Monday, July 31, 2006

I'm back, but.......

not ready to post. I'm just starting to go through my pix from the trip and it could be a while......

It was a great trip, hot and humid, some rain and wind, lots of aeroplanes, way too many people and some really great people that I got to know while working there. I will be going back next year for sure. Hope to fly the Flightstar down there so I can say that I did it.....

Here is one of my favorite photos from Oshkosh, at the ultralight field one evening.


Sunday, July 23, 2006

Bye, bye!!!

Now this really is the final post before I take off for AirVenture in Oshkosh. By the way, if someone REALLY needs to get in touch with me 7/24-7/30, you can try this number. It's a friend's cell phone, so don't just call to say "hi"..... Steve Krueger (sounds like Kreeger) 715-573-9873

Just read some news stories and couldn't figure this one out. Maybe it has to do with the time zone dispute in Indiana???

Now how about this dude, Floyd Landis? Here's a guy with a seriously degenerating hip joint and he wins it.

And Wood you look at this.....

While reading a more serious news story, I thought, "is there a pattern developing here?" First, Afganistan kind of goes away with the start of the Iraq fiasco, and now Iraq is starting to fade from the forefront with the start of this mess. But I'm sure that things will come out great once Kindasleazy, Lice gets there. She has already declared that "we" will not push for a cease-fire that we know will not solve long term problems. I agree, it's much better to just let everyone keep shooting until someone thinks of a permanent solution. Duh is all I can reply to that.

For more in-depth news, you're on your own. And now I will proceed to ignore all world and local problems and predicaments and head off to a week of looking at airplanes. What? Me worry?




Yram, as you can see, I do about four (4) posts per week, so get going and do your stuff!

I gotta go(to Oshkosh), Carlo

See ya later, hey......

On July 8th, the Honky Tonk Heartbreakers played at the Mondeaux Dam Bluegrass Festival. One of the guys that plays a few songs with us is also the organizer of the event, so it has evolved into somewhat of a bluegrass-classic country fest.... and other things, too. I heard someone playing a piano key accordian and yodeling, so, hey, we fit right in!!


Here's the crew in action. Right to left, it's Archie, Dean, Gene and Laurie. Russ got cut off this one.



Oh, there's Russ. Nice bass in the background, hey?



Since I own this blog, I can put in pictures of just me if I feel like it.....



Just about all of this strip of woods along the north end of the field will be dis- appearing. Clearing for the landing strip was to have begun this week, but it's behind schedule. Not sure why.



It the meantime, I decided to cut some poplar in the woods off the east end of the field to help defray the cost of bulldozing.



I got the essential equipment in order, and of I went through the field.



Here's what the road into the woods looks like. It's a pretty spot with evergreens, birch and maples. The poplar starts farther in.



Here is the epicenter of the cut area. Mostly poplar in here with a few hardwoods sprinkled in.


Just a closer look at some downed trees. The first day I cut 20 trees and limbed them and cut the tops off. I was almost dead from this effort. I guess sitting at a desk is not good preparation for woods work!! The next day I went out for a short while and cut 10 trees. Then the next two nights after work I managed 12 trees each night. Friday after work I cut 17 trees for a total of 71 so far. That is nearly a truckload. Only a few more trees in that area to go.



I never hit a rock or the dirt with the sawchain through the first 4 outings. Then I ticked a rock hiding in some fern leaves. Had to put on the spare.....


I'm leaving on Monday morning to go to Oshkosh, so the only news of me may be an audio post if I can borrow a cell phone from a fellow camper. Otherwise I'll be back next weekend. Yram, get that computer going and fill in, O.K.?????

I gotta go, Carlo

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

O.K., here is the long awaited scoop on Pool Week, 2006!! We had a great time during out visit to Pool Week. We got there on Friday evening, June 30th, so we could get in on the first "official" day of the event. We left for home on the following Sunday.




An action packed afternoon.


Backyard dining area. Notice camper in background.



Da Pool, hey!


Kate relaxing on a perfect afternoon for poolside lounging.




Snacking and chatting....




Hmmm.... Lindy's toe has sprung a leak!







