Shabbos here at Elephant Butte Lake State Park was pleasant.  This morning, I got up early to get in a flight before the forecasted winds blow in later today:

Launch of flight #98:

I decided to fly out to Rattlesnake Island, seen here in the upper right corner of the photo:

I circled and climbed to gain enough altitude to safely glide back to the mainland in case an engine failure occurred while making the crossing to the island:

This should be high enough:

Across we go:

And back to the mainland:

I flew the shoreline north:

I flew along the Long Point peninsula:

Across from the tip of Long Point is Kettletop.  I decided to fly over Kettletop, so again I circled to gain altitude for a safe crossing:

Heading across:

Kettletop on the left:

Over Kettletop:

Heading back:

On my way back, I passed Carl, then Kirk and Ron flying together:

Back home:

When I came home, this was waiting for me.  M had stepped on this 3/4” long thorn while wading:

M found this quartz crystal while digging around in the sand:

This afternoon, the winds came up as expected.  M left his Crocs outside, and one of them was blown into the lake.  We watched it floating away: