ScottSchmidt

ScottSchmidt

Well Known Member
Well the RV-10 is now finished and I want to take my wife somewhere in the RV-10 that is warm. Where would you go?

I live in Salt Lake City now and I'm looking at Southern California, Arizona or New Mexico. I want to stay in the country for now which rules out Mexico.

Any airports that are near a nice hotel with a great pool?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
-Scott

Here is a shot of us in St. George Utah on Saturday. We flew down to have breakfast with my sister and brother-in-law at the Bear Paw. If you are ever in St. George make sure you don't miss the Bear Paw. It is the best breakfast in the world. There is always a wait.

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Zions' National Park
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A Cribbian cruise.

After 3 years building, you both probably could use a break from things aeronautical.

Mike

P.S., if you really want to make points, let her choose what/where
 
AZ is warm this week

Sedona is always good... lot$ of good hotels, spectacular scenery, and S. AZ is in the mid-80s this week.

Also lots of nice resorts in $cottsdale, and a little warmer if that what you want... as well as tennis and golf, and being outdoors with no jacket.... :)

Easy to fly into both locations... airports are near the town...

gil in Tucson
 
this is the one mine would like

Mike S said:
A Cribbian cruise.

After 3 years building, you both probably could use a break from things aeronautical.

Mike

P.S., if you really want to make points, let her choose what/where
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wherever she wants to go

and i dont hink i m gonna finish before i have to go either.
 
I know it sounds horrible but how about Death Valley? There is a nice little resort at Furnace Creek. Temps are always nice in the winter.

I would suggest the cruise too, by the way. Take pictures of your plane with you. Show them to anyone who will look. :)
 
jealous

Hey Scott,
I am very jealous of your predicament. You have a beautiful RV10. Your wife looks lovely also. Did the two of you build your plane together?

As far as your question goes, if she enjoys flying with you I think anywhere you two can decide on would most likely please her. Unless you just want to suprise here with a trip she should be the one to pick out where you take her.
 
I have a partner on the plane who built it with me. But RaNae supported me everyday and ran all the accounting.

But she wants to fly somewhere and not do a cruise. Neither of us are really cruise people. We did an Alaska cruise last year that was great and now I just want to fly back to all the places we went.

Thanks for complement on the plane. I can't tell you how happy I have been flying it after 3000+ hours of building and wiring.

I'll check out the Death Valley recommendation. I have always wanted to go there but I really want to go there on my motorcycle (1150 GS Adventure) and do some exploring. There are some great rides people talk about on www.advrider.com

Sedona would be great too. My grandparents lived there so I spent lots of summers playing on Bell Rock, and going to Slide Rock. That place is so different now that it has turned into a Bel Air atmosphere.

Maybe we will run to AOPA on Saturday and hang out in Palm Springs for the weekend. I'll have to check out hotels.
 
Get out a WAC chart and throw a dart at it...and go there. Because you CAN! Congrats on finishing your RV-10. Enjoy it.

How about Catalina? Or Lake Tahoe? Vegas, baby, Vegas!!! :D
 
Death Valley, Furnace Creek is a Great place to fly to. The Inn is the better of the two hotels there, but the Ranch is nice, too. Both the restaurants at the Inn and Ranch are GREAT!! Get in some golf and relax in the "no chlorine, spring fed, 80 deg F. pools. This is a good time of the year to go there since the weather is very pleasant. 70s-80s.


Roberta
 
robertahegy said:
Death Valley, Furnace Creek is a Great place to fly to. ...
Roberta
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Wow Roberta - thanks for the lead! - now I know where to bring the wife to for our 10th. She's a fanatic golfer, so playing at the worlds lowest golf course
(-214 feet) would be a real novelty along with the exceptional photographic beauty of the area for me!
 
ScottSchmidt said:
Maybe we will run to AOPA on Saturday and hang out in Palm Springs for the weekend. I'll have to check out hotels.
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I think they're out of Thermal, right? We just flew there a couple of weeks ago for a flying doctors thing. There's this sports bar there that's shaped like a Castle (ask when you get there if you're interested...anyone will know what you're talking about. I wish I could remember the name of the place or what street it's on. HWY 11, maybe?). I normally don't rave about sports bars, believe me, but they gave me one of the best darn burgers I've ever had.
 
