It had been a while since Chris had come over to make baked goods in our awesome (if sometimes crowded) kitchen. This time around, the recipe was good old fashioned cookies. I made room for a cookie or two, even though I was supposedly on a low-carb diet.
Speaking of low-carb diet breaking, Solvang Days was upon us, which meant a parade through Solvang. What better way to represent the Danish cuisine for which the town is famous than a giant Abelskiver float?
High in carbs, high in awesomeness
These Vikings are a long way from home!
The actual reason that we went out was that Chris's brother was playing in the beer wagon band. We got to see him play a few songs before the wagon stopped at the beer garden.
Chris's bro is on drums in the back
Chris having some fun with his special lady friend
Good times were had by all, though I dare say that things would have been comfier if Solvang had been ~20 degrees cooler that day!
Melch and her co-workers had somehow gotten it into their heads that it would be a good idea to visit an Alpaca farm. It turns out that there's a pretty sizable one adjacent to the Firestone winery in Los Olivos, just a quick jaunt over the pass from Santa Barbara.
Up until our trip, all that I knew of llamas was what I'd learned from the film "The Emperor's New Groove." All that I knew of alpacas was that they were kind of like llamas.
Kind of like a llama
Apparently alpacas and llamas are closely related to camels, though camels have been bred to carry things, whereas alpacas were bred for their fiber.
Newly-born Alpaca
Alpacas are friendly herd animals and are actually quite curious. Whenever we'd walk through one of the many enclosures on the farm, the residents would hurry up to us.
Since alpacas are raised for their wool and my wife and her co-workers are knitters, we talked a lot about the fiber and the yarn/knitted goods that the farm had produced from it. Melch decided that she wanted to knit herself an alpaca-wool sweater and purchased a bunch of gray yarn for the purpose after the tour was over.
Once the transaction was complete, we had to go back out into the fields so that we could meet Thesius, the alpaca from whence Melch's wool had come. Melch promised to come back later and show him "his" sweater once it was completed.
After saying our goodbyes to alpaca, farm-worker and co-worker alike, we went for some wine tasting and a picnic dinner before hopping into the convertible for the sunset drive over the pass. Not a bad Saturday!
To get a driver's license, you have to display a marginal degree of competence in the art of spelling your name right on paperwork. Actually being able to drive is in no way a requirement.
Getting a pilot's license is a bit of a different affair. There are a bunch of knowledge requirements and you have to build hours of experience in a bunch of different categories. One of the categories is the night cross country - a flight over 50 nautical miles in length (~58 regular statute miles) conducted entirely in the dark.
Mine was to Long Beach (LGB). This would be my furthest incursion into Los Angeles airspace yet.
The route for the flight was to begin the same as my previous flight to Santa Monica (SMO). Take off from SBA and fly direct to Camarillo (CMA), then turn to a specific heading designed to maneuver me clear of Pt Mugu's restricted airspace. One I hit the ocean, turn directly east to track the coast through Malibu to SMO. The eastward track needs to track the coast pretty closely - there are some pretty tall hills to the north (hills tend to be pretty hard to spot at night), and LAX airspace to the south.
That's enough to get one to SMO, but there's a big problem with flying direct from SMO to LGB: LAX. LAX is a huge airport with a big airspace and a lot of big planes flying in and out. You can't just meander around the area - there are special rules and clearances. Planes with engines larger than my entire craft are keeping the controllers busy enough - they don't want to mess with small fry like me.
The good news is: someone was looking out for the little guy. There's a tiny little hole (more like a pair of tunnels really) through LAX's airspace designed just for us. You overfly SMO, turn to a specified heading, squawk a special code, and fly at a designated altitude (3500 heading south, 4500 heading north), and you can fly directly over the LAX runways without having to talk to the tower at all! The "tunnels" are collectively referred to as the LAX Special Flight Rules Area, or SFRA, and we would use both the north- and south-bound sections on our round-trip flight.
How is it that you can fly right over the airport without talking to the controllers? LAX has four runways, but they all face basically the same direction: east-west. So there would be planes descending towards the runway from LAX all the way east towards Arizona, and climbing out from LAX west across the ocean, but no one to the north or south of the four parallel runways. The jets would all be beneath me, either about to land or about to take off. I actually got to see a few from above on the way through. Pretty neat.
Once through the LAX SFRA, we used VOR navigation (radio-based direction finders used by planes and boats) to locate a designated waypoint where we would turn direct towards LGB.
