Winter Training

Since spring was declared to be "just around the corner", I figured that I should get cracking on my spring break trip. So while it was bitterly cold outside today, I curled up indoors with a cup of soup, the Garmin G1000 simulator and Max Prescott's G1000 training course. This is the way to learn how to work with the G1000...you know...all warm and comfy at home, drinking some Earl Grey, eating some munchies. Much different than trying to concentrate on flying, watching out for traffic, and trying to insert new waypoints into an active flight plan. Anyhoo...I'm planning to do a little flying when I am in San Francisco in February, so I set the DA40 on 500kts airspeed, and flew from the Bay area up to Truckee, near Lake Tahoe and back, learning about the G1000 as I went. That was step one.

Step two was to plan the ultimate spring break trip to Florida. Since I dragged Beth to Oshkosh and made her sleep in a tent in Camp Scholler for three nights last summer, I really owed her. Especially, if I ever want to go back to Oshkosh with her!:) This is going to be the relaxing spa vacation that I promised her in exchange for those three hot, dusty nights. And...we're going to fly, which totally makes it super cool. Destination Florida! We are headed to Amelia Island near Jacksonville, FL for some beach time, some spa time, some golf time, and....some flying time! Why Amelia Island? Well, it's far enough south that I don't have to wear a parka, and there is an airport within 2-3 miles of a nice resort. It does not appear to be frequented by the typical spring break crowd, so....sounds like the perfect place for a nice relaxing vacation, that involves flying. Did I mention that we're flying? Yeah, I'm pretty stoked.
I'm also really stoked because I "flew" down to Amelia Island (55J) this afternoon. Yup. Set that simulator on 500kts, then just sat back and watched the miles roll by. Man, I can't wait to actually get in the air and make that trip!