RV7 Flight: Elk River, Idaho

I celebrated my birthday yesterday. My husband bought me what you see at left: a noise cancelling headset for the airplane, a Zulu model by Lightspeed. Now we both have them, and let me tell you, they're wonderful. Typically, headsets start to give you a headache after wearing them for a couple of hours. These are so well padded, and they cancel out noise so well, that your head feels perfectly fine once you're on the ground again.

We flew to Elk River, Idaho, as planned. Elk River is up in the mountains, and the air strip is a private, grass strip, not one that an inexperienced pilot would dare to fly into, or out from. Heading into Elk River, around 10:00 am, the air was reasonably calm, but by the time we left again at 2:30 pm, the thermals had picked up, which are up-drafts and down-drafts, and are typical of mid-summer, afternoon weather. What it means that we were kicked about mightily. My husband and I have been flying since we were 22 years old; we've been in a number of scary situations. This was by no means a dangerous one, however I did need to keep reminding myself to breathe, and to unclench my fists.

Here I am, sitting next to the airplane, in Elk River, while hubby is walking up the airstrip, determining where his "go" and "no-go" markers are for when we take off again later that afternoon.

I happened to be reading (actually, I finished reading, yesterday, another delightful book by Elizabeth Berg): The Last Time I Saw You, about a 40-year high school reunion, which I can definitely relate to, however ... good grief, are we really that old? Elizabeth Berg is about six years older than I am (according to Wickipedia). I felt she didn't quite get my generation right, but close. And I always love her characters, as I do not live an urban, suburban, or even small-town life. I find it totally charming to read about people who do.


 Hubby and me standing in front of one of the three falls at Elk River. We were with my son and his wife, their two kids and some friends of their kids.

Later, we flew home and, as planned, had pizza with our daughter, her husband and their three kids, as well as our son and his family.

It turned out, however that the pizza place I'd read about isn't opening until October. So we ate at another local pizzarea, Rocky Mountain Pizza, in Moscow, Idaho.

I feel bad about being in such a bad mood about the mess of re-roofing (and posting about it!), when my husband and son-in-law are up there on the roof, doing all of the backbreaking work. By contrast, I did housework for only seven hours on Saturday, and they're on the roof for 12-hours a day, and probably will continue to be, all of this week. My hubbie is hoping thkey'll finish by the Fourth of July. We had hoped to fly to Astoria, Washington, McCall, Idaho, or possibly even Yellowstone Park over the fourth, but it looks like the re-roofing project will be keeping us closer to home.

Picture of my son-in-law carrying a 65-pound packet up to the top of the roof. It's a good thing he lifts weights for a couple of hours each day, and has been doing it all of his adult life. Even so, it's quite a heave-ho! to get each packet up. Consider that he'll be hoisting a couple tons of roofing materials up to the top, and you have to admire his strength and stamina.

Love of my life, on the roof. Like my son-in-law, he is also a bit of a Hercules, with energy that is legendary within our family. Even my son-in-law, the weightlifter, envies "Dad's" energy.