
headed for our next stop, the Salton Sea in California. It's about an hour
and a half south of Palm Springs. This body of water is unique. The word
salt is in it's name for a reason. The shores are lined with what looks
like pebbles but in reality they are fish bones. You won't find people
sunbathing, swimming or jet skiing here. And yes it can have an
undesirable odor at times. In spite of all that it is the perfect place
for flying our ultralight craft. The wind blows inland so you get smooth
air off the water and can fly most of the day if you want to. People
come from all over the world to flying events held here annually.
That evening we went to fly but there was an issue with my motor. We
were both bummed thinking we wouldn't get to fly that night or possibly
rest of the trip. Turns out a piece of the clutch spring broke. Jeff is
the master of field fixes and was able to get me up and running 15
minutes before sunset. This was the first time either one of us had
flown here outside of a flying event. It was great having it to
ourselves.
We got up early and did some video footage. Jeff had me foot dragging in
the water (yuck!). That was the first time I have foot dragged in water.
It was only inches deep so no danger, just an inconvenience if I land
out. Another shot was to track a straight line while foot dragging on
the ground. I found tire tracks in the sand and put one heal in a groove
down the beach. That was cool.
Later that morning the fun was over. A city employee came to tell us
that they own the property and said we couldn't fly here anymore. To read
more about that story click
here. Luckily there are other areas of the beach nearby but none
this large.
   
1) The great expanse of beach pretty much
only used by us flyers and atv's. 2) Jeff coming in for a spot
landing
3) Jeff afterlanding 4) A large amount of smoke had been rising
all morning. Never did find out what it was from.
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Jeff also wanted to get video flying in the canyons nearby but because I
had motor issues we both figured it was not a good idea. I wouldn't be
happy having to carry my gear to the closest road in a desert canyon.
We decided to move on to the Palm Springs area. We stopped in Coachella
for some RV maintenance. We found a small Mexican run place that changed
our oil on the engine and generator. When I called for directions he
told me to park in front of the "showroom". The "showroom" was a parking
spot on the narrow street. They did the work right there. It was $130 by credit card or if you pay cash only $100.
I wonder if the 30% difference is to make up for the taxes they don't pay on the
cash system (just my own guess). We then found a tire place that actually said you don't
need new tires, wow! You don't here that often. The treads are good but
we have not been covering the wheels so they are weathered pretty bad.
It is interesting to see
these towns in the US that make you think your in Mexico. Mind you I
don't have a problem with that I am just not used to seeing that up
north.
The sun was setting below the mountain range as we arrived in downtown
Palm Springs. This was my first time here. It's a beautiful place. I
see why people come here for the many resorts and golf courses. We found
ourselves walking the "strip" of downtown. In most downtown strips it
lasts just a few blocks. This was what seemed to be endless choices of
restaurants, night clubs, bars and shops. We stopped into a nightclub
just to people watch. Being a week night not much was happening. Neither one of us drink so it
was diet cokes and people watching for us.
The only picture I took in Palm Springs. I
found parking on a side street downtown.
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We got underway for San Bernadino that night, where a paragliding site resides high
above the city. I have a paragliding rating but I got that launching off
a hill probably 200ft high. The only other free flight experience has
been at a beach along a ridge...not intimidating at all. But now the
choice before me was a 2000ft mountain to jump off of. I can't even
remember how many times I waffled back and forth on doing this.
YouTube is a great resource besides just entertainment. I was able to
find some video of people launching there and after watching them I was
more comfortable with the idea. When we arrived at the base of the
mountain I was having second thoughts looking up at the top. Jeff is
always encouraging, never pushy and adds advice. Jeff has been doing
this for like 10 years. He spent a lot of time at this site. It was a
special place to him being where he first learned.
The site has a P3 rating. Meaning you need to have a training rating of
P3. I am only a P2 so we had to wait and go up with the
instructor for the afternoon flying session. He can sign me off to allow
me to fly there. I thought I would have to answer some questions or
demonstrate ground handling skills. Nope he said wait about a half-hour
to let the wind die down a little...Ok then, that was easy.
The scariest part of the adventure was the ride up the mountain. We
crammed 8 people and all the gear into a 70's suburban. No seat belts to
be found and anyone that has ever driven up a mountain understands the curves
of death you go around on your way up. I swear he was driving 60mph around
these curves. I was smashed against a door. I had no confidence in that
door staying closed. I was hanging on for my life with my feet tucked
under the seat in front of me just praying the door wouldn't fly open
spewing me down the hillside.
   
1) The motorhome at Marshall 2) Jeff 3) Me
with the launch site at the peak of the mountain on the right.
4) One guy riding in the back of the scary suburban ride up the
mountain. |
Once at the top it didn't seem so bad. It was a gradual slope to run
down so you didn't see right over the edge. That made it better for me.
I was picturing more of a ledge.
The hardest part of this sport is handling the wing in high winds on the
ground. So Jeff had me practice during that half-hour wait. I was a
little rusty at first but soon honed my skills. Jeff had been video
taping me practicing and other pilots launching. This is a hang glider
site, too. There were only 2 other paragliding pilots up there and they were
not very experienced either. Everybody had launched while I worked on
handling the wing. Jeff launched and rode a thermal and came back and
landed. I know he wanted to go and play in the air but he would not
leave me until I was ready to go.
The time had come. The sun was sitting, the smog had rolled in from LA
and I couldn't put it off any longer. So with the video camera battery
now dead I got the wing up turned around and ran off the edge. It went
perfect. It was glorious. My previous experiences were short 5 minute
flights. This was probably 20 minutes long. Eventually I will get into
finding the thermal activity and stay up longer by riding the rising
air. But for this flight I just wanted to sit back and enjoy looking over the
San Bernadino Valley. Once in the air I was completely at home. I have
several hundred hours of flight time in the powered paraglider.
At the landing area there is a 20ft target to land in. Not having the
motor gives you a better glide ratio. I knew that, but coming into land
I was a little high. I slowed the wing down and swooped in, but I was
still high. At about 5ft I gave it a little to much brake and jumped back
up to 15ft then came down a little hard but on my feet. I was actually
embarrassed that I missed the target by like 50ft. The instructor said
the only thing I did dangerous was pulling the brakes at 5ft and getting
lifted back up. But he said I recovered at the end giving it hard brake
to flare and ran out the energy of the wing.
For my first mountain flight and not having practice landing this wing
without a motor I did just fine. I was a little "down" about the landing
but soon overcame those feelings with the accomplishment of running off
the edge of a mountain.
  
1) Jeff had just launched for a quickie. 2)
Me with our landing zone in the
background. 3) Jeff nailing the cone on landing |
A friend of ours lives 2 blocks from Venice Beach in LA. It was too late
to do much that night but the next morning we hit the beach. Now the
beach for us means rollerblading. None of us are into sun bathing, not
that it wouldn't be fun watching others. Anyway Venice beach is a famous
site for movies, tv shows etc...after all it's LA. It's always fun to
see the zoo of characters you find "street performing" or just checking
it out like us, it's a circus on the beach. If you have more interest in
Venice Beach see
Wikipedia.
Dave is a great skater and can do a some "tricks" on his wheels.
This was our last stop before heading to the LAX.
It was an awesome trip.
   
1) Dave strutting his stuff 2) You can see
a new skate park being built in the background.
3) Dave, Me & Jeff. No I don't have epilepsy, I just felt the
need to wear my helmet that
day with all the people. |
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