Day 558: Flying to the Glamis Dunes

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Ben

This morning I got up early, hoping the winds would be calmer than yesterday so I could fly to the dunes. Flight Service gave a good report, and winds seemed mild, so I got ready to take off:

Kiting the wing to make sure all the lines weren’t tangled:

Liftoff for flight #33:

So long RV:

The entire area between the RV and the dunes is a massive dry wash:

Extensive dikes have been built to channel flood waters under the railroad tracks at periodic trestles:

Flying out over the dunes was amazing. There weren’t many people out on the dunes this early:

The dune field is roughly 40 miles by 6 miles. It’s amazing to think that it would take a good amount of time to climb even one of these dunes:

Coming in for a landing back at the RV. The air became progressively worse as I came in for a landing:

I was excited about this flight, as it’s the first time I used the PPG for the use I had in mind when I decided to purchase one. I was able to see an object in the distance and fly over to explore it. Hiking or driving the dune field would be difficult to impossible, but from the air, exploring the dune field was easy.

Trish was inspired by how amazing the weather was while drinking her morning coffee outside:

The kids got some biking in between home school subjects:

This afternoon we left the dunes and drove south and east to overnight at the Paradise Casino in Yuma, AZ. Yes, that’s right, the same casino that hosted us on Day 173. I managed to get in a short ride before nightfall, heading north to pass by vast tracts of agricultural land growing lettuce and other leafy vegetables:

See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 557: Dune Flight Attempt

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Ben

Shabbos was unpleasantly warm. Even with humidity only in the teens, 88 degrees is too warm without fans or air conditioning.

Since we arrived on Wednesday, it’s been too windy to fly here. This morning, winds were out of the east at 5MPH or so. Flight Service reported light winds and a stable weather pattern in the area, so I got set up:

Liftoff for solo flight #32. The goal was to fly the 4ish miles to the dune field and explore the area:

Unfortunately, winds aloft were quite strong, and I at times I found myself following a ground track nearly perpendicular to the direction I was pointing. I decided to go back, and with a bit of work I was able to line up for a successful landing.

Back on the ground, I demonstrated kiting to M:

Wind conditions were by this time strong enough that bringing up the wing resulted in M being skidded across the ground as the wing came up. Note the skid marks his shoes leave as he’s pulled forward by the wing:

In addition to their other homeschool, Trish and the kids did an art project in which they created cutout paintings over another painting in the style of Rex Ray, who coincidentally died this week:

The wind continued to be gusty and variable, so I decided not to fly tonight. Hopefully tomorrow morning will be better:

Day 555: Tortoises and Ospreys

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Ben

This afternoon, the kids came running in to tell us that a Desert Tortoise was crossing our road. This was pretty exciting, since Desert Tortoises are a threatened species, with densities thought to be as low as ten individuals per square mile:

Terrance, as we decided he would be called, made a run for it:

He managed to get out of the road:

When flies landed on his eyes, Terrance would pull back his head against his leg to get them off:

Terrance loves salad:

Today we also saw an Osprey flying by:

Trish practiced her drawing:

…and we got ready for Shabbos:

Good Shabbos from Imperial Dunes National Recreation Area!

Day 554: High Dunes, High Winds

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Ben

One of the reasons we came here was for me to fly over the Algodones Dune Field a few miles south of here. Unfortunately, yesterday’s high winds continued today, so I’m temporarily grounded. I spent part of the afternoon turning ten hours of Salton Sea PPG video footage into a nine minute video. I’ll post it next time we find WiFi.

The kids drew flowers and made their drawings into buttons as part of studying Russia in Geography through Art:

At sunset we went for a family walk:

The road north from here is very soft in spots, so I think we will leave here by driving back the way we came, even though in that direction the road is also very soft.

Day 553: From a Sea of Salt to a Sea of Sand

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Ben

This morning we packed up the RV and left the Salton Sea. I was sad to leave, as the PPG flying there is fantastic. Hopefully we will be back again soon.

Update: Here’s a video montage of solo flights 14 through 31, which were flown at the Salton Sea:

We drove south and east around the southern end of the Salton Sea. Trish wanted to photograph an art installation at The Slabs, which we very briefly visited on Day 174. The art installation Trish wanted to photograph was in the center of The Slabs, and we decided we didn’t want to expose the kids to that, so Trish took the truck to The Slabs while the three of us waited for her in the RV:

People that live here year-round add their own quirky structures and art to this abandoned military installation in the middle of nowhere:

Eventually Trish made it over to Salvation Mountain, a religious-themed structure built of plaster over hay bales :

Trish came back to the RV and we continued east to the Imperial Dunes National Recreation Area. We stopped at an overlook to view the 45 miles by 6 mile dune filed, the largest dune field in the US:

M and B climbed a nearby dune and tried sledding down it with mixed results:

The dune area required a permit, so we drove just out of the permit area to overnight on BLM land. It’s nice to get a little solitude after last week: