Keep Your Eyes to the Skies

It's been a weird couple of months since my last post. Ok ok, it's been eight months since I've put anything on here. My apologies. Here's hoping that I can get back on track.

I've always been jealous of birds. I mean seriously, birds are jerks! Flitting and fluttering about with their hollow bones and their stupid bird faces. Why should they be so lucky? To be completely untethered by earthly bonds? Well it's about time I did something about my jealousy and it would be an outright lie if I didn't say that bird envy was roughly twenty percent of the reason I wanted to learn how to fly airplanes.

My first experience of getting to be at the controls of an airplane was nothing short of magical. It was cramped, it was hot (small aircraft don't have AC), I had no idea what I was doing and I was sitting next to some dude I had met five minutes prior. But I had said I wanted to learn how to fly and this was apparently the first step to reaching that goal. He gave me a brief rundown of how it was going to be, we were going to take off, do a little tour of the area and then head back. An hour later we were back on the ground but I was still flying high. This was it. Flying was for me.

I came back the next day and started my official training, flying almost everyday for at least an hour until they let me go off on my own. Being allowed to fly all by myself was an experience I will never forget. I remember thinking to myself "Who the hell thought it was a good idea to let me, a 26 year old dude, go flying all by himself!?!?" It was pure bliss. Being at the controls, no one to help me should something go wrong, getting to be an independent pilot, it was everything I could have ever dreamed of and more...

Fast forward two months, I'd done the time, done the studying and it was time for me to take my test. The Private Pilot check ride. Much to my embarrassment I failed the first time around, I failed the oral exam before I even got to go flying. These things happen. After a few days of intense study I was ready to try it again. Aced the oral exam and moved on to the flying portion. Now, I should mention that you are required to have at least 40 hours of flight time before you are allowed to take your test. Most of the time people require more time than that because flying is a weird thing. It's not really like driving a car or a boat or anything else I've ever driven so it takes time to get used to. But whether it's in my genes or I just have a knack for it, I took the test right at 40 hours. After a little over an hour of flying we were back on the ground and I had passed! Just like that I was now a pilot. A very novice pilot to be sure, but nevertheless I am a pilot now.

I plan to continue my pursuit of aviation, so if you keep your eyes to the skies you just catch a glimpse of the hobo kid streaking across the horizon.

Rainbows are neat.

First time on my own! But first lemme take a selfie.

Heading down to Pullman, WA.

Lake Coeur d'Alene!

Representing Vivid Roots #LiveVividly

The little Cessna 150

This is what I'm working with.

Suns out guns out.

Just waiting my turn.

Hayden Lake! I think...

Pretty excited guy after passing my check ride!

Goblins, Snow, Mountains and Fun

With the little time off that I had between jobs it was a necessity to get out of the house and into some adventure! This post is mostly gonna be pictures so enjoy!

Adventure partner.

I found an old engine!

Been there for a while.

#swag

Goblin Valley is crazy.

Almost like Mars.... probably.

A goblin!

Climbing for a view.

Artistic?

Crazy crazy.

It's like a cathedral.

Neat.

Waking up after a dusting.

Just outside Capitol Reef.

A cold sunrise.

Adventure Dog!

Little snow blanket.

Walking the ridge.

A dog in the wind...

The icy shores of Fish Lake.

Blue skies!

Off-roading anyone?

The path less traveled.

Winter Wonderland.

Dashing through the snow.

Almost got stuck a few times.

Made it to the top!

Vroom!

Let's Call It

Another summer has come to a close. For me, it was a rough summer. Almost no traveling, early mornings, hot days with lots of work but little to do. I spent hours upon hours in the cab of my mixer this summer. More than I spent at home to be honest. But I got through it and came out the other side with the usual sense of accomplishment. To get an idea of what my summer was like, I spent most of it driving around in good ole truck 44. We got to know each other pretty intimately, what after pulling a handful of all nighters together, more than a dozen 12 hour work days and even one 18 hour work day. Here are a few pics so we can all get the idea.

She's a dirty old gal.

That's how I make the concrete go!

The view from my office.

This is what my day looks like much of the time. 

Washing it out at the end of every work day.

I hate sidewalks. So hard not to hit people.

But somedays, it's all worth it for one beautiful moment.

Prince Caspian

So what can we say about this book? They made it into a movie and it was awful. This book is all about faith, faith in things that haven't been seen, faith in things that have been forgotten, and faith in yourself. By now Narnia has fallen into the hands of the Telmarines, a group of humans that hate all things magical and done everything they can to wipe out the talking animals, dwarves and other magical folk. Our young Prince Caspian is the only one who really believes in magic and quite frankly he's the only one who wants to get all the talking beasts back. This book is the one that is most riddled with allegory, so I will make it brief. Faith, believing in things you can't see. Aslan comes to save the day again along with the help of the other children. Honestly, the only reason I ever read this one is because it sets up the next book. My favorite book. So look for that post to be out soon!

Just Because!

We went to the lake again!

It's a big world.

So much to consider.

Cliffside at the Great Salt Lake.

Smile for the camera!

This is my new friend!

Billy the Buoy.

A tire!

Oooh

Ahhh

Billy followed me home!