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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Route 66 and the Wild Horse Canyon

Every 2 years Michelle Daniele Hosts 

Route 66 Flyers Fly-In 
at Paramotor City

This year I did a sprint. Drove down on Friday and drove home on Saturday.... 

It was too windy to fly Friday night (at least for me) but Jim King went for a quick spin in the sunset.  Sue had stopped by the tent announcing that the wind was coming down and that she was thinking of going up.  So..... While Jim and I  walked back to our trucks we debated the value of rigging up for such a short window of flyable air.  Jim was saying it was hardly worth the effort and I said yea , but it might be real good.  Jim looked at me and said , Ya know, You might be right.   Five minutes later Jim is setting up. AND...
It was spectacular!   Jim took off with a beautiful full moon behind him and rode toward the Sunset. After he had tasted the air,  he found it not so sweet, so... he turned back to land. and, "stuck it",  like a gymnast going for the gold.  Jim Doyle and I stood there in awe of Sky King, one of the unsung heroes of  PPG history.

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A personal highlight was sleeping in the bed of my truck under the stars.
It brought me back to the summers when I "slept out" 6 days a week.  That night we were experiencing what is called the "Super Moon", the brightest moon in 75 years.  About 11:00 somebody foot launched and flew around the field for about 20 minutes.  Very cool.  His wing wasn't light enough to video but it did reflect the moonlight on the turns.  I'm going to have to try it someday.  Tonight was the perfect night and all I can say was good for him.  One of these days .... It's officially on my Bucket List.  Maybe at Lake Jean or Apex in Nevada.   But one of these days I'm going to do a moonlight flight.
Saturday morning I got up at 5:00 and launched with Jim Doyle who was leading the cross country to Wild Horse Canyon.  Great flight .... good air all the way.



After the flight we enjoyed the traditional omelets in a bag breakfast.  My jalapeño bacon was a huge hit, they ate all 5 pounds!
The Route 66 crowd is family and it was so great to see my friends.
Thanks Michelle for having us back.

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