Fun on the track
What a great surprise it was to have a full day in Iowa with my family on Wednesday! Our original plan was to fly in Wednesday afternoon, but we came in very late Tuesday instead to avoid weather and had a whole day to hang out.
We slept past 8:00 (!!!) then said goodbye to our nephews before they went to school. They didn’t know we were there, so it was a surprise to see us. My mom (their nanny) didn’t know we were in town either so it was a surprise for her as well. Even though the AC/DC concert was the next day, I hadn’t communicated with my dad about how we were getting there, because I had no idea. Even though we flew to Iowa, I didn’t know if we’d be able to fly to Minneapolis. We didn’t know when we went to bed Wednesday night either. It would be a weather-based decision we’d make the next morning.
I’m getting ahead of myself though.
When my snis got back from dropping the kids off we went to Reader’s Cup for coffees,
then we hung out at her house for a bit, then all got HuHot for lunch. We hung out after lunch, then went over to my older brother’s house to play on his dirt track.
They have a bunch of fun toys – go-karts, four-wheelers, dirt bikes, modified lawn mowers.
So I had to give them all a try!
Not the lawn mower though ha ha.
It was so much fun. And ended up being a beautiful day there! I’m really glad we got to do that.
We got pizza and hung out at my snister’s after. I was so happy I got to see all my siblings and most of our nephews and niece! It was nice to catch up.
We did a tiny bit of flight planning that night. Basically the weight and balance – with three people in the plane we were going to have to pack very, very light. Including light on fuel – that was why we didn’t have the FBO fuel the plane. More on that in the next post though!
A VERY late flight
Well that’s definitely the latest we’ve ever departed for a flight – 9:41 pm!
But Kim, isn’t your bedtime before 9:00 pm? Yes, yes it is. Flying is something I’ll stay out past my bedtime for, though!
So let’s back up. Last Thursday was the AC/DC concert in Minneapolis. Our plan was to fly to Waterloo, Iowa (near where my family lives) on Wednesday, fly to Minneapolis with Dad on Thursday, fly back to Waterloo on Friday, then back home on Saturday.
Best laid plans and all that. The weather wasn’t cooperating for a Wednesday departure – the clouds would be too low where we live, and snow and rain was predicted. And we didn’t want to do the entire flight on Thursday.
I went to work Tuesday thinking we’d be driving the next day. Womp womp. But then I got an early morning text from Steven saying “the weather looks great today. I am working on an alternate plan to leave tonight.” So I got excited and gave my snis a heads up we may arrive a day early but VERY late. The Steven told me someone else had the plane reserved so it likely wouldn’t work. Womp womp. So I told my snis that.
Then in the afternoon Steven told me he was going to talk to Chris, the Chief Instructor, about ideas for leaving that day, and before I knew it, the flight reservations were moved around and we were good to go! Thanks Chris! So I updated my snis again. Ha. My poor snis. I am mostly used to how unknown and unscheduled things are with flying, but it’s new for her and she was very patient and understanding with my lack of a schedule for the entire 5 days!
The problem with leaving Tuesday night is that I don’t get home from the office until 6:00 pm, and I had a nail appointment at 6:15. I asked Steven if he wanted me to cancel it and he said nah.
So I studied the flying route and airports on my train ride, went to my nail appointment, then went to the bank, then got us dinner. I arrived home at 7:55, packed and got the house ready for the cat sitter in 30 mins, and we were out the door at 9:00. I ate part of my burrito in the car. I was too jacked up and hyper to eat much though.
All that rush rush rushing is the opposite of the mindset we want to be in when flying. We don’t want to have “get-there-itis” – that’s when mistakes are made. We want to be calm, thorough, and in a mindset to make good decisions.
So once we got to the airport I slowed it down and we went through our normal process. Things are a bit trickier in the dark – Steven has a special red light he uses to see things in the cockpit (there’s lights in the dashboard but they aren’t great). And there are other risks with flying at night, like not being able to see “safe” places to land (if an airport is not available) in the case of an emergency. But other than that it’s normal flying with one giant perk – LESS TRAFFIC! (And another perk is that it’s easier to find other planes because they have their marker lights on.)
Oh! And it was so late the tower was closed at our airport and the one in Waterloo. When that happens, pilots get on a common frequency and communicate there.
