To Idaho and Back

It has been a really long time since I have posted....so I thought I better get back on track.  It is now clear to me that this blog is going to be expanded to include other flying adventures beyond the Restoration of the A-10.  Apparently I will do anything to sidetrack a project...including and not limited to starting 2-3 more projects simultaneously.  It is amazing that I ever get anything done at all.

Anyway...long story short, I ended up buying another aircraft.  Or at least half of one.  I previously owned a trike (hanglider trike) and had been itching to get another one.   I spent a lot of time trolling on Craigslist and Barnstormers for deals....and a month or two back found one that I liked.  It was the chassis and engine, sans wing, single seat, Kawasaki 340 engine, instruments, power fin prop, etc.....a nice Light Trike setup.

Only hitch was that it was in Idaho....and not only in Idaho....but way on the North Eastern side of Idaho.
After e-mailing the owner back and forth and talking to him on the phone, I made a deal on the trike, contingent on me coming to Idaho to pick it up.  This deal was made just prior to my last month long trip to Hawaii and would have to wait until I returned.

After returning from Hawaii I set the date and off I went on my adventure.  I left at 4am Friday morning, driving solo, with my trailer in tow.  After about 14 hours and 800 miles I made it to my destination in Rigby, Idaho.  Greg (trike owner) very graciously talked me in on the final few miles to his place, where he was waiting to transfer ownership of the trike.  The trike was just as described and advertised, and I wasted no time loading up to get ready for the trip back.

Off I went to start the return trip to Oregon.  One of the highlights of this trip occurred on this late night exodus through Idaho.  I drove into and through one of the most amazing Lighting and Thunder Storms I had ever seen.  The Thunderheads were almost indescribable with dark fingers reaching down from the sky to the silhouetted landscape.  The strikes were bold and numerous....and I could not help thinking as I was driving along that the trike sitting in the trailer behind me...with it's tall mast....made an inviting target.

Anyway...I drove to about 1 am in the morning (Sat.) at which point I found a rest stop, and collapsed in the back of the van for a few hours of fitful sleep.  At 5:30 am I was back up and on my way.

I was back in Oregon early afternoon on Saturday....made a short stop to drop the trike in my RV storage slot at Creswell (keeping the A-10 company)....making it to my house at about 4 pm.  Yikes....1600 miles in about 36 hours....I was wiped out.

I have vowed that this is my last long cross country trip to bring back an airplane......I guess we'll see.