Both Furnace Creek and Catalina look awesome!! Thanks for the recommendation.

Which hotel do you recommend in Catalina?
 
Where?

Scott:

Have you considered the Redneck Riviera? Corpus Christi is probably only 1050 NM or so. Less than 7 hrs at 160 Kts. Probably too far and the weather can be IFR on occasion, but totally different than the West Coast.

Mannan Thomason
RV-8 N161RL No. One Girl
 
Forget the plane

Okay, before I get labeled the 'Van'tichrist hear me out. You've spent three years building a plane that will give you years of pleasure to go places you haven't been. You can do those later.

Now, forget the plane and do something like a 7 day Caribbean Cruise. I've been on several and they are relaxing and cost effective. You unpack one time, visit some beautiful places and you don't have to do anything. This way you won't have any flight planning, concerns about weather or something going wrong. Total relaxation and alone time with the boss.

I highly recommend the Western Caribbean route. Three stops with plenty of ship time to read and rest.

Trust me, she will enjoy it.
 
ScottSchmidt said:
Both Furnace Creek and Catalina look awesome!! Thanks for the recommendation.

Which hotel do you recommend in Catalina?
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Had a friend stay at Hamilton Cove and liked it, and the rates are very reasonable this time of year. I've been to Avalon dozens of times, but always slept in the Harbor on a dive boat. The airstrip is well north of the town of Avalon, so a ride into town needs to be arranged.
 
catalina hotel

The Inn on Mt Ada is the best hotel in Catalina. It is kinda expesive but, has great views and used to be wrigley's mansion when he owned the island. I think there is a bus from avalon to the airport every 3 or 4 hours, so plan ahead. The hotel might be able to arrange transport as well.

http://www.innonmtada.com/
 
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On your way to somewhere, Lake Powell and a few passes around Monument Valley sure look good, this time of year.

L.Adamson
 
RV7Guy said:
Okay, before I get labeled the 'Van'tichrist hear me out. You've spent three years building a plane that will give you years of pleasure to go places you haven't been. You can do those later.

Now, forget the plane and do something like a 7 day Caribbean Cruise. I've been on several and they are relaxing and cost effective. You unpack one time, visit some beautiful places and you don't have to do anything. This way you won't have any flight planning, concerns about weather or something going wrong. Total relaxation and alone time with the boss.

I highly recommend the Western Caribbean route. Three stops with plenty of ship time to read and rest.

Trust me, she will enjoy it.
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I really want to fly somewhere now. If I was on a cruise all I could think about would be flying. Like I said, she really wants to fly somewhere in the plane too.

We are definately going to go to Death Valley sometime but we are going to leave right after Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and the rooms at Death Valley are sold out for that busy weekend. That ranch looks great. I could see a bunch of us planning a yearly fly-in around the middle of January.

I am researching Catalina as we speak. I am also looking at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson AZ. That way we could still fly and enjoy all the amenities that a cruise would offer. Plus, I could go to the boneyard :)
Anyone ever stayed here? Looks like I would fly into Ryan Field. KBTF to KRYN is 529 nm.

I'm heading to St. George again tommorow for a couple of days. Last week I had a 20 knot tail wind and averaged 175 knots GS without my wheel pants or fairings burining 13 gph. :D I am so impressed with this plane.

-Scott
 
Starr Pass & Tucson

Scott,

I live by the U of Arizona, it's near downtown and about 5 miles from Starr Pass. I haven't stayed there but go there quite a bit for drinks, dinner, or meetings. It is our newest resort in Tucson (we've got lots) and unique in that it's on the west side.

Great views, relaxing atomsphere, good golf course, close to downtown. Probably less pretentious than many of our resorts, and most of ours are pretty unpretentious to begin with. Tucson is not Scottsdale nor Palm Springs.

Sitting on the patio by a fire at night watching the lights of Tucson from a distance is pretty magnificent.

I hangar at RYN (no extra room in ours at the moment, as far as I know, but the weather is fine for tie downs now). You'll want to rent a car for bopping around. There's lot's of fun stuff to do in Tucson, I am happy to help if I can. I would put the Pima Air Museum and AMARC at the top of the list. I'd also suggest Kitt Peak if you like astronomy and the Desert Museum if you like animals. Kitt Peak is an incredible motorcycle ride and if you'd like to use my Yamaha FJ1200 I'm sure it could be arranged :)

PM me for phone/email/etc. I have lots more recommendations depending on your interest(s).

