California

California Trip 2000

Flown:  June 15-21, 2000

Aircraft: Cessna 182 - N58798

Approx round trip mileage: 1,506nm

 This was the first trip with all four of us.  It was done in a rental Cessna 182 and greatly influenced us on our future purchase of our own airplane, also a Cessna 182.  The first leg was from Longmont, CO (2V2) to Farmington, NM (FMN).  It was a warm and bumpy day.  We stayed a little further east than planned due to weather and turbulence.  The landing at FMN was probably the worst I'd ever done, and of course my friends at FMN Tower let everyone back home know.  This was also the first time I'd ever used oxygen in flight, we'd need it the entire trip due to high temperatures and high density altitude.

The next leg was to Kingman, AZ (IGM).  Once again it was "hot and sloppy" and bumpy most the way there.  Once there we fueled up and enjoyed some ice cream out on the porch of the FBO (Fixed Based Operator, an airport business that sells fuel, etc).  From there it was on to Long Beach, CA (LGB) where we met up with Brigette's brother, Bo.

Not included on the map above is the side trip Brigette and I took to Las Vegas and back.  After dropping off the kids, we made a night flight into North Las Vegas Airport (VGT).

After returning from Las Vegas, the family spent some time in the SoCal area then returned home via Page, AZ (PGA).  We flew over the Grand Canyon,  Lake Powell, and the Rocky Mountains on this much smoother flight than what we experience westbound.