Short hop to Yakima

Been busy flying these past couple of weeks.  I find it hard to take good pictures with my iPhone in the cockpit so I am going to start carrying my Canon SLR and see if that helps at all.  I have flown with both Travis and Mariah now and got some interesting responses.  Both loved the airplane and how it flew.  Travis flew us around the Seattle area for a while including buzzing his mom in Issaquah, and Mariah flew us back from Yakima (we flew over for lunch) on Saturday.  I think Travis's new call sign will be "Ice" since I don't think his pulse moved off of 40 beats per minute the whole time!  Mariah on the other hand has another "call sign" but I can't decided between "Giggles" and "Nelly" for nervous Nelly.  During our trip to Yakima whenever we hit a small bump she would get excited (nervous excitement) and then giggle.

I have also had a couple other passenger firsts this past couple of weeks, most notably Harry.  Harry finally had enough time off to join me for a short flight Saturday evening.

Finally, I started my IFR training last week with Howard Wolvington.  I am going to like training with him for a couple of reasons.  He was awarded CFI of the year for AOPA last year which is a big deal and I can see why.  He has a good training manner and he obviously knows flying inside and out.  For those that don't know what IFR is, its just an additional rating (certification) that will allow me to fly through clouds on strict flight plans that are monitored and routed using Air Traffic Control.

Here is "Ice" flying the airplane.  I think thats a smile but I'm not 100% sure.  :-)

Mariah taking "selfies" while I do the run-up checks.

Can we call this one "Cyclops"?

Hmmm,  yep, thats correct.

Ok, this is one of Mariah doing the flying while I took the pictures.

I don't know why I keep taking these pictures but this type of view is just stunning to me.  This was on our way back from Yakima.

A view of our neighborhood.  Big change from last year.

I finally got a picture of Jeff flying next to me today!

Jeff doing his startup checklist as we prepared to leave Scappoose Oregon this afternoon for the 30 minute flight home.