John & Anne Wiley

2011/06/14

Beginnings

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,MeriTimes Adventure,Nature,Random — John @ 07:29

As we continue to sleep more than usual after helping with small jobs on Tripp’s annual and chores around home, my intention to share more fav pix from our MeriTimes Adventure has slipped down the To Do list. Here are a few that stimulated me to again look back. First at Magic Mountain, in an area that goes way back for me.

6839 Magic Mountain

6839 Magic Mountain

Fun to think about different times of my life there, and probably the last time there by car going on those rides before becoming a pilot, when those towers seemed high. Would like to ride the Ninja again though. 🙂

Passing LA there was still snow on the mountains, and even a small pond with thick ice still in the middle (bottom-center).

6844 California Slice

6844 California Slice

This small slice of our view shows some low mountains between the really tall and still snow-capped peaks, and the desert beyond. Anne’s side had a great view of one of the largest cities in the world, the beaches, and the island-dotted ocean beyond. It all reminded us of a day we woke in a cold desert sunrise, tore off our jackets when the sun rose and quickly heated the dry air, took a short drive up to pause at a frozen mountain lake, then another short drive down the other side to swim at the beach. There’s no place like home, and ours offers ample variety.

Another place of childhood memories for me is Lake Arrowhead, though I don’t recall ever visiting this interesting building.

6875 Lake Arrowhead

6875 Lake Arrowhead

Not much further (by air) is Big Bear, where more memories are kindled including now two landings at the airport (far end in this pic).

6883 Big Bear

6883 Big Bear

Beyond the airport is the small occasional Baldwin Lake, most full we’ve seen it (usually dry) due to the unusually heavy string of storms this year.

6902 Baldwin Lake

6902 Baldwin Lake

As you can see, beyond the lake past the last small rise we glimpsed the vast deserts that in some ways marked the true beginning of our adventure. The stop in Big Bear was a refreshing break, and a last breath of crisp mountain views before heading on to Phoenix. The months since that day seem like years.

2011/06/10

Quiet

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,MeriTimes Adventure,Nature,SB Region — John @ 08:44

Seems like we’ve been quiet for a few days, including posts here. Maybe not just the gloomy weather, or the fact we’re grounded while Tripp’s in the shop for her detailed annual checkup. I may have picked up Lyme’s disease from a deer tick in Foxburg, PA judging by flu-like achy malaise and no other symptoms so today doc started me on the treatment regimen. I hadn’t realized there’s no definitive diagnosis, but anyway we’ve been quiet.

Tonight I started looking at pix from our MeriTimes Adventure and thought you might enjoy these two of the offshore fog as we departed SBA on day one. I’ve been hoping Anne would post some of her pix, but since she hasn’t here are two of hers from that beginning.

2014 La Conchita Fog Bank

2014 La Conchita Fog Bank

In a way it seems like yesterday, but mostly it feels like a lifetime and a continent away even though this was two months and maybe 20 miles away. I really like the mood she captured in these pix, because they evoke the feeling of rising above for something new.

2016 Silent Farewell

2016 Silent Farewell

As a child the drive past “Oil Island” (that blip connected to the foreground shore by a low, narrow bridge) brought up images of a Castaway adventure. The real islands across the Channel stood tall above the low scud. They all seemed to bid silent farewell as we set off East. An hour later Anne snapped Big Bear as we approached to land in our magic machine. What a change of pace!

2019 Into Big Bear

2019 Into Big Bear

Even after our fuel and stretch break it was only another hour before we were winging out over the vast desert. Unlike the image of crawling across featureless flats in a car, from the air it’s endlessly fascinating to look at up in the cooler air.

2023 Anne's Desert View

2023 Anne's Desert View

I hope this post will coax her to share more pix from her side of this Adventure, because it’s been really fun to see what caught her imagination.

