I celebrated my birthday in the best possible way- I flew!
We trotted on down to Fredericksburg (T82), and went tubing on the Frio River on Saturday, closing out the excursion with late lunch of some of the best Chicken Fried Steak in all creation at Neal's Lodge near Concan, Texas.
On the way from Fred'burg to Leakey (where the tubing took place), we took a "wrong" turn at Kerrville, thus leading us on a road whose remarkable beauty made any delay in arrival a forgotten thing. For all those who may think Texas has no attractive landscape, I'll remind you it's there and in quantity, if you know where to look. In our case, we stumbled across it, and that works, too.
Then back to the "Log Bauble" to clean up, and we went to Luckenbach for beer and music.
Flew home today, leaving earlier than we usually do, in deference to the extreme heat (!). We were at 5,500, in deference to the T210 that left at the same time we did, destined for the same strip of pavement as we were (not a coincidence). He was at 7,500. All was fine, just the occasional bump, when suddenly- WHAM - a downdraft that bumped CJane's and my heads into the cabin roof despite the seatbelts. Tommy says Valentine went airborne, almost to the roof!
So we deviated about 5 miles left and climbed to 7,500, where it was smooth as silk.
Boy, I like flying!
Thanks for your kind wishes, allayall!