WI trip 2010, 1 of many

We've made the beginning part of our trip with minimal issues. We left Inyokern, CA Thursday afternoon with building cumulus clouds in the area, a pretty good sign of turbulence. They ended up getting thunderstorms after we left. We were able to get above the heat on the way to Las Vegas, but we were in the bumps. Between Vegas and Grand Junction, it got hotter and hotter and eventually it was the crappy flight we expected; hot and turbulent. We were on the ground at Grand Junction, where it was still 100 degrees, after 4.6 hours of flying. We ate at Applebees and Katie was so crazy from being in her car seat for so long that it was impossible to get a picture of her. We stayed overnight at the Quality Inn, which was just fine for the night. Unfortunately, Michelle told me that we didn't need our "camping bag" so I left that at the airport, but that had our swimming suits in it. We could have really used a dip in the pool to cool down after that flight.

I really need to start calling FBOs ahead of time to confirm services and times. It's really annoying since our flights can be so variable due to weather that it's difficult to call every possible FBO we could end up landing at. When we landed, we bought gas at the self serve, then taxied to parking. A line guy came out and told us that the tie-down was owned by West-Star and that the self-serve wasn't so that I'd have to pay $15 to tie-down or move over a couple of spots over for free parking. So I moved down a couple of spots and then the same guy comes over and says that since we aren't using any West-Star services, they won't let us out or in their security gate! The self-serve company doesn't have anybody around to let you in/out their gates so now we're locked in! How stupid is this, If I had known... I would have just tied down at West-Star and bought their fuel, but how was I supposed to know. Eventually Kraig from West-Star came out and was sympathetic to our dilemma and was very helpful. Not only did he say he's let us use the West-Star gate (this one time), but he actually drove us into town instead of having to call a cab. In the end, West-Star was very nice and helpful, but they are pretty strict about their policies, even the ones you don't really have any way of knowing unless you call ahead and ask the right questions.

On our way. These cumulus ended up producing thunder storms.

Climbing over Trona, CA

Michelle and Katie excited to be on our way.

Lake Powell

Lake Powell

Mountains on our arrival into Grand Junction, CO

SPOT messenger track.