Steven uses a suction cup ipad mount on longer trips and it fell off his window as we were departing! He caught it and gave it to me, and when we were at our cruising altitude (6,500) I figured out how to get it to work and showed him, then I got to fly for a minute or two while he put it on his window. The whole point in mentioning that is so I can share I got to fly. Ha ha.
We didn’t encounter any other planes on our way out from our home airport in Waukegan (we usually do) and didn’t see any other traffic until we were near Rockford, IL – and that was just UPS and American Airline planes that weren’t close enough to be a factor we needed to worry about.
And we didn’t see any other traffic after that. I mean, it was past 10:00 & 11:00 pm for the majority of the flight. Why would many general aviation planes be out flying that late LOLOLOL.
Something interesting (???) – this Cessna does not pull fuel evenly from the left and right tanks, so Steven manually switched back and forth from left and right rather than leaving it on “both.” So he was monitoring that closely, along with all the other gauges, like RPM, blah blah blah.
But yeah, easy peasy flight (says the passenger). We landed at 11:46 and parked the plane on the ramp. No one else was there. Steven had called the fixed-based operator (FBO) earlier in the day to ask them to put the plane in a hangar (we were expecting some weather) in the morning and NOT to fuel it.
My snis picked us up (thank you snis!) and we got to her house past midnight and were asleep around 1:30 am. I mean, we had to finish the last episode of White Lotus!
My sleep has been so wack lately – I have to get up at 4:00 to go to the office and I’m not getting enough sleep. I’m glad I got to sleep in Wed-Sun!!! I needed it!
I was going to write about our Wednesday, but this ended up being really long… oops. So that will be another post!
First flight to Michigan!
I was not expecting that to be the title of the post! I had no idea we were going to fly to Michigan today. I knew we were doing a multi-engine flight to check it out, but figured we’d just go to the practice area. This was way cooler!
We’ve never flown over the lake before because the school doesn’t allow you to take the single-engine planes farther away from the shore than they can glide in if the engine fails. And it’s not really smart to fly a single-engine plane over a large body of water anyway (because see previous sentence).
So! Exciting day!
Steven scheduled this flight to see what we thought of flying in a multi-engine. He is currently rated to fly single-engine planes (and endorsed for two Cessna 172s), and if he wanted to get his multi-engine rating, he’d have to do more lessons and studying. We flew in a Piper Seminole:
And Steven did all the flying!
With an instructor, of course. It was his (and my) first time flying with Chris. We had a lot of fun flying and chatting with him.
The deets:
To prepare Steven read about light multi-engine planes, and watched some videos. When we got there, we sat down and discussed some of the differences and risks of multi-engine planes. They’re A LOT more complicated than the single-engine we normally fly. First, there’s like, double the gauges and shit in the cockpit since there are two engines:
and it has retractable gear, and constant speed propellers (meaning you can adjust the blade pitch). It performs differently and has different V speeds (standardized airspeeds), and… probably a ton of other stuff I am forgetting.
It was fun for me to listen to all of the things Chris was explaining to Steven – he seems like a really good instructor! But there was SO MUCH going on. Whoa. It was constant instruction on takeoff and the way over (which makes sense – he’s never flown this plane before).
So when we were discussing the flight Chris suggested flying to Michigan, and I had no concept of how far away it is since we’d never done it by plane. But the South Haven airport (LWA) is only 72 miles, and took about 30 minutes. Not bad at all! We got up to 185 knots ground speed. Speedy!
We landed at the South Haven airport,
taxiied, then took back off.
I was looking at the shore when left and thought it looked somewhat familiar – that is where the last ultra Rachel and I ran finished! Aww.
We flew back across the lake and chatted a bit more than on the way over – we talked about music, books, podcasts, what Chris’s wife does for work, what I do – then when we got closer to shore Chris adjusted the throttle so we could see what it’s like with one engine off and how the plane wants to fly asymmetrically.
Ha, he said several times we’d only do that if everyone was comfortable. I certainly was – I think it’s exciting and trusted him.
So this is the prop completely stopped and feathered out. Cool, right?
Or maybe not. This freaked out a few people I told about it. But remember, the other engine was still running!
