Tag Archives: travel

Still Working Hard

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I am so incredibly tired.

September knocked things up a notch when two things happened at roughly the same time:

  • I got a bunch of flying gigs. To be fair, the biggest gig was booked back in March or April. That’s the gig I’m on now — flying a group of Russian photographers around Lake Powell, Monument Valley and Shiprock. (I’m in Monument Valley now; more on that later.) But in addition to my annual appearance at the Mohave County Fair, I scooped up two photo shoots at Lake Powell and three relatively lucrative custom tours for Realtors. And did I mention the Australian photographer I needed to take around so he could get shots of my helicopter operation for an upcoming book? (Of course I did. I’m still tickled about that.) I flew more than 45 hours in September, and most of them were solid revenue hours.
  • My editor reminded me that Apple promised to deliver Leopard in October. Counting back from the end of the month, it became obvious that I’d have to have my book done by the first week in October if Apple delivered on that promise and we wanted our book to be in stores the day Leopard became available. And one look in my personal bank account reminded me that I write for a living and had been neglecting my livelihood.

Thus began a month of very long days. And timing couldn’t be worse. Not only was I scheduled to do this big gig with the Russians, but the dates happened to fall on the very last days I had to write the book. So I had to finish it before I left. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I was packing for my trip as my computer was generating PDFs and uploading files to Peachpit’s server.

I worked 14-hour days last week. Basically, every waking hour was spent in front of my computer, writing about Leopard. And, believe it or not, I have two laptops with me here on my trip so I can knock off the Introduction before the book goes to the printer.

But although the book work is not 100% over, it’s over enough to relax a bit. And even though I’ve been flying my butt off, I do have a nice quiet evening to myself.

And I know — I’m way overdue for a blog post.

Photo Shoots Done

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Seven hours in the air, numerous hours on the ground, over 140 photos to choose from.

The crunch is upon me to meet my Leopard book deadline, but as I have my cup of coffee this morning, I thought I’d take a moment to update the photo shoot info and provide a few photos and links.

If you’re just tuning in…

Professional photographer and author Jon Davison from Australia has been with me here in Wickenburg since I picked him up at Sky Harbor on Saturday. He’s working on a book about Robinson Helicopters which should feature about 20 operators all over the world. I’m one of four U.S.-based operators that he will include in the book.

Jon has written or photographed (or both) 60 books, including numerous titles for Berlitz and Nikon. Although he was specializing in travel photography, he’s more recently taken on aviation photography. The Robinson book is a special project for an Australian helicopter operator, which may gain support in this country from the Robinson Helicopter Company, which Jon is visiting later today.

The Shoots

We did a total of four photo shoots:

  • N630ML Over Lake PleasantAir-to-Air session. Jon rode with my friend Dave in his Hughes 500c, doors off to get glare-free images of Zero-Mike-Lima. I blogged about that shoot in “Air-to-Air.”
  • N630ML over Little Colorado River GorgeHalf-day flight around northern Arizona. Jon’s goal was to photograph some of the places I typically fly over, as well as to get shots of me at the controls with these places in the background. We started in Wickenburg and flew north over Prescott, Mingus Mountain, Jerome, Sycamore Canyon, Howard Mesa, Little Colorado River Gorge, Roden Crater, Grand Falls of the Little Colorado River, Winslow and La Posada, Meteor Crater, and Sedona. Jon got some great shots.
  • N630ML over Phoenix at NightSunset/Moonlight Dinner Tour. This is one of the tours I offer in the Phoenix area, a flight to a Falcon Field (in Mesa, where we went) or Scottsdale Airport at sunset for dinner followed by a return trip in the moonlight. Jon took some interesting nighttime photos.
  • N630ML at the Norquist HomeLanding at Norquist home. The Norquists have a unique hilltop home on the northeast side of Wickenburg. I flew for them about a year ago when their Realtor hosted an open house and wanted visiting Realtors to see the town from the air. They graciously allowed us to land there for a photo shoot with the house in the background. We enjoyed some wine — well, Jon and Mike did, anyway; I still had to fly — and great conversation with some really nice people. (BTW, the house is for sale.)

These are a sampling of the images. You can find more on the page Jon created for his photo shoots with me.

Working Hard

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Writing, flying, writing, flying, repeat, repeat, repeat.

I realize that I haven’t been blogging lately. I have a good excuse. I’m unbelievably busy with work.

I have a drop-dead deadline for my Leopard book coming up very quickly now. So whenever I’m at home, I’m in my office with my fat butt planted in the chair in front of my computer, writing about Leopard. The book is coming along very well, but not without some minor problems. Still, if I keep at it, I’ll get it done on time.

