Another year of treating. Once again we were invited to go into Bangor and walk the cul-de-sac on Drew Ln. Nathan was a fighter pilot this year. He snagged a small amount candy so we won’t feel too guilty about tossing it in the trash when he’s not looking.
Photo Credit: Tony Libby.
It was that time of year again. The time when my friend Matt comes up and we go over to his Bradford property and we “hike with guns”. This year wasn’t much different. We had a great walk on the land and saw some new areas (at least areas that had changed). We didn’t see much in terms of “signs”, so there wasn’t much action expected.
Matt shot at a buck… scrape (rim-shot). And then we did the usual, back to the house for pizza and this time some Cabelas Hunting on the Wii. I didn’t want Matt to go home without shooting something.
Fun with an orange gun
OK, it wasn’t acrobatic, but it was still an exciting ride. A new friend at church had built an airplane a few years ago and offered to take me for a ride (He has over 260 hrs of logged flights). I love flying and small planes are a treat. With a mere 22′ wingspan and only 18′ long, the Sonex feels like you’re in an R/C plane. But the 181MPH wasn’t “scale” speed that we did. Niiice. The fast and hard banking would have been enough for my first time out, so the “wing-over” was a stretch. But I managed, I’m not sure if it was extra blood or the lack of blood in my head on that maneuver that got me! I even took the stick for a while and gave it a (gentle) test flight. Thanks Mike for the ride, looking forward to more.
Posing a bit in front of N838SX
I was finally able to get out with my “AOPA Pilot Mentor” today. We’ve been waiting all Fall for the Dexter airport runway to be finished. He had his plane parked up to Lincoln so a quick joy-ride was a little harder to plan. Dexter finished the runway, and he brought his plane back so off we went – before the paint had a chance to dry!
Mike built a Sonex airplane in approximately 1,000 hours. He has over 260 hours of logged flights in it now. I took my camera and shot a little video to remember the ordeal. Enjoy.
Lesson 2. Still very “nervous”. Lots of butterflies. Trying to get a handle on my “control phreak” syndrome, because.. as you can well guess.. when it comes to flying, I’m not “really” in control. Not yet anyway. That will come, I just need to tell myself to calm down while I get there.
Thanks for watching.
Time was running out for good climbing weather. The Jr High Boys at church were next for an outdoor climb and the rain was making it hard to get a climb in. We had a ton of rain yesterday, but the weather was suppose to be good toady, so we tossed a quick trip together.
We drove out to Clifton again, this time I hiked around and set up two top-roped routes. One seventy footer (rating 5.5) and a forty footer (rating 5.7). The boys all did well, but the younger ones, like Nathan turned out to be a bit scared of heights. They weren’t too trusting of that 10mm rope.
After everyone had a chance or two, the leaders made their stab at it and then we all hiked around to the top to take in the view with the setting sun. It’s great to be out on the rock again.
The Group in silhouette on top of Eagles Bluff
It’s official. Nathan is scared of heights. That’s OK, he may work out of it eventually. He had climbed in a rock gym several years ago at the YMCA and had forgotten that he was a bit shaky at 10 feet. After his incident at Eagles Bluff, he was pretty big jawed about climbing indoor. “It’s easier, you can see the holds and know where to go”. True. But height is height.
A friend from school had a birthday party and they went to the Rock Climbing gym on the UMaine campus. He made it about 12 feet and decided he’d gone high enough. A lot of the other boys didn’t do any better, so I didn’t feel so bad, and I don’t think he did.
It’s a neat opportunity as a parent to watch your child grow up and learn new things about themselves. I’m still learning things about me!
Nathan "bouldering" over his friends
Nathan had his first major project due at school recently. They had quite a few choices of “Output” to pick from.. he chose the timeline version. He did quite a bit of research for it and Mama was a big help. And did a great job on the tri-fold board he put together with Grammy Libby’s help. She has a “Crick-cut” cutting machine that does great for cutting shapes from paper.
It was on Samuel Champlain, and since we spend a good deal of time on Acadia it was a good practical study. Our recent travels to Quebec City didn’t hurt either.
UPDATE: He received a 105 for his grade!
Nathan cramming to get his project done
Off on my new adventure! I’m going to try and earn my Private Pilot Certificate in the next year. For now, I’m mostly documenting this for myself, eventually, I’d like to include some in-flight video and other interesting pieces. For now, it’s just me narrating the ordeal and a few photos.
Thanks for watching.
Another cool and damp Saturday in October. It seems they all were. Nathan had Pee Wee soccer again. He’s only made a couple of them due to schedules and weather. He doesn’t like soccer like he used to, now of course it’s baseball or bust. But he likes to hang out with his friends in a recreational setting.
He kind of looks like a "masked/caped" comic book character