After that we flew inland a bit then landed at our airport.
We got to chatting after and I shared a few of our flying stories with Chris – the mix-up with the Hookah Lounge at Timmerman, the 20′ wide runway at Roosterville… it’s fun to share these stories with other pilots. They are way more interested in them in non-pilots (makes sense, right?). We need more pilot friends.
And Chris even wanted me to show the 20′ runway to lineman there, and told him I was cool as a cucumber in the passenger seat, AND laughed at some of my jokes. I felt pretty good LOL.
So what did Steven conclude?! He isn’t going to train on this plane right now. He plans to train and get checked out on the the Cessna 182 (bigger model similar to the Cessna 172 we usually fly), which is also “complex” with retractable gear and a constant speed prop, and get used to that before moving on to something with more than one engine.
It was really fun to try it out and see how different it was though. Steven said it landed like a brick. I thought he did great! I mean, I am here writing this! LOLOL, jk guys.
Reading Update (2025 #22-24)
[22] The Fall Risk by Abby Jimenez
Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, saw on Kindle Unlimited, Kindle
Synopsis: It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, and the last thing apartment neighbors Charlotte and Seth want is romance. She’s in self-imposed isolation after dealing with a stalker, and he’s freshly divorced and wary of trust. But when a disaster traps them together for several day, their defenses start to crumble.
Review: This short story was cute, enjoyable, and funny. It’s impressive that Jimenez managed to cover some pretty serious topics in so few pages and resolve them. I regret not listening to this, since Julia Whelan narrated it!
Recommend? Yes
[23] Summer Fridays by Suzanne Rindell
Fiction / Women, heard about from Stephany, audio
Synopsis: In the summer of 1999, editorial assistant Sawyer faces a lonely few months as her fiancé spends more time at work, especially with his too-close colleague. When she unexpectedly strikes up a friendship with the colleague’s boyfriend, Nick, their “summer Fridays” turn into a tradition of exploring New York together. As they push each other in unexpected ways, their weekly adventures become the highlight of the summer.
Review: I was immediately in to this story – I mean, what an interesting dilemma! Sawyer’s lawyer husband is MIA and likely hooking up with coworker, even though their wedding is in October… and Sawyer is sneaking around with that coworker’s boyfriend?! DRAMA. I was expecting a huge blowout and hard conversation but (SPOILER) that didn’t happen. I felt like it was all this buildup then not even discussed with a jump forward to two years later with little about what transpired. What a letdown.
Recommend? Hmm, not really sure on this one. I really liked it until the last 5%.
[24] The Favorites by Layne Fargo
Fiction / Women, saw my friend Bobbi rate it on Good Reads, Kindle
Synopsis: As childhood sweethearts and champion ice dancers, Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha captivated the world with their performances, non-conformity, and ALL THE DRAMA. A decade after their last performance, a documentary rekindles public obsession. The story weaves documentary interviews with Kat’s account of their up and downs and the truth behind all the rumors that have followed them.
Review: This story had so many twists and turns, and I loved how unpredictable it was and how engaged that kept me. I loved the constant action and emotional ride. It was definitely a page-turner!
Recommend? Yes
Random Thoughts Thursday 493
- In Denver this weekend, Tiff, Val, and I all discovered we’re all Judy Blue jeans fans. I discovered them via Stitch Fix, and wore the hell out of mine until they got holes (not the stylish kind) and had to be thrown out. In fact, that’s happened to most of my jeans and I was down to one pair. So when Val mentioned there is a store nearby that sells Judy Blue I was so excited to go and hopeful I’d find a pair. I GOT FIVE PAIRS! I didn’t even realize how stressed I was about not having jeans to wear to work until I got them. It was like a huge weight off my back I didn’t realize I was carrying.
- My organization has never been in the news as much as it is now and it’s interesting reading articles and actually knowing what’s going on (vs what the articles say).
- Some people knocked on our door last night and I was all “UGHHHHHHHH I don’t want to answer the door” then it turned out they were looking for their lost cat and I felt sad for them and bad for not wanting to answer the door. Ugh. I hope they find their cat. I spread the news a bit more on our street so others can look for them. I remember how freaked I was when Khali ran away (hmm, looking back, that is one of the first times I realized I struggle to share difficult things I am going through because sharing makes me feel worse).
