Herd Peak and the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden

On Wednesday we headed about an hour south into California to fly at Herd Peak. The forecast looked okay but, when we got there, it was totally blown out with winds 25 gusting to 32 km/hr. (Ideal, for us, for flying is about 10-15 km/hr.) Regardless, the views were gorgeous! The wildflowers were in full bloom, Mount Shasta was clearly visible and the cloud formations just got more and more dramatic. 

Just a few of the wildflowers.

The viewing couch at the launch site.

We then stopped by the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden which was very poignant. It's "a place to remember, a place to mend" and is dedicated to veterans of all conflicts. The artist is Dennis Smith, a Vietnam War Marine Corps sergeant and veteran of the Khe Sanh siege. He says, "Through the arts we have the means to peacefully consider violence and to ask questions as well as to offer possible solutions."

The Nurses -- "This sculpture honors nurses, Navy corpsmen, Army medics, pharmacist's mates and doctors, the courageous souls who bring the healing arts to places rife with injury and death:
'God love them they've saved a lot of lives.'"

The Flute Player -- "A tall elegant figure places a simple flute. With the right breeze a sound may be heard. Three female figures respond in dance. 'For me a flute symbolizes peace and tranquility.'"

"At the 38th Parallel a sword lies broken. A soldier sits, head in hand, remembering. 'Who remembered the Korean War Vets? We did. This one's for you my spiritual uncles . . . Semper Fi!'"

The Why Group -- "On the ground a man rushes to help a falling comrade. High above on a pedestal the central figure arches his back, rears his head and stretches his arms to the sky."

Coming Home -- "It is not uncommon for Vets to feel a lot of emotional pain upon returning home. In this regard I am no different from any other retired warrrior. I feel more fortunate than most, because sculpture is a positive way for me to deal with this pain."

Hot LZ - "The Hot LZ (combat landing zone) helicopter perches on top of the wall, brought to life by the poetry of veteran, Jim Leach, and the artistry of Dennis Smith."

"The Memorial Wall celebrates the honourably discharged veterans of our nation's conflicts from the Revolutionary War to the present. Every Memorial Day and Veterans Day the names of veterans newly etched on the granite-clad Memorial Wall are read aloud as part of the memorial ceremonies."

A Day at the Beach

We've been continuing our paragliding education this week with Nick Crane. This has included lots of discussion, practicing and refining both old and new skills, and watching videos of ourselves taking off. "What to do when things go wrong" (aka "what to do when you scare the shit out of yourself!") has been the topic of discussion the past few days. We started by spending a couple hours in the "simulator" reviewing actions to correct things like cravats, asymmetric and frontal collapses, stalls, spins, and riser twists. 

Then yesterday we spent the day at the beach at Lost Creek Lake. No, not relaxing. The furthest thing from relaxing! 

The way maneuvers are practiced is towing from the beach to get launched and then, when high enough, releasing the tow and inducing the wing to do things you don't normally want it do. The intent is to practice recovering from those situations but, if things go really bad, landing in the water and getting a quick rescue from the tow/safety boat is a reasonably safe end result. 

These were the first tow launches Andrew and I, as well as fellow pilot Steven, had ever done so this was nerve wracking enough, not to mention doing the maneuvers!

Once we released from the tow we induced asymmetric and frontal collapses with increasing depth and crazy results. We eventually held the asymmetric and tried to maintain direction (leaning hard and using slight brake on the opposite side). I even got to experience getting a cravat out while reeling in the stabilo line (not just pulling on it) after doing an asymmetric. Great practice! 

None of these photos show the manoeuvres as it was difficult to take photos or video and hold the camera steady enough. Each of us was so high that we were really just a speck in the sky. It will be a challenge to see if we can piece together any video stable enough to show. But I'll try!

Still on tow. The drogue chute is the red thing just below me.

Andrew in the simulator.

Getting ready to launch.

Andrew launching.

Steven launching.

Steven being towed. Which way is he going? Higher!!!!

Just released from tow and trying to stabilize. Drogue chute and line falling to the water below.

Steven trying to get the wing into a spiral.

Andrew taking a swing on recovery from a frontal collapse.

Andrew landing on the beach.

Andrew and I are signed up for a full 3-day maneuvers course in August so this was a great introduction!

Southbound from Astoria

Astoria, Oregon, is a beautiful little coastal city. One of the things we love best about it is treating ourselves to a night or two at the Cannery Pier Hotel. It's located where the cannery used to be before it burned down. Remnants of the old pier are still visible. The long bridge on the other side of it that provides a link between Washington State and Oregon just adds to the view and the charm. One of the unique aspects of the service provided is the old cars used to provide transportation to guests who wish to eat out at one of the local restaurants.

Panorama of the Cannery Pier Hotel, the bridge and another building that houses offices and the Bridgewater Bistro.

Remnants of the old pier (and the seagulls and cormorants that call it home).

Colourful sunset.

We spent a couple days at Astoria and contacted two paragliding instructors from this area (Brad & Maren from Discover Paragliding) that we met in Costa Rica. Unfortunately, the winds were not cooperating (too strong, too gusty and wrong direction) so we didn't get to do any kiting or flying. We did however, watch them do a couple tandem tow flights on the beach before the wind picked up and they had to stop. 

Continuing to meander along the coast, we stopped often to walk on the beach, stick our feet in the extremely cold water and check out other possible kiting/soaring sites. 

Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach

C-c-c-c-c-c-cold water!

Just going for stroll.

Checking out the kiting/soaring potential at Cape Kiwanda.

Love the Oregon coast! So beautiful.

We've now settled in at Jacksonville, Oregon, for a week of flying in this area. Excited!

Driving the Coast

The first three days of our holiday have been filled with rain, clouds, snow and hail. Other than hail and rain that made us pull off the main highway and stop for a while, none of it diminished the fabulous views. In fact, the snow only enhanced it. 

From Chilliwack, we made our way down through Washington State on secondary highways (which are always more scenic than the interstates!), across Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands and had impeccable timing to catch the ferry over to Port Townsend. From there we meandered down the Olympic Peninsula, following along the Hood Canal, across to the coast, and over the very long bridge to Astoria, Oregon.

On the ferry to Port Townsend

Trying not to get blown off the front of the ferry!

Arriving in Port Townsend

View of the bay from our lunch stop.

Beautiful drive along the water. 

Crossing the bridge into Oregon.

So graceful!

Today the sun is shining and we're headed to the beach with our wings.

Chicago

The Lincoln Park Zoo has to be THE best free thing to do in Chicago. I'm still floored by the fact it's free. Our friend, Iris, suggested we start at the south end and walk through the park on our way to the zoo. It is a beautiful naturalized area with paths, boardwalks and water features attracting the birds.

Still wondering about the "free" part of it (because it's a full size, very good zoo) I checked out their website. It's a privately managed organization and 2/3 of their budget is from fundraising, food service, retail and parking; the remaining 1/3 is covered by an annual subsidy from the Chicago Park District. One of their main goals is to ensure the zoo remains free and open to the public 365 days a year. Impressive! Which inspires me to give a donation.

King of the hill.

After lunch we did the round of outdoor stores (REI, North Face, Columbia - Patagonia was closed for the day) and the Apple store. With a coffee and reading break included, of course!

We passed by this church which was beautifully covered with vines. I love the contrast of old with new.

And we completely lucked out with the hotel room we got with a view down the street toward the lake and a gorgeous sunrise, including reflections off the glass of the buildings. 

Next stop: Home!  :-)

Costa Rica - Osa Península

The sounds would have been right at home in a scary monster movie. But it was just the howler monkeys. It sounded like they and their howling screams were right outside our bungalow door on the first night (before we knew for sure what was making the sound) and they woke us up at about 4 a.m. every morning.

Our last few days in Costa Rica were spent at Lapa Rios, an eco lodge on a private reserve in the Osa Peninsula. This area is known for its incredible biodiversity in a country that is already known for biodiversity. Yes, we splurged but seeing all that we saw was well worth it. Squirrel, spider, howler and capuchin monkeys (all four kinds that reside in this area), colourful macaws (so beautiful when they fly together), toucans, many other birds, agouti, coatimundi, iguanas, sloths, spiders, bats, an armadillo and much, much more! I can hardly wait to see some of the photos Andrew took.

We did four guided hikes, one longer one on our own and several short wanders around the property to see what we could see.

On our early morning guided walk at 5:45 these squirrel monkeys were in the tree right off the deck of the main lodge.
It was the only morning we saw them there so close so we were very lucky!

The trogons were one of the few birds that actually got close enough and sat still long enough
for me to take a photo will my little camera.

Iguana in a tree.

Bats hiding under the palms. We were shown these on the night hike but they were still there the next morning.

Baby iguana.

Beautiful waterfall.

Lapa Rios is designated by National Geographic as one of the "unique lodges of the world" -- one of only two in Costa Rica with this designation. A large part of that is their environmental initiatives. For example:

• bamboo straws 
• no plastic bottles
• use of biodegradable cleaning products 
• solar panels for hot water 
• fans only, no air conditioning
• methane gas production from the pigs kept onsite (5 pigs produce enough to supply 4 hours of fuel per day)
• very high percentage of food purchased from local suppliers, thereby supporting the local economy (In addition, 95% of the staff are from the local area.)
• gradual replacement of real palm roofs with synthetic palm (Real palm has a lifespan of 5 years and destroys the rainforest; synthetic palm lifespan is 20 years. Interestingly, the synthetic palm is manufactured by a Canadian company! And unless you look closely, you wouldn't notice the difference.)
• and I'm sure much more that I'm missing! 

Winding staircase too lookout in the main lodge area.

Really liked the wood carving at the top of the bar. Andrew working on photos!

Outside the main lodge.

Pool area, looking out towards the ocean. Shockingly, Andrew and I spent a couple hours each day
lazing by the pool and enjoying a drink. Definitely not part of our normal routine but also got to watch for birds,
iguanas, etc. from this location.

I didn't even have to get out of bed to take this sunrise photo!

Outdoor shower in private deck area of our bungalow.

Inside our bungalow.

Our only disappointment with the lodge was the food service. The staff were very nice and friendly but the service was extremely slow at times and, while there were several vegetarian options, none of the main dishes were memorable or flavourful enough that we wanted to order them a second time. This was surprising given the price and reputation of the lodge. On a positive note, the desserts were good!  :-)

Otherwise the service was great! Upon our arrival, and at the end of each guided hike, we were greeted at the entrance of the lodge by staff with glasses of ice water, juice and cold refreshing washcloths. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and it was amazing how they were able to find all the creatures they did.

Overall, a very nice and relaxing part of our holiday!