This morning we got up early so I could fly before thermals made the air too bumpy.  We got out to the field close to three hours after sunrise, since the sun comes up a bit before 5AM here.  I warmed up the motor, leaning back into its thrust:

The run out and launch went flawlessly:

I gained altitude as I flew out towards the river and our RV:

Ground control was standing by:

M watches me come in for a landing:

Unfortunately, I had a bit of windsock dyslexia and landed downwind instead of upwind.  Thankfully, the wind wasn’t that strong, but it still made for a landing that was too fast to run out, so I kind of skidded in to a stop.  Thankfully, neither pilot nor gear were harmed:

It was cold enough that I got to try out my swanky flight suit:

It was great to get back in the air!  Here’s a screen capture from the action camera shortly after takeoff:

After the flight, we continued North and rejoined the Glenn Highway.  At mile 101, we pulled off to view the Matanuska Glacier:

We hiked an interpretive trail at the overlook:

Continuing North, we passed more mountain vistas:

Tonight we’re overnighting at a pullout on the Glenn Highway about 50 miles West of Glenallen.  See the trip map for details.