Trouble is, I’m not spending much time in my office. After a seriously crappy-to-the-point-of-wasted-time gig in Kingman last weekend, I had to fly up to Page to take some photographers around Lake Powell. For three days in a row.

Confluence of San Juan and Colorado RiversI love Lake Powell. I think it’s one of the most beautiful places on earth. And if you think it looks great from the ground or water, you should see it from the air! But after a 4 hour flight on 4 hours of sleep today, I decided I’d had enough of the Lake. Fortunately, I’m going home tomorrow, after dropping off one of my clients in Phoenix.

I’ve been in the Marriott Courtyard here since Monday night. I’ve had five flights totaling over 10 hours of billable time, with about 3 hours more to come. Great for the Flying M Air bank account, which can always use a good cash inflow — especially after a slow summer in Wickenburg. But not great for the Leopard deadline.

So now I’m sitting here at the desk in my hotel room with two laptops in front of me — my MacBook Pro test mule running the latest Leopard beta and my trusty 12″ PowerBook G4 — revising text and making new screenshots for my Leopard book. I’ll finish Chapter 7 today and, with luck, start Chapter 9. (No, I’m not doing them in order.)

Tomorrow, I’ll check out of here at 7 AM and take my luggage — including my “portable office” — to the airport. By 8 AM, I hope to have my passenger on board for the flight to Phoenix. With cooperative weather (read that, “no headwinds”), I’ll be at my desk again by 1 PM, laying out the chapters I wrote in Page. Friday, I’ll be in my office all day.

Then, on Saturday, I pick up another photographer. He’s from Australia and he’s doing a coffee table book about Robinson helicopters. I’m one of his featured operators. I’ll fly him around for a few days, taking time to work on the Leopard book in early morning hours, before he’s awake. He leaves on Tuesday. Then I have two more days in my office before another helicopter gig at Lake Powell, Monument Valley, and Shiprock.

Anyone who thinks being a freelancer or owning a business is an easy living should walk in my shoes this month. It’s times like these that I think back with a bit of longing for those cubicle days, when I spent more time shooting the bull with co-workers than working long hours to meet deadlines and client needs.

But by mid-October, things should be back to normal. Until then, bear with me. On the priority scale, blogging has slipped behind a few more important tasks.

Life Can Be So Surreal

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Day one in Kingman.

We’re in Kingman, camping out in a dusty parking lot on the opposite side of a fence from a carnival. My helicopter is parked about 200 feet away, next to a pile of manure. (I really can’t make this stuff up.)

Flying Up

The flight up here was just as I expected: long, hot, and bumpy. It was actually longer and bumpier than I expected but not quite as hot. That’s a good thing because I had all four doors on so I could maximize my speed and minimize my flight time.

The bumps were due to the wind. It was howling at Kingman when I arrived. It always is. This has to be one of the windiest places in Arizona. The AWOS at Kingman airport reported the wind as 180 at 24 gusting to 32.

As usual, the people in charge of the fair had dragged the north parking lot with something that got up every last bit of vegetation. They must have done this at least a week ago so the barren dirt would have plenty of time to bake in the Arizona sun and turn into the fine powdery dust we’ve come to know and hate in Kingman. When I touched down in the parking lot, I blew up a cloud of dust that could probably be seen from space. I’m sure the folks who look at satellite photos are still trying to figure out what the hell happened in Kingman today.

Apparently someone had decided to clean out their horse trailer right in the middle of my landing zone. There’s a sizable pile of manure and hay about 5 feet in front of my helicopter. From the freshness of it, I’d say it was deposited last night or this morning. I’m hoping that if I ignore it, it’ll go away.

Of course, I beat Mike up here by a good 30 minutes. I passed him on route 93 just south of Wikieup. So when two kids started walking toward the helicopter while I was shutting down, I had to trust hand signals to keep them back. They were smart kids and waited until I shut down.

Later, I took them for a ride. They were my only two rides today.

That’s two more than Friday last year.

What’s Surreal

What’s surreal is our trip to Wal-Mart. We went in after dinner, at 9 PM. I thought they’d be closing, but the damn place is open 24 hours a day.

Why Wal-Mart? Where else can you get two marine batteries, a 50-foot drinking water hose, an RV level, a quart of milk and an apple pie at 9 PM?

The batteries are for the trailer. Have I mentioned that it’s jinxed? Today’s problems include the vent cover for the bathroom ceiling vent, which apparently flew off while Mike was driving up route 93 from Wickenburg, and the pair of “maintenance free” batteries, which cannot keep a charge despite the solar panel on the roof. (At least that didn’t fly off in transit. Yet.)

I took photos of the things in Wal-Mart that I thought were weird and immediately sent them to my TumbleLog:

  • The row of about a dozen handicapped shopping carts plugged into wall sockets by the entrance. You know the ones I mean. Little scooters with big baskets on front. These things are meant for handicapped people, folks. Not fat slobs too lazy to walk the 5 acres of floor space.
  • The entire supermarket aisle dedicated to Halloween candy. Hello? Does anyone in Wal-Mart headquarters realize that Halloween is still six weeks away? And yes, they did already have Christmas stuff out, too.
  • Extended SizesThe sign advertising “extended sizes” for only $2 more. Yes, this is why I feel thin when I’m in Wal-Mart. Because compared to other Wal-Mart shoppers, I am thin.

While I’m sure the extra-large martini I had with dinner (on an otherwise empty stomach, I might add) did make the Wal-Mart shopping experience a little more enjoyable, I still think it was weird.

But what I also think is weird is that the last time I was in Wal-Mart was a full year ago — in the same store, 130 road miles from my home.

Tomorrow is another Day

Dave and Darlene will be joining us tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll do a bunch of flying. This gig is usually good for about 150 rides over 3 days. A great way to start the season.

Look for more photos on my TumbleLog.

[composed in a travel trailer parked next to a carnival with ecto]

Our Secret Life as Carnies

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We prepare for our third straight year a the Mohave County Fair.

I understand that some people who work at carnivals and fairs find the word “carnie” offensive. I certainly don’t mean it that way. I mean it as a celebration of the lifestyle of a carnival worker — driving long distances, setting up and tearing down carnival attractions, working long days, sleeping in cramped or shared spaces, eating junkfood, not seeing home for weeks or months at an end — or perhaps not having a real home at all. These are people who live so “outside the box” that they’re actually inside a different box. A box that no one who hasn’t experienced it can’t imagine.

I see these people each year at the Mohave County Fair in Kingman, AZ, when my husband and ground crew and I join them for a weekend.

That fair’s coming up this weekend — in fact, I think it started yesterday. It’s a good, old-fashioned county fair, with H4 events, local car dealers, and folks selling everything from hot tubs to tractors. Last year, there were even a few manufactured homes on display. But the part that gets the kids excited is on the north end of the fairgrounds, where the carnival folks have erected their rides. And if you got past all the rides to the north entrance to the fairgrounds, that’s where you’ll see a shiny red helicopter waiting to give 6 to 8 minute rides for $30 per person.

Our part at the fair

Mohave County FairWe set up our 22-foot travel trailer right on the other side of the fence from the tangle of tractor trailers, portable toilets, hoses, and generator lines of the carnie living space. We share a single hose spigot with many hoses branching off from it to keep the landing zone dust free for our arrivals and departures. (We fill our trailer’s water tank in mid-afternoon, so when they all shower in the morning, we don’t have to worry about not having any water pressure.) We block out a long strip for a landing zone and mark it with cones, rebar posts, and yellow tape. The helicopter sits a safe distance from the trailer and any parked cars while the sprinkler head waits on the ground under its bubble. Then, when I do a flight, Mike turns on the water and the area is dowsed until I return.

This year’s ground crew include Wickenburg residents Darlene and Dave, who first worked with us last year at Old Congress Days (coming up again this year on October 6). They’ll be driving up on Saturday. Mike can handle Friday’s “crowd,” which usually isn’t much of a crowd at all, alone. We usually don’t start up until 2 PM on Friday; last year we didn’t fly at all that first day due to high winds.

More than just flying this year

This year, when I’m not flying, I’ll be working on my Leopard book. Can you believe it? It’s getting close to crunch time and I’m a bit behind with plenty of motivation to get it done on time. I have plenty of free time in the morning before the fair opens for the day — I usually wake at 5 AM and the fair opens at 9 AM or 10 AM.

Here’s the plan: I’ll have my little 12″ PowerBook G4 and my 15″ MacBook Pro test mule with me. I’ll edit text on the PowerBook and create new screenshots on the MacBook Pro. Then, when I’m back in my office for a half day on Monday, I can spin out one or two fresh laid-out chapters. Then it’s up to Page for two move gigs, where I hope do do the same during down time there.

I’ll get this book done on time! Just watch me!

Come Fly With Me!

Coming to the Fair? If you’re in Phoenix or Las Vegas, it makes a nice day trip and a great step back into a simpler time. It’s easy to find — right off of I-40 just east of downtown Kingman. Laughlin isn’t far away, if you’re interested in visiting what I call “mini-Vegas.” Also relatively closeby are Grand Canyon West (home of the Skywalk), Grand Canyon Caverns, and the tourist town of Oatman, where burros roam the streets begging for carrots.

If you come for a flight and tell me that you read this post, I can probably add a few minutes on to your flight time. My way of thanking you for stopping by.