Cousins and Auntie Muriel




Dinah preparing the athletes for the synchron- ized drinking event.



Someone decided to wreck a perfectly good martini by putting chocolate in the mix and drizzling chocolate in the glass!



Peggy tried it out.




Debra Jane tested the brew.



I don't like the looks of this drink!




Lucy seemed to think it was O.K.




Dinah took time out from her pedicures to give it at try. I think she liked it.




Looks like Peg came back for seconds???




Doreen gave it a cautious try.....




But I think Aunt Muriel liked it the best!!


Carlo made a trip to the store for ingredients for his famous spaghetti!! You might think I'm just some fool on a boast, but people already talkin' about it- coast to coast!




Lot's of mushroom, onion, green pepper, and other secret stuff.



Carlo cookin'




Lookin' good!




Chow time.


I loves spaghetti! You people are probably getting tired of my pictures of it, birthdays and such. Oh, well. You'll get over it.




A little watermelon hit the spot in the evening.




Airborne!




Who says you can't have fun with "girlie drinks"?




Lindy enjoying the July sun.




We got to camp really close to poolside. Spent two nights down there this year.




Always a happy camper.....




Someone planned ahead for a Sunday morning treat! Those are cinnamon rolls in the oven......


Thanks youse guys, it was great!!!!

I gotta go, Carlo

Monday, July 17, 2006

Blogger problems??

I've been trying to get a post on-line about Pool Week, but I can't seem to get my photos to upload. I'm not sure what's going on, but this happened once before and it took a couple of days before the problem somehow went away..... I'll keep trying.

I'm heading out on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning to go to AirVenture in Oshkosh. I'm guessing it will be a hectic week.

Later, Carlo

Monday, July 10, 2006

Story time, boys and girls.......

It all started innocently enough..... I got home from work, mowed parts of the lawn (most is slightly brown and not growing), went for a run, ate some Cheerios and it was only 7:00P.M. I decided to get a little flying time in, as the wind was calm. Stopped for a can of gas, went to the hangar to fuel and do the pre-flight inspection. Before leaving home, I had called Peg's phone and left the message that when she got done with her scout meeting, she should come to the airport and I would come down and pick her up. That meant staying in the immediate vicinity of the airport so I could see her arrive. I was still hot from running and the weather was warm and humid, so I left the doors off the plane. I was in shorts and tee-shirt, but I put on a light flannel shirt cause it sometimes gets chilly in the wind. So I took off and did a couple of lazy 360° turns about the airport, about a two mile radius I'm guessing. The air felt a little cooler so I kept it climbing. I could see my truck easily and new that if Peggy arrived I would see her white car. Around 5000' the air was getting noticably colder! I could now see Turtle-Flambeau flowage and many other smaller lakes around the area. The tiny lakes were disapearing as I went higher. I had been up to 5400' one other time, so I decided to go to 6000' just for the heck of it. Still no Peggy, so I kept going and when I reached 7000', Turtle flowage was very easy to identify by shape, not only size. Man, it was getting cold up there! My right hand on the control stick was getting really chilled. So I decided to try for 8000'. Don't ask what the logic was there.....
Somewhere around 8000' I realized that the strange looking area to the north was Lake Superior!! There cannot be any other feature in that direction that is so large. Seems that I could see the shape of Chequamegon Bay and the Bayfield penninsula going farther north. Hazy to the south, a few clouds to the west with the sun trying to shine through them. I was realizing that the altitude gain was becoming slower, I suppose due to the altitude and thinning air. At 8500' I decided to try for 9000... go figure. By 9000 I was getting seriously cooled off. I kept switching hands on the controls so I could warm the cold hand by sticking it inside my shirt. I realized that I was only 1000' below the maximum altitude that a sport pilot permit allows you to go. So I thought, "what the hey, might as well hit the limit". Who would have thought I would decide that???? So I slowly made my way up another grand and watched the needle touch the "10,000 feet above sea level" mark on the altimeter. Wow! Things on the ground looked pretty small, although the airport was very distinct and Phillips was still easily seen, but not with much detail. So I made about a 180° slow turn while crusing at 10,000 and then thought I better think about heading down cause it was getting near sunset, my official quitting time. It had taken the better part of an hour to get up to 10,000 so I thought I would get down a lot faster than that. I adjusted the throttle so the engine went from about 5800rpm to 4000. Pitched the nose down so I was going about 65mph airspeed. This seemed a little rough, so I kicked the rpm's up to 5000 and pitched down enough to go 70mph. This seemed really smooth and I was able to bank into a turn tight enough to only have a radius of about half a mile. This descent was pretty awesome and I kept switching from left turn to right to get different views. Even at this rate it still took about 10 minutes to reach pattern altitude of 2500'. I then returned to the airport and landed. The warm air at the surface felt pretty darn good at this point!! So that was my high-altitude adventure today. What a thrill! I have been thinking about this 10,000' cap and what it would be like to fly that high. I knew that someday I would have to check it out, I just didn't know it would be this soon......

I gotta go, Carlo

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

July IV

O.K., this is important, so don't skip down to the pictures!! I had started to believe that some southern cousins had either moved away, lost their internet-ing license or broken all their fingers, rendering their keyboards useless. As it turns out, none of the above situations exist!! I also have been made aware of the fact that some people that I work with are reading this blog. So the big question is this? Where are all the comments????? Don't just lurk out there in anonymity, type- type- type!!!

Whew--I guess I'm calm now...
You last heard from me after my pilot test last Tuesday. Busy describes me since that. Wednesday night was quite windy and I mowed the lawn. Got up at 4:30 Thursday morning to go to Merrill to get my plane!! Bryn dropped me off at 6:05 and I took off and headed home. Got back to Phillips, put the plane away and jumped on my motorcycle (it slept over in the hangar for two days) and got to work by 8:00. That evening I took Peg for her first ride in the Flightstar. We flew around the area, visited Ottertail by air and had a good time. Next day, Friday, we headed out via motorcycle for Hartford, Wi, to attend Pool Week. Got there late Friday evening and stayed til noon on Sunday. We rode home in the hot, humid air and collapsed. Following below is a summary of events since that.....



This plane arrived at Price County airport about mid-day on Monday, July 3rd. It was piloted by John Noble, Sr., and he brought us.......




Yram! So we talked planes a while, then John and John left to head back to Black River Falls.










A little later in the day we headed back to Phillips, bought some gas and filled the plane's tank. I'm not so sure Yram was completely sure she wanted to go up.





We got in and situated. I'm not sure what the hand signals were about. I don't even understand light gun signals yet.....





Carlo goes through the check list to make sure everything is in order before heading onto the taxiway.





We head out towards runway 01 to take off to the north.









One more check on the final section of the checklist and we're ready to go.










From Prentice we could already see the Ottertail homestead house, as the trees are few to the north of the house. It will make a good beacon to head for when I get a runway made down there.




Here's another view, a little closer. It was nice having a photo-
grapher in the plane instead of me trying to do it while flying!





One of the coolest features in this area are all the little streams meandering through swampy areas. They look like snakes...




This is a neighboring farm with a bunch of super-sized haybales, which look pretty small from up there. By the way, Tim had pointed out that you can double click any of these photos to get a bigger view. Then press F11 for full screen view. Press F11 to return to normal screen and then "Back" to go back to the post. It makes some things easier to see....




Another cool little stream.













As a prelude to the Pool Week post, here is a photo to get you started. I'm not sure what actually was going on, but here is cousin Lindy "spouting off" about something........








Today, the 4th, Lucy and Yram headed to Mountain to visit the northern center of FSMism. I guess the flag was flying, but more importantly, Dennis cooked a turkey!!
Peg and I headed out a little after noon to motorbike up to Winter. An annual event for us as Peg's grandfather was from Winter and his birthday was July 4th. Then we headed north again and made a stop at the MuskyTrail Resort bar. North some more and we were traveling County S, which is shaped just like it's name. One of the curviest roads in the area, it's always fun on the bike. We continued north to Lake Namakagon, and were able to find Mikie's house. It's the first time we were ever there and we had a good visit, although short. Headed home via 77 and 13, stopped at Subway in Park Falls for supper and here I am, at the computer again.....

Later, I'm sure......
Carlo