FlyinBarker

So having just spent the better part of 24 hours on planes yesterday I was feeling the need to do a little piloting of my own.  So after going into work this morning…yes I went even after getting in late from China…I went out to Glassy for what I hoped would be a bit of soaring.  I had checked the weather 48 hrs earlier in Hong Kong and this morning it still looked good.  I fired off some emails to entice anyone with the day off to join me.  Lucky for me my buddy Tim said he would meet me up top to help make sure I got off safely.  Also turned out that Frances got off work early and she came along as well.

When we got up to the top it was blowing pretty straight in during the thermal cycles.  I took a few moments to watch the cycles and see how long they lasted and how strong they were.  It all looked good so I set up and got ready to launch around 3pm.  I picked a nice cycle…”CLEAR”…and 3 seconds later I am free.   Flew for about an hour and gained 2000′ over the top of the mtn.

OK so everyone wants pics…here are some of the better ones today.

So I just got to China and I’m stoked that I can update my blog from here.  Facebook and Twitter are blocked over here.  The flight over and back is always the least enjoyable part of the journey with it being 15+ hours on a plane.  However this trip I actually got some good sleep and didn’t feel like a total zombie.  The driver who was waiting for us looked more wiped out than us.  Our plane was delayed 4 hours so he had a lot of time on his hands waiting for us to land.  Once outside we waited for him to go get the car and this little beauty was sitting outside for me to drool all over!

You see a lot of nice cars in Hong Kong!

The hotel I’m in is super nice and I have stayed here once before.  Last time they had the place all done up Disney ripoff style and they called it “Groovy Wonderland”.  It was pretty funny.  They had the staff dressed up in all kinds of knock off Disney characters.  In the morning Snow White would seat you at your table and in the evening,  Jasmine from Aladdin would serve drinks in the cocktail lounge upstairs.  We had quite a few laughs about it last time we were here.  This time…no theme.  The name of the Hotel is The Goodview.  Check it out here.  I can’t wait to go get in the pool tomorrow after we do some work first.  Here’s hoping I get some sleep tonight.  I’m 13 hours ahead of my body clock!

So this past weekend Frances and I went to Austin for her birthday to see her friends and family.  It was the big 30 for her and we had a great time. As always when visiting Austin the pace was non stop!

We arrived Thursday night and immediately went to Olive Garden with her parents and sister.  She loves that place and I must admit that I enjoy it too.  Saturday was spent seeing friends and taking care of some Texas specific business.  That evening we had a party at her sisters house for Frances, her dad, brother-in-law, and myself…we all have October birthdays.  Now to say that Jackie (Frances’ sis) went all out planning this little soiree is an understatement.  We had homemade hats specific to each of us (there were 8 of us there), M&M’s with print on them for the birthday boys and girl, a mix of all our favorite music playing, and our favorite dishes for dinner plus favorite cakes.  We had to send all this info to Jackie and she worked her magic.  Thanks Jackie!! It was a lot of fun.

Check out the red hang glider on my hat!

Saturday we went to go see the Michael Jackson movie “This Is It” in IMAX.  I loved it.  I have always liked MJ’s music and this was going to be an awesome tour.  Go see it and on IMAX if you can.  Halloween night we went to 6th street in Austin.

Reminds me of Mardi Gras!

Michael Phelps and Morning Wood

Handmade 'Max'. Best one all night. She was totally into it!

The rest of the night was spent watching LC Rocks.  Frances’ favorite 80’s cover band.  We closed the place down and then went to breakfast with a bunch of the band and crew.  They are a lot of fun and they sure miss Frances since I  ’stole’  her away.  We finally crawled into bed around 6:30 am.  Haven’t done that in a looong time.  If you get the chance to go to 6th street in Austin for Halloween, don’t miss it.  It was crazy fun.