Tower, this is Ghost Rider requesting a flyby!

I had an awesome experience this weekend. My friend, Jonathan, is a flight instructor and he took me flying in a two-seater single engine airplane! It was so fun! We flew from Santa Rosa to Napa, an easy 20 minute flight. It was sweet seeing the Sonoma Valley from the air. Really, the vineyards look like they could be small cornfields :) I was able to take controls in the air which was sweet! I did some maneuvers where you pull back on the controls to climb for a couple seconds and then push them forward hard to dive and get the whole negative G's thing going like on a roller coaster! Jonathan did a maneuver where we climbed hard to where it stalls and then goes into a nosedive and then bring us out of it before we start spinning (a 500 ft altitude drop). He asked if I wanted to take the controls during it, but I passed :) But I did accept the offer to land the plane! I was pretty nervous. With his step-by-step instructions, I brought us into the descent, circled the airport, and landed the plane! It was quite the adrenaline rush I must say! We'll see, maybe I've found a new hobby :)

This was our plane...I wish! I may have to give myself at least 10 yrs before I get a private jet :)


Jonathan making sure our plane is air-worthy


This is my touristy pic!


Santa Rosa from the air

Sonoma Valley


The town of Sonoma

California Giant Redwoods

Recently I had to do a drive up north on Hwy 101, pretty much to the Oregon border, for work. It was a 6 hr drive each way. The upside to this drive was that it goes through the middle of the famed California Giant Redwoods. On my way back, I took a little detour on a road called Avenue of the Giants. Also, the final hour of driving north goes along the ocean which has some pretty sweet views. I basically ended about 30 miles from the Oregon border and at that point, was closer to Portland than to San Francisco; did my work duties, then turned around and headed home. All I can say is thank goodness for John Piper and Michael Savage podcasts for keeping me sane during the 12 hrs of driving!

A bit of fog rolling in off of the Pacific

Hitchhikers are a common site along the highway. On an unrelated note, this area is where some of the finest weed in the world is grown!

Look closely and you'll see people jumping off the rock into the river. If I had my swimsuit with me I would have loved to join them!

Entering the Avenue of the Giants...30 miles of this!

I mean, I'm a pretty big guy, but that's a pretty big tree!

I couldn't resist the "Drive-through Tree!"