I had a boring flight and loved every boring second of it!
I was anxious to see my son and his sweet life-partner Erica. I rolled out of bed at 6:30 am, ate a cup of maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal, and called a taxi.
I had fueled up when I landed, but needed to add a quart of oil. For some reason my back was already hurting bad. The thought of climbing in the plane and sitting in that uncomfortable seat was more than I could bare.
I swallowed some Motrin, laid down on the terminal, closed my eyes, and tried to relax. After 15 minutes I started to feel a little better so I headed for the plane.
I think I got off the ground around 8am. The sky was clear with an 8 knot wind right down the runway. I climbed out over the neat and orderly town of Hays, Kansas feeling good about this positive start.
Climbing out from Hays into clear skies and calm winds
There were no bumps in the air as the idyllic landscape spread out before me. I climbed up to 6500 feet and set the course for Boulder, Colorado. The air was like velvet. Perfectly smooth and soft. The plane flew like it was on a rail. This was just a perfect day!
I have been working on having a more positive outlook on day to day things. Forty years of working in engineering ingrained the concept of always looking for what can go wrong. It's a good attitude for engineering design. Not such a good way of looking at life.
"Anticipate the best possible outcome" is a phrase I was introduced to recently. I am trying to make this attitude part of my daily life. Yet, this perfectly smooth air seemed almost two perfect. My mind started trying to look for what could go wrong with the weather.
Kansas is beautiful from 8500 feet
Since Boulder airport was on the opposite side of Denver/Stapleton International, I called up Denver Center and requested flight following. I'd rather have been listening to my book on tape, but I was hoping if I was in contact with ATC early, they might clear me through the massive Class B airspace surrounding Denver airport. The alternative would be a 30 mile detour around the north side of the Bravo.
ATC told me I would need to climb higher for them to pick me up on radar. My first thought was, "Why the hell can't you see me at 6500 feet above sea level?" Then I remembered Denver was at 5000 feet...
I climbed up to 8500 feet and Denver Center called back, "Radar contact."
I don't like flying for extended periods at this altitude. I get dehydrated faster and I am sensitive to the lower oxygen levels. I can get foggy-headed and head-achy. This is exactly what happened. I sipped water (I still had an hour and a half before I could pee) and I took frequent hits on my can of bottled oxygen. It helped a bit.
The country-side was a patchwork of empty fields and crops. The view was pretty awesome. However right about here the engineer in me is thinking, "Here come the clouds to mess with my perfect day.
The dark spots on the ground are the shadows of the clouds developing overhead
Then I saw a wisp of cloud at my level.
The wispy cloud at my altitude could be a sign of bad things to come
Just as I started to stress over this tiny cloud a voice in my head said, "Anticipate the best possible outcome." At that moment I decided to follow this advice. (Linda, you would have been proud of me!). I chose to believe I would continue to have perfect weather all the way to Denver. As it turned out that is exactly what happened.
A small river winds through the eastern Colorado landscape
About 20 miles from the Bravo airspace Denver Center handed me off to Denver Approach. About 5 miles from the Bravo I heard the dreaded words, "N972GL, remain clear of the Bravo."
Crap! Approach control was very busy handling dozens of commercial jets and airliners and was just too busy to help me today. I had a rough plan to skirt the north side of the Bravo in case I was denied. However, I had not mapped a specific route. I quickly picked a half a dozen waypoints on the GPS and resigned myself for the thirty mile detour.
The view out the canopy made me realize this was no hardship.
Somewhere north of Denver with the mighty Rockies in the background
As I approached Boulder Airport the sky was still clear, and calm, and perfect!
Just northeast of Boulder Airport, everything is green and beautiful from all the rain
I finally had a perfect day of flying. It got even better when I got to see Josh and Erica. I love them both very much!
Erica and Josh from a recent trip to Moab
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