- I love my new mani from Lorena! People keep calling them my Easter nails, ha. Nah, Easter nails would be more pastel.
Reality break
I just returned from a lovely trip to Denver to see Val and Tiff. We had almost zero plans and wonderfully crummy (especially for Denver!) weather that justified us staying in for almost the entire trip to just paint and chat.
As I said, lovely. I already felt more like myself after just a few hours with those two. They always bring me back to me.
And it was quite the break from reality. I didn’t take my work phone with me or check in over the four days I was gone (Friday-Monday) and whoa, some stuff happened. Yesterday was kind of nuts. But I’d rather be overwhelmed for one morning than dwell over things on my time off. I texted Steven right away in the morning when I saw some info and he told me he saw it over the weekend but didn’t want to bother me about it. I appreciate that so much. He gets me.
The trip was also good practice for me to be around people and see how ranty I got. Verdict – quite ranty but I was 100% in a safe and welcoming space. So it was all good. But I will be toning it down for other groups. A LOT.
read more…Do you collect anything?
On my flight home from Denver yesterday the little kid sitting next to me asked if I collect anything.
I thought about it before I responded. I purposefully try NOT to collect things (besides memories, aww) but then I felt my head and my answer occurred to me, “sunglasses!”
Then I asked them if they collect anything. And they excitedly told me rocks. And I was like “OMG DUH KIM YOU COLLECT ROCKS TOO.” (Also, why didn’t I think of that? Don’t most kids collect rocks?)
As the little kid was enthusiastically describing all the rocks they found on their trip to Arizona to me, I was thinking they’d be excited when I told them about my painted rocks.
Fam, they were NOT excited. Ha ha ha. I explained that I was even on a rock painting trip, and had a backpack full of painted rocks and even offered them one when we landed (they were stored in overhead luggage) and they politely declined.
Then went on telling me more about different rocks in their collection.
I thought maybe when they saw mine after we landed they’d want one. Nope! Rejected! Although the adults around me were very interested in them.
It was so funny to me. Especially that this kid had already mastered the technique of asking someone a question in hopes they’d ask it back.
On my flight to Denver, we passed by Guttenberg, Iowa, where my family has cabins, and I could even see them from the plane!
We flew right by my hometown in Iowa too! That was a fun surprise.
We’ve flown to both these places in the Cessna, but it was fun to see them from above 30K feet!
Where is Penny?
Oh Pennifer.
Home girl really wants to live inside.
Let’s back up though. I was working downtown Wednesday and Steven texted me to ask if Penny was at the house in the morning before I left, because she was currently MIA.
I told him she was, and felt really bad when he told me he couldn’t find her. Steven worries so much about her wandering off and forgetting how to get back, and I was teasing him the day before about how I saw her wandering around in the woods that day. Oops.
So Steven walks all around the yard, calling and looking for her, and no luck.
He comes back inside and continues getting ready to leave and is about to remotely start his car and thinks “wait, what if Penny snuck into the garage when Kim left?”
It’s hard to see in the camera footage, but that is exactly what that little stinker did!
I was so careful backing up to make sure she wasn’t there, that I wasn’t even looking at the door and watching it shut all the way. Now I will.
Penny was fine, just waiting to come inside. So she got to walk through the house and go back out to her cat house and eat breakfast.
She keeps doing this – showing up when we arrive home or leave, to run into the garage. Most of the time it’s cute. Sometimes it’s annoying. Sometimes it’s dangerous. We don’t want her to come running when delivery people come down the driveway! They aren’t expecting her. Sigh.
Random Thoughts Thursday 492
- Steven is always making little (and big!) improvements to our house to make our lives easier. The most recent was a sensor he added to the washer and dryer to notify us via the speakers on our main level when the wash and dry cycles are complete (and to do a reminder notification). We don’t always hear the timer go off since they’re in the basement. And then we forget! It’s been really helpful so far.
- Another example? All the research Steven’s done to find the perfect enclosure for the cats’ litter boxes. Doesn’t this look so much better than an open litter box sitting on the floor? And he found one that fits perfectly in that spot!
