Flapjack Flight

Today, I flew to Carroll County (TSO) with my Dad for some breakfast. It was what the pilots in our little corner of the world term a "flapjack flight". Winds were calm, and there were some scattered cirrus clouds above 10,000ft as our wheels left the tarmac at 7:15AM this morning. For fun, we left the all-present Garmin off, and navigated by VOR radios out of Newcomerstown and Akron. TSO is on a 49° radial from Newcomerstown VOR (CTW), and so we flew to CTW and then to TSO. Our altitude was about 3,000ft, and the air was smooth. Visibility was good and we could see quite a ways. Landing in TSO is fairly straightforward. The photo shows the short final for runway 25. What it doesn't show, is the 50ft hill about 500ft off the end of the runway 25. You can sort of see how far down the runway the approach lights are, that's because a standard approach for the end of the runway will have your undercarriage scraping the treetops. I'll have to remember that in the future, and especially for flying out on runway 07. If you had an engine failure departing from 07, you would have a hard time putting the aircraft down in an open field.
We chowed down some fried eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee (no flapjacks, due to weight restrictions and winds aloft reports). It was a nice morning. I had been bugging my Dad for some time to take some time off work and get out and fly the airplane. Things at work have slowed down nicely (things are running okay), and we just don't need to be at the office as much as we have over the last year. We sat in the airport cafe, and just chatted about food fads (transfatty acids, tropical oils, etc.) and business dealings. It was a nice relaxing morning, and the best part was....no emergencies while I was gone! I had a very nice relaxing day at the office today, and felt for the first time in a long time the benefits of having a job with a family business.