As a cool and unexpected bonus, we turned towards Long Beach just as nearby DisneyLand was setting off one of its many nightly fireworks displays. We could see the fireworks pretty clearly from the plane, but they don't come out too well in the video. In case you're wondering, the airspace over DisneyLand does have a restriction to keep planes from ruining the show. =)
We contacted the tower as we approached LGB and got a clearance to land. The prevailing winds meant that we had to land in the opposite direction from which we were coming, so we went three quarters of the way around the airport before lining up on our assigned runway. The landing went quite well for my first landing at LGB and only my third night landing ever.
After a brief pause to set up our navigational plans for the return trip, we got a clearance to take off and departed LGB on the same runway that we'd landed on a few minutes prior. The winds that made us circle the airport on arrival also meant that we got a straight-out departure, so we were taking off directly towards LAX. It was all my little plane could do to get up to the designated 4500 feet above sea level in time to enter the SFRA tunnel heading back over LAX and towards SMO. We made it though, set our radios and transponders and made it to the other side without event. After crossing over SMO for the second time in one evening, I turned west towards Malibu for the trip home.
Just as we passed Malibu, we dialed the radio for the Automated Terminal Information Service (ATIS) at SBA. ATIS gives you information on winds, clouds, rain and all the other weather and airport operation details that a pilot needs to have before landing. The weather was fine for our purposes, but my instructor asked me what I would do if the report had instead been that SBA was fogged in.
I told him that I knew that fog in our area is usually a marine layer that settles into the temperature inversions between the mountains and the ocean in coastal areas, and that I would divert to the other side of the hills where I would expect clear weather. Of course talking is one thing and doing is another, so my instructor told me to show me.
I selected nearby Camarillo airport for our diversion since it was pretty close to our route yet further inland than SBA and likely to be clear of fog in our hypothetical scenario. I make a paper flight plan for each cross country that lists radio frequencies and navigational info that I'll need, but I hadn't planned on landing at CMA, so I didn't have all the info I needed.
Of course I had come prepared. I had a paper chart which would have all that I needed, but it was dark and it would be a pain to try and fly while unfolding a map in the cockpit and trying to read it. You can't just pull over and ask for directions when you're in the air.
In another day and age, unfolding the map and looking things up in the directory is what I would have done. These days though, we have better tech. I have aeronautical charts, airport directories and all the information that I need pre-loaded on my iPad. I turned on the tablet and got the frequencies I'd need for weather and communication at CMA, figured out what direction the runway went and found the landmarks that I'd need to set up my approach to land.
It was after hours at CMA, which means that the tower was closed and landing craft were expected to hop on CTAF, a communal radio frequency where pilots talk to each other in order to make sure that no one hits anyone. There was no one else about, but I still called out my position and all my turns just in case (and for practice). I selected a runway direction based on the wind that I got from CMA's automated weather radio frequency, and lined up to land. My landing wasn't as smooth as the one in LGB, but it was a minor bump, nothing dangerous to us or the plane. We didn't even stop this time - as soon as the wheels were on the ground I gave the engine full power and took off without ever slowing down (this is called a "Touch and Go" and pilots do this all the time when practicing).
Satisfied with my handling of our imaginary predicament, my instructor allowed me to navigate us back to good old SBA to call it a night. The flight back was uneventful and I got to land on the big wide runway that the jets use because there was very little air traffic around the airport. The big runway (25) is nicer at night since it has better lighting and is also more convenient since it drops us off closer to our parking area.
All in all it was a successful flight with a lot of firsts for me. It was my first night cross country, my longest cross country yet, my first time in the LAX SFRA, and my first "unplanned" diversion. Not to mention my first time watching fireworks from the air! Not bad for a few hours!
Here's a video of some of the highlights (as well as my trusty little GoPro could record the proceedings):
Another Groupon motivated trip: we headed out to Buellton for some beer tasting with Eric and Ra. It was a nice day so we all piled into the convertible for the trip out.
Well-presented beers
The beers were very... mixed. The pilsner was okay, the brown was good, the red was pretty good, and the rest were very hoppy. Neither Melch nor I is a huge fan of hoppy beers, but they're a fact of life here on the west coast. The black had an interesting flavor, but only an experienced IPA drinker would be able to handle the hop dominance. I didn't put more than a sip or two's effort into the IPA or DIPA. Even so, it was a cool trip for the other beers and for the neat little tasting room that they have there. Any Santa Barbarian beer fans reading this should plan a trip.
Smorgasbord!
The beer left us with a bit of an appetite, so we drove into Solvang for some eats. We stopped at the Red Viking, a Danish place that's a bit touristy, but pretty good. I'm Swedish not Danish, but the countries are neighbors and there are similarities in cuisine. As a result, the all-you-can-eat Smorgasbord on offer fit well with memories that I have of visiting my Swedish grandparents for family gatherings. Leberwurst, meatballs, Danish cheeses, cold cuts, knocklbrot, and so on. Good times. +1, would gorge myself there again (I actually already DID gorge myself there again, but that's another story).
Tight quarters
The trip back was a bit cooler, so we elected to put the top up. I'd ridden in the back of my car on the way out, but our guests were gracious enough to take the tiny seats for the return trip. It's... cozy... back there.
Back in August, I finally made good on a Group-on and went glass blowing with Melch and Ra. In keeping with my alcoholic ways, I made a glass to drink whisky from and a glass to drink beer from. Neither are pictured (or worthy of such), but here are Melch and Ra learning the trade:
In addition to a glass that doesn't look like a glass and a tumbler that doesn't look like a tumbler, I also made a fish that doesn't look like a fish. Awesome!
As a final report - it was fun. It was also very hot. As a trade, it's tricky. The glass cools quickly, so you don't have much time. Keeping the bubble consistent in density and temperature is not easy. Definitely a craft that would take a long time to master. Longer than 2 hours anyway. =)
(This post is part of a series of posts from our trip to England and Ireland. The series starts here and the Irish part starts here)
Our second day in Dublin dawned to find us in a viking-themed hostel near the river. Not a bad way to start the day.
We started early as we had some serious work to do. We needed to see the Jameson Distillery, rent a car, and get started on our Irish road trip. First step: Whisky.
Yes, please
A very old bench
The distillery does daily tours that are pricey but not crazy. As one would expect and require, the end Jameson is poured for tasting at the end of the tour.
Pretty nice looking bar at the main entrance
That's a lot of spirit!
Awesome barrels, mostly imported from Spain
Slainte
After a proper "breakfast" at Jameson, we met up with Heather and Chris who had been waiting for us at a church-turned-restaurant. We got out our maps (actual paper maps for once as we had no cell coverage in Ireland to use the digital sort) and plotted our plan of attack for the next three days. Once we had all of that sorted we hiked over to a rental location to find it closed and then cabbed over to another to get a car.
We piled our stuff in the trunk and headed south out of Dublin.
Near Killiney Hill Park
We stopped by Killiney Hill Park to enjoy a view of the Irish Sea before heading southwest into the Wicklow Pass. The first step on that route was the Powerscourt Waterfall, which I believe is the largest in Ireland. Ireland is a small island so most of its superlatives should be taken with a grain of salt, but the falls were pretty neat nonetheless.
Heather, Chris and Melch before the falls
From there we continued on to Glendalough, drove through the mountains and valleys and made it to Kilkenny around nightfall. Chris had been driving up until Glendalough, so this was my first experience driving on the left. Woo!
Cute name for a shop in Kilkenny
Dinner was at Lohs, an Asian-themed restaurant that served Irish meat such as lamb. Melch really liked it. I had Irish lamb stew and salt-and-pepper squid. Very good eats and the hostess/waitress was super-friendly. Good times.
From there it was a two hour drive on to Cork, where we had a hostel for the night. We got there at 1 and planned on getting up at dawn (6) for further site seeing, so it was pretty much straight to bed for us.
Vadim had to head home, which meant sending him off right:
Playing munchkin at my place
Trip to Brummis
Vodka sendoff at RS
I also managed to regain my Dargan's mayorship! Serious business, that.
I also recently went on my first solo cross-country. The FAA says it's a "cross-country" flight if it's over 50nm. Think cross country runner, not cross the entire country. Anyway, my first target was the same airport that I went to with Vadim: L52 Oceano, just outside of Pismo Beach.
Back to Pismo
The second cross country followed just a week later, to Paso.
It was HOT. Small craft don't have AC...
We do in fact have lakes in CA!
Another lake
We also visited Lauren and Doug for some sunset beer drinking at their new place off of Mission Canyon. Nice digs!
In other news, we played frisbee on the beach,
Then went to the fish house for beer and food and art!
Then home for some SC2, where I finally made diamond!
Not pictured: my first night take-offs, my first rugby game, and who knows what else. Good times!
