Yesterday was clear in SoCal, but very bumpy, with numerous severe turbulence PIREPS, so I was hoping that today would be better..
Woke up to an AIRMET 50 miles to the north of us for moderate turbulence below 16,000' but no PIREPS for turbulence in that area, and not even an AIRMET along the route line of L18 - HII, so off to Lake Havasu we went.
Took off around 10 AM and headed up to 9,500' for the 1 hour 20 minute flight, with a headwind. Had a nice lunch at the Hangar 24 restaurant, and topped off on fuel, and then headed back to L18, this time with a flight time of 1 hour 6 minutes with the help of a tailwind.
Beautiful day here, and mostly just occasional light chop to/from, with one quick bump of moderate chop over the mountains.. not entirely unexpected.
Obligatory photo taken between L18 & HII attached.
Happy new year to all!