Hours of Daylight – 13:47

Thanks to several people i’ve now learned that “GUBERIF” is “FIREBUG” backwards. Huzzah! Plus, through the miracle of technology i’ve also learned the etymology of “guberif.” There’s a nifty beer stein available for the hardcore collectors out there.

However, my new question is this: should not the text on the road read “BE A Guberif” rather than “Don’t Be A Guberif”? Don’t we want people to be Guberifs and not Firebugs? Hmmmm…..

Speaking of fires there is ample evidence several fires continue to burn north of McCall. The photo was taken only a few moments after departing McCall Municipal airport to the south and making a left-hand departure to the north over Payette Lake. We could smell the smoke in the plane. It was a little disconcerting.

The photo at right (of Payette Lake) should appear before the smokey photo for correct chronological order, but i’m taking liberties with the flow of time. It was a good morning for flying. We departed BOI just after 7am, flew pretty much straight up to McCall right over Tamarack resort (where President Bush will be staying for something like five days begining tomorrow), and did a standard left-hand approach to runway 34.

After parking the airplane we walked over to The Pancake House (beating the major rush by only a small margin) and had an excellent breakfast. Annette and our host/pilot, Rick Halloway, talked animatedly about common work issues they both share.

After breakfast we threaded out through the gathering crowds, found our way back to our aircraft, got settled and belted back in and did a quick departure. There is something about arriving and departing by small aircraft that froze a dumb grin on my face the whole time we were there.

For the return flight Rick took us over Hells Canyon dam then diagonally southeast to BOI. ATC vectored us in behind an arriving CRJ7 and we were down and clear of the active before i knew it. I’d only taken a handful of pictures on the whole flight. Taking pictures in a low-wing plane is very frustrating for me… there is not much room and the wings get in the way. Plus i find always having the sun shining in the windows makes for a pretty warm cabin. They’re sporty little things, but i’ll take a big fat Cessna Stationaire, the poor man’s Beaver.

We taxied in, tied down, and were on our way home by 11:00. Despite the dearth of photos it was a good trip. Don’t know if there will be any more, but there might be.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes. This will be the first time i’ve attended a formal class at a university since my failed days in the MA program in photography at OSU in Columbus. Ironically that was when i was taking flying lessons as well. I just realized that now. Well, it’s not like i’m starting a degree program, just a graduate certificate in GIS. We’ll see…..