2011/06/02

Here

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 22:58

It’s so glorious to be here. When we were there people would often ask where we’d be returning to after our grand flying adventure. When we modestly told them, most would then change the subject. Maybe they’d never heard of it, or maybe they knew Santa Barbara’s a tasty slice of paradise. They’d also probably assume we’re rich, being from here and flying our own plane across the continent. In case you don’t already know, we are decidedly not rich and the money we’ve saved for years to do this is almost gone. Meanwhile, we’re happy to be here and took our first foray into town.

1291 Tie

1291 Tie

Our traditional view vote crossing the Stevens Bridge was a tie. The coastal view out to the islands was spectacular too but our pic of it didn’t come out. There were some fluffy clouds bunched up behind the islands that enhanced their crisp outline. Downtown we paused walking into the library to snap the courthouse where strong winds were whipping the palms to give a turbulent contrast to the stoic building.

1294 Relative High

1294 Relative High

As I’ve probably written before, we used to drive Stevens and go up in the Courthouse tower for high views of the city and surrounds. Now of course, we’re more often enjoying the view down at them from Tripp as we quietly cruise the area. Though we greatly enjoyed the view descending home to the airport, we have yet to take that ride again and more fully appreciate anew the countless delights. After picking up “King’s Speech” and other DVDs awaiting us at the library, we walked across to investigate noises at the normally quiet courthouse.

1296 Restoration

1296 Restoration

Craftsmen were making final touches to the sandstone replica sculpture in the fountain, restoring the original that had been dissolving back into sand from decades of sun and water. Such bright and open expressions the characters have, greeting visitors and litigants alike with their calming demeanor. Then the louder noise again demanded our attention. Air horns and ebullient cheers erupted, resonating through the large arched passageway from the courthouse gardens beyond.

1299 Triumph of Hope

1299 Triumph of Hope

The black robed figures you can make out seated in two groups are graduating from two “alternative high schools” that enable more of our citizens to get diplomas. Celebrating hard work and determination, these grads and their loved ones were overflowing with a sense of hope, accomplishment and anticipation for the opportunities they had earned with the support of our community. Climbing to the top of the parking garage we took a last look at the open horizons, and basked in the warmth of being Here.

2011/05/31

No Place Like

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,MeriTimes Adventure,Nature,People,Random,SB Region,Tripp — John @ 07:13

Home.

Be it ever so humble, there’s nothing quite like the place where all your Stuff is. Everything you’ve collected in a lifetime of moving from place to place, photos of friends and family along with other treasures large and small. Seems to me that Oscar our trusty German washing machine smiled as we came in with weeks of grime he can work on. But the really sweet part begins when we reconnect with all our loved ones here. Meanwhile, here are some pix from today’s flight from Santa Fe to our own Santa (Barbara). Taking off the air was clear and calm.

1009 Wild Ride

1009 Wild Ride

Somewhere else, that is. Santa Fe treated us to wild gusting winds, blowing dust, and once we got off the runway a bumpy ride into a strong headwind. Luckily it was beautiful, and we flew over the “Hamus” as people correctly pronounce Jemez where the austere beauty of this area abounds. Our first “destination” though was Chaco Canyon, where enigmatic ancient buildings indicate a detailed understanding of astronomy.

1138 Chaco Canyon

1138 Chaco Canyon

We saw smaller sites too, including one many miles away to the West. The area around Window Rock also looks really cool from the air, with gently curved multi-colored sandstone shapes arrayed for miles.

1214 Huddle of Sandstone

1214 Huddle of Sandstone

Continuing to the West we passed many distinctive geological features, and this is one of my favs.

1264 Sibling Stone Pillars

1264 Sibling Stone Pillars

Standing apart from a “family” of stones shaped by time and elements, this formation is sort of a miniature Monument Valley. The pillars even have a “head” atop a “neck.” Not far away (by plane) is a vast expanse of features like this, with an etched layer atop a detailed cliff edge with sand piled up against tall cliffs.

1271 Layered Cliffs & Sand

1271 Layered Cliffs & Sand

We took a break about halfway home, at Clark Airport in Williams, AZ. Although the attractive terminal building was open, everyone seemed to be away at a holiday event so we fed Tripp some self-serve fuel and continued on after enjoying the collection of gliders apparently contributed by children who love airplanes.

