FOO

We flew from Sioux City (K-SUX) to our waypoint for Mt. Rushmore in Rapid City, South Dakota (KRAP). Mostly high desert and Bad Lands from SUX to KRAP. The Black Hills were the highlight of our trip across Nebraska and South Dakota. After circling Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills, we headed across Wyoming, crossed the Big Horn mountains and landed in Cody for fuel and peanuts.

Thinking about the small number of Cessna 172's with "US Navy" stenciled on the side and parked at the rustic Annapolis airport, I asked Bruce whether that was really how the Naval Academy taught their pilots to fly. He had spoken with the flight instructor at the Annapolis airport who was teaching a bunch of midshipmen from the Naval Academy to fly. Bruce said that the Cessna 172 was a good way to weed people out before they went on to turbo-props and jets. So, I asked him whether the Air Force did a similar thing as Bruce had visited the Air Force Academy as a teenager. He said that the Air Force had a very different program for teaching their pilots. They first flew in gliders to learn stick and rudder techniques. Then, they went directly to turbo-props as flying a small prop plane like a Cessna 172 was just a waste of time when you wanted all the students to fly big iron. They were the only military group to use gliders which were all stick and rudder. The main difference was that in the Air Force Academy, everyone learned to fly. Whereas at the Naval Academy, everyone learned how to sail. This reminded me of the Coast Guard Academy which I had visited as a teenager. Everyone there learned to sail an authentic tall ship and fly a helicopter.

By afternoon, I was craving one of the peanut butter and jam sandwiches I had brought on our trip east. Alvarado's whole grain bread, Adam's crunchy peanut butter (featured supplier for HEATHERCO Shake-It jars) and Kim's homemade jam. Between Kim and Connie, they kept our house well-stocked in homemade jam.

After stopping for fuel and peanuts in Cody, we headed for Paradise Valley, Montana. No peanut butter and jam sandwiches, but a package of peanuts and an apple were not bad for lunch. Kevin had told us that Paradise, Montana was the most beautiful spot with very good fishing. Spring had not yet fully hit Paradise as the grass was still brown from the winter cold. Bruce talked about getting a ranch he could fly into and looked for candidates on the ground. Looking for potential fly-in ranch locations was a common pass-time for Bruce on our trips. Once Bruce found a hypothetical ranch, I looked to see if it would pass the "milk test." Was there a grocery store within close driving distance? While I did attend UC Davis, an excellent agricultural school, my studies in computers and mathematics did not cover milking cows. In short, flying out for a carton of milk was not always practical. With a good sized town at the entrance to Paradise Valley, it passed the milk test.

We considered flying over Yellowstone park, but we had seen it before and wanted to land before thunderstorms formed. So, we picked up the Clearwater River and followed it into Lewiston, Idaho.

Pilot Notes for Leg 6 :: KSUX to KLWS