George
 
If you choose Tuscon, take a quick hop down to Sierra Vista Airport, rent a car and it's a short drive up to Karchner Caverns - a must see if your in the area.
 
svanarts said:
I know it sounds horrible but how about Death Valley? There is a nice little resort at Furnace Creek. Temps are always nice in the winter.
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I second that. Nice and calm place. The visibility around here is greater than 50 miles almost everyday. :eek:
 
Man, what a bunch of great ideas. That Skunk train looks beautiful.

Thanks so much for all the help and the responses. I think we are going to look at Tucson for this trip. I just started getting into astronomy and bought myself a Meade telescope. It would be great to be able to look through a real telescope.

I'll post pictures of the adventure of course no matter where we go.
 
Stars....

ScottSchmidt said:
Thanks so much for all the help and the responses. I think we are going to look at Tucson for this trip. I just started getting into astronomy and bought myself a Meade telescope. It would be great to be able to look through a real telescope.

I'll post pictures of the adventure of course no matter where we go.
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Scott...
....stop by 57AZ in NW Tucson... my airpark home came with a bonus... an observatory building complete with a 6 inch Celestron scope.... :)

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And... for the bigger scope... :D.... Kitt Peak is open nightly.... details here...

http://www.noao.edu/outreach/nop/

gil in Tucson
 
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Hot spots IN COUNTRY

Just returned from Copperstate '06. Upon return Oregon and Washington slid into the Pacific Ocean as a result of global warming. Every day I looked at Scottsdale weather (85-89 and sunny and compared it to the monsoons of the northwest (28 - 48 in continuous rain).

Answer: Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe or Tucson. You won't go wrong. You are in for a lot of snow as a result of our weather. sorry.

John Cox - Oregon
 
Mike S said:
Dittos on Kitt peak, while you are there, do not miss the Sonora Desert Museum,

Avra Valley airport is friendly, and well located outside controled airspaces, easy to either get to Tucson, or avoid it if you wish, on your trip. Car rental available.

http://www.desertmuseum.org/

http://www.azdot.gov/aviation/library/pdf/ECON_IMPACT_AVQ.pdf

Mike
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Its not called avra valley anymore.. its marana regional.. I learned to fly there and at Ryan.. :D Anyhow.. Tucson can be full of fun stuff if you knwo where to go... What about vegas? Plenty of things to do here.
 
Pagosa Hot Springs

I'm a tad late to leave my comments but I do have an idea, since you mentioned a pool. Pagosa Springs, Colorado has become a favorite little weekend spot for my wife and I. There's a hotel there called the Springs Resort that has several excellent, well maintained outdoor natural hot spring pools right outside the hotel bar. The FBO is friendly, and they can set you up with a rental car and even the hotel room. Less than 2 hours in an RV-10 each way.

http://www.pagosahotsprings.com/

The Caribbean cruise idea certainly has merit too.

Dave
 
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ScottSchmidt said:
I don't quite understand this comment.
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My head is a very confusing place to be. I just meant, go on the cruise, and take your plane with you in the form of pictures. When someone whips out a pic of their grandkid or their Ferrari, you can say "Oh yeah, get a load of this!" And show them your RV-10.

There, a little more coherent hopefully.
 
svanarts said:
My head is a very confusing place to be.
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We are all that way a little bit.

Pagossa Springs looks great but I think the warmth of AZ. is calling our names.

Well, I'll be down in the Tuscon area around Thanksgiving. Gil, I'll give you a call.

On a side note, we had a great flight on Friday and on Sunday back to St. George for some golfing and hanging out. Here are some shots of Bryce Canyon and the mountains around Salt Lake.

If you ever want to fly somewhere cool in the summer, Bryce Canyon would be fun. If you have a dog, you can stay at Ruby's Inn with your pet.

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Scott

I do live in Saint George...the Bear Paw is great!
Next time your in town and if time permits I would sure liKe to check out your plane. I am building a 7A. My building buddies (one of them is also building 7A, are considering a group build on a 10.

Frank @ SGU and SLC........435-632-6895
 
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