1297 Planes Inside & Out

1297 Planes Inside & Out

Soon after takeoff we were greeted by what we feared at first was the edge of a storm that hadn’t shown up on the aviation weather forecast.

1298 Phoenix Air

1298 Phoenix Air

It turned out to be the air of Phoenix, blown out to greet us. It thinned out after a hundred miles or so, and by the time we crossed the Colorado into California the view down was fairly clear as a boat made a question mark far beneath Tripp’s wheel.

1306 Air & Water

1306 Air & Water

We saw miles of tall dunes out in the desert, and tried to guess how high the tallest might be given that they were 10,000 feet below us.

1350 Lonely Dunes

1350 Lonely Dunes

We also wondered how many people visit them, given how far they are out into the desert. Approaching the Palmdale area are some quirky human developments like this little rectangular lake that someone enjoys zooming back and forth on in a little boat.

1376 Large Tub

1376 Large Tub

There are a few other buildings and developments sprawled nearby, and the whole thing sits in a wide desert valley giving the impression of a little bathtub dug in a large sandbox. This was less than an hour from the lush hills of Santa Barbara, and our souls began to really ache for home even as we continued to enjoy the arc of interests stretching out to every horizon around us. When we finally began the descent into Our Town, it had never looked more beautiful and welcoming.

1411 Sanctuary

1411 Sanctuary

We’ve now landed in every state of the Union and every Canadian Province. We’ve seen mountains, valleys, deserts, oceans, sun, storm and snow. We’ve flown to Newfoundland and back, but nothing can beat the sanctuary of Home.

2011/05/30

Dry Heat

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,MeriTimes Adventure,People,Random — John @ 02:03

Today was lovely. Not too hot, and as locals are quick to point out it’s a dry heat. Looking back at photos of our flight here from KS yesterday, it’s interesting to notice the drying trend as we approached the Rockies. Kansas has green and brown patterns from natural rainfall and irrigation.

0859 KS Shapes

0859 KS Shapes

Endlessly fascinating interactions of agriculture and the spectrum of other human activities abound.

0861 Home & Farm

0861 Home & Farm

Some people might say Kansas isn’t interesting but we never tire of the interactions between people and prairie.

0864 Radius

0864 Radius

The geometric and random shapes are everywhere, dancing atop the gentle undulations of the land and telling stories about changes over time.

0869 Hardy History

0869 Hardy History

Toward the rain shadow of the Rockies, the land and the human traces tell a more hardy tale of dry years. Before long even the low scrub all but vanishes, and the land looks dry. Human signs become more sparse, and more often related to things other than agriculture.

0877 Old Oil

0877 Old Oil

You can see where the wind has rearranged anything not heavy enough to stay put. When we landed in Eastern Colorado for a break, Tripp exchanged glances with a less fortunate plane that hasn’t flown for quite a while.

0890 Memories of Flight

0890 Memories of Flight

Any plane tied to the ground long enough for the tires to all go flat has to be sad, seems to me. The fairly dry weather here has been less unkind than some climates, but still…

Back in the air, different patterns emerged no less interesting than in Kansas yet with a Colorado flair.

0892 Open Circle

0892 Open Circle

I like to ponder what goes into a landscape design, and the one above is a great example. Trying to create a wind break for protection from every direction? Privacy? Ease of tending trees that are never more than a short walk?

Then we began to see more traces of natural water in isolated areas like the winding creeks that were drying into their Summer look.

0907 Last Water

0907 Last Water

This bend is part of a vast network carved by eons of flow out to the hazy dry horizon.

0908 Maze

0908 Maze

In places a rock ledge would offer shelter from the drying sun at a deep place in the creek that would provide a slightly longer season for all the water life before months of dry.

0945 Shelter

0945 Shelter

Today we strolled the ancient downtown core of Santa Fe, keeping to shade and enjoying the turbulent wind in the trees as we sat in a courtyard shelter of our own sipping margaritas.

0988 Old Santa Fe

0988 Old Santa Fe

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