Race Day

Today was filled with excitement!!!  Fifty-two airplanes lined up nose to tail, tail to nose from Concord, CA.  The first airplane took off at 8:00 am and the last was off by 9:15 am -- a fast sequence of departures.  It is truly a beautiful sight.

On our way to California, we passed Tamra's Alma Mater and today we passed mine at the University of California at Davis.  That is where I received my teaching certification.  I also lived at Travis Air Force Base which we passed near, as well.  It looked larger than I remembered.

What a beautiful day it was!!  Our breath was taken away as we saw 14,000 feet high Mount Shasta.  It was snow covered and surrounded by beautiful clouds.  We flew high today, mostly at 11,500 feet.  At that altitude, we had good tailwinds and easily traversed the high mountains.

At our first stop, Klamath Falls, Oregon we saw a dozen F-16s lined up ready to fly.  Many of the volunteers were ROTC students.  We decided to stay overnight at our second stop, Elko, Nevada.  We were welcomed with a barbecue cookout.  About 12 teams remained overnight (RON) at Elko.  Many people come to Elko mine gold.  There are many stories of famous people who contributed to Elko in various ways, for example, Ronald Reagan's saddle was made by a famous saddle maker in Elko.

Myra getting a weather briefing before our first flight

A view of Mt. Shasta

Tamra submitting fuel slips and signing the RON list (not her husband but the remain over night list)

It was a great day.  We got good speed, saw beautiful sights, and had a finely tuned plane to fly.