June 30, 2007

Last day of the journey.  To bad, not happy to see this day come.  Up early again but not quite as early.  Chris met Robyn and I  for breakfast and then we headed out to the pool for some quality shade time.  After careful consideration and an examination of the winds we concluded that a 1 PM wheels up time out of North Las Vegas should be the target.  We plan to make the fuel stop back in Tehachapi CA where we stopped for our first fuel stop on the way out.  Chris dialed up the weather and it looks like head winds all the way back which should make for a long and bumpy ride.  We will take sandwiches as the fuel stop does not even have a bathroom.  

Upon take off from NLV we had to duck under the Bravo which in this case extended all the way to the mountain range on the west end of town.  As a result we had to make a climbing 360 degree turn in order to get to an altitude to clear the mountains after clearing the Bravo.  Chris alternately slowed the engine to cool it and then would start the climb again.  Once over this mountain range it was smooth sailing all the way to tehachapi.  We took about a 15 minute fuel stop, finished the sandwich we brought along from the Bellagio and took off into a very strong headwind.  The last leg of the trip was an approach to San Carlos along the coast.  The sun was dropping and reflecting off a smooth ocean.  We were flying in very smooth air and it made for a very serene picture.  Wheels were down in San Carlos at 6:15PM bringing to an end a very exciting and fun trip. In retrospect we considered ourselves lucky the door did not fail in a one horse town like Tehachapi which would have made the trip a real bummer.  A little extra time on Palm Springs did not really disturb the trip plan all that much.  The only stop we dropped was Sedona.

Chris dropped me at the Grand Hyatt, took a shower and went to meet Chris and Maryann at their apartment to go out for sushi.  There was also the required short stop at a quality chocolate store for a piece of candy and a cup of coffee.  I was seriously caffeine deprived on this trip through no ones fault just availability.  Make the voices STOP !!!