This morning I got up a little earlier to fly.  The only folks up before me were Russ and his 11-year-old son D:

I flew around for a bit:

Bringing the wing down after landing:

We did homeschool and Trish worked on her beading projects:

Towards sunset a group of dune buggy drivers got together for a camp fire:

I went flying again, here flying over a PPG trike.  I had a couple failed launches, so my actual flight was really short.  I wanted to be down before sunset:

Moonrise:

Getting ready for a morning flight:

Other folks were in the air first:

It was a beautiful morning for a flight:

The birds were out too:

M was driving around on his motorcycle:

Coming in for a landing:

M kited my wing:

During the day we did homeschool.  M worked on building a detector for spilled water.  We found that with salty water, the wires could be much farther apart and still complete the circuit through the water, so salty water is a better conductor than fresh water.  When we ran the water through our Brita pitcher, the circuit didn’t work at all, so we proved electronically that our water filter works:

B was having a good time in Chumash class:

More Tu B’Shvat mosaics:

Salton City is a town that just won’t give up.  They maintain puddles of grass in the desert and call in a golf course.  They even get mowed from time to time:

Towards sunset, pilots began to to take to the sky again:

Before taking off, I kite the wing to make sure no lines are tangled:

Now I have to look for other pilots before taking off:

Here we go:

Flying low:

Moonrise was wonderful:

This morning I photographed our campground sign.  Like most things in Salton City, it has seen better days.  The campground, owned by the Imperial County Irrigation District, used to charge $8 a night to camp here, but they’ve since turned off the water and walked away, so it’s free now:

With the massive Salton Sea inhibiting the formation of thermals, I’m able to fly here all day long so long as I stay within a few hundred yards of the shore.  I set up my PPG and drove it the 50 yards or so out to the beach:

While I flew, the kids rode their bikes on the beach:

We also fixed M’s motorcycle (again), so he put in some time on driving that:

While getting ready to do a sunset flight, a couple other PPG pilot flew by.  The RV park a quarter mile from our camping area is hosting a PPG fly-in starting Thursday, but there are already a number of pilots here:

The air is thick here at 200 feet below sea level, so take offs and landing are easier, and the laminar on-shore breeze from the lake makes for smooth flying, especially in the morning and late afternoon:

I’m in the lead:

Sunset:

As we pack up, more PPGs fly over:

M’s motorcycle needs a fuel-up:

For Tu B’Shvat, Trish and the kids made paper mosaics representing various agricultural themes:

B had music class today.  Having a bedroom wall made of whiteboard comes in handy: