Vignettes
Well, I started trying to write up a full report of the weekend fun, but so much happened that a narrative would be much longer than anyone would want to read...and longer than I had to write. So I'll instead offer just a couple of small moments that stand out in my mind...
While riding across the high desert terrain of the Texas Big Bend, I had an interesting thought about the ?vehicle? on which I was moving ? this thing was an outstanding example of intelligent automation! Thinking about my RV-8, I can engage the autopilot and with a twist of a knob it will fly whatever heading I desire, or with the punch of another button, it will follow a complex set of course segments joining waypoints into a flight plan. And while it is doing this, I don?t have to think a thing about HOW it does it ? what controls are moved by how much. In a similar fashion, look at the ultimate in rugged-terrain ground transportation ? the horse! With a nudge here or a slight tug there, I tell it that ?I want to go down into that canyon?. I can then devote my attention to looking at the magnificent sites as this wonderful animal takes care of the mechanics of getting me there ? I don?t have to think about foot placement, or balance, or speed adjustment. It just happens! Magnificent! As magnificent as the vistas of the Big Bend area, where you can see distant mountains and far horizons that would take days to reach by anything but a magic carpet in the air?
"The Stars at Night, are Big and Bright...." y'all know the rest of the words! We had campfires both of the nights that I was there, and while standing around the fire, everyone would occasionally turn their backs to the fire, let their eyes adjust to the darkness and marvel at the incredible stellar canopy you can only get far away from city lights. There was no moon, and the stars were so vivid that they appeared to me to be three dimensional. Worth the trip all by itself! Of course, it's hard to beat just sitting around a great fire telling flying stories and listening to caving ballads....maybe you had to be there!
On Saturday, four of us flew over to Terlingua and picked up a jeep that had been left for us at the gravel strip. (The strip is in much better condition than I expected, and we were greeted by an impromptu aerobatics demonstration by a local Yak 50.) I rode over with Louise Hose because it looked to me like her wheel pants were better suited to gravel than those on the Val. Mike, Dale, Louise and I drove up to the Chisos Basin in the National park, and took a 3 mile hike to look out "The Window". The basin is like a high volcanic crater, and the window is a hole in the wall that looks out to the west - for miles, and miles and miles....This hike was good for me - especially after the great food we were served at the Bunkhouse (more on that later....). Following the couple-hour hike to the Window and back, we loaded up in the Jeep and drove off across the park, stopping here and there for great vistas, and ending up at Santa Elena Canyon. AS you drive across the desert,l you see this huge wall of rock - with a big, sharp notch out of the middle. This is where the Rio Grande flows out - with canyon walls 1400' high. As we were driving, we we guessing how high, and how close you might get if you were flying before it would be time to pull up to avoid the face!
It seemed like something was always going on at the airstrip. If I count right, we had a total of nine different aircraft there over the weekend - but someone was always going up for some local flying. Chase Snodgrass was our local pilot contact, and he flew over in his ultralight/light sport jungle gym contraption all three days (You gotta get back to work on that RV Chase!). The flying was great, with visibility at sixty or seventy miles or better. On my way out Sunday, I flew out over the area where we went on the horses, and could see the landmarks and sites of interest where we had stopped. I frequently fly over desolate areas, and think of them that way....but when you get down close and look at the details, there are countless spots of beauty that most people will never see. Clear little pools of water in shaded places in the desert. Old homesteads where families lived for generations, growing corn and beans where now there is nothing but sage. A small shelter formed by two natural boulders, with a man-made hole carved in the rock where meal was ground by hand - and pictographs remain to tell the story - if we could only read them. Having seen them from the ground reminded me (as I was passing over at speeds unimaginable by previous generations) of what is really down there.
One of the nicest things for me was simply to get away to clean air and good companionship - along with the opportunity to get some much-needed exercise. The park has mountain bikes that rent for $2 the first hour, and $1 each hour after that - but I don't know that anyone actually kept track. I don't think they added my use to my bill at the end of the weekend. That in itself is fresh to most of us. When I arrived, I asked what I had to do to check in. "Well, we see that you';re here - just enjoy yourself, and when you leave, tell us what you think you owe..." Try THAT at your average resort! I really enjoyed the laid-back nature of the whole weekend, and thank everyone that came along to be a part of it. The pictures show it all - the airplanes, the scenery, and mostly, the smiles. I hope to get back there again soon - and know that I'll keep it high on my list of retreat hideaways.
I hope the folks that spent an extra night made it back home safe today - can't wait to see more pictures!
Paul