- We have four litter boxes, so we’re testing this enclosure on one box before committing to more. Gotta make sure the cats will actually use it! So far, we’ve left the door open, and they’ve been using it that way.
- The litter box enclosures are just one of many projects we’re tackling before our summer guests arrive in August! Their visit is the perfect motivation to finally check off some things we’ve been putting off. This weekend/week Steven patched and painted some holes with rust stains in the living room ceiling too.
- I want to thank Past Kim. Sometimes she really has her shit together. Like when she had the foresight to put readers in her flying bag so she could see the ipad in the dark in the plane this past weekend. Good job Past Kim!
- Speaking of that flight, the Timmerman airport must have found that blog post because they sent me an email about some cool events they have coming up – a flour drop and spot landing contest (two separate events). For the flour drop you try to drop a bag of flour on a bullseye. Sounds like a blast! I’m glad they emailed me!
- I have a special obsession with All Dressed chips and was really excited to see them in the stores a few weeks ago. They were absent for a bit during the pandemic!
- Every March our gym does 65 burpees at each class. It’s horrible and f*cks me up, even with modifications. I actually tried to cancel my membership for March (for other reasons) but was too late! Needless to say, I’m glad March is almost over.
Reading Update (2025 #19-21)
[19] Wild Side (Rose Hill #3) by Elsie Silver
Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, third in series, Kindle
Synopsis: Forced into marriage to protect her nephew, Tabitha vows never to forgive Rhys Dupris – the brooding, secretive man who betrayed her – and she now calls her husband. But as they share a home, the tension between them begins to slip away and she discovers a fierce protector, a patient partner, and a man who makes it far too easy to fall in love… even when she swore she never would.
Review: This is an enemies to lovers, fake marriage tale with a fierce and stubborn female protagonist and I. Was. Here. For. It. There is a misunderstanding that gets resolved quickly enough, then we just get to enjoy these two falling in love. Most of the complaints about this book on GoodReads are disinterest in what Rhys’s job is – but that didn’t bother me! I’ve really enjoyed this series and can’t wait for the fourth book!
Recommend? Yes!
[20] All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
Fiction / Science Fiction / Action & Adventure, was looking for something to listen to, Graphic Audio
Synopsis: Murderbot is a security android on a remote planet with one job – protect their set of humans. The problem is, Murderbot is bored and would rather watch serials then read the briefings they’re given or pay attention to what’s going on. When comms from a nearby mission go dark, Murderbot is forced to do their job, and interact with their humans.
Review: Sigh. I was looking for something on audio and was so excited when I saw these novelas (there are a ton of them!) were all available on Graphic audio on Hoopla, but UGH. This was so bad. And boring. It was hard to follow because it throws you right into the story and doesn’t explain anything and the characters names are unusual and I could NOT keep them straight at all. It’s supposed to be funny and lighthearted – like that this security android who is supposed to kill things would rather just chill and watch tv and wants to avoid humans at all costs cause they make them feel so awkward but it was NOT doing it for me! Nope. Pass.
Recommend? No
[21] The Locked Door by Freida McFadden
Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological, received in the book club book exchange, paperback
Synopsis: Twenty-six years ago, Nora Davis’s father was arrested as a serial killer and sentenced to life in prison. Nora changed her last name, moved in with her grandmother, and later on built a quiet life as a surgeon, determined to keep her past buried. But when a patient is murdered in the exact way her father killed his victims, it’s clear someone knows the truth, and they want her to take the fall.
Review: Is this a page turner? YES. Did I feel like I was being lead astray throughout the entire book when I read the twist at the end? Yes. Did I care? No. Ha, this is what Freida McFadden does. You are sure you have it somewhat figured out but you never do. I enjoyed this one and was glad it didn’t get too gruesome, and that nothing happened to the stray cat that Nora takes care of.
Recommend? Sure!
Hi! I’m Kim, a 40-something-year-old living in northeastern Illinois with my husband Steven, and our cats, Khaleesi, Apollo, Starbuck, and Eddard aka Ned. My current main hobbies are running, painting rocks, flying, reading, and eating. I follow a vegan lifestyle and work in an account management role. I write about a variety of topics and consider this a “life” blog – a place I can share anything that’s on my mind. Please visit the “About” page to get a better idea of who I am! 🙂
