Grand Island, NE



Pirate Attack
Grand Island, NE



100 nm out of Alliance, NE



Everyone met this morning, June 21, 2011, for the START breakfast hoping to hear good news about the weather.  Each team is on their own to get to Alliance, NE by noon tomorrow, which is the time of the new START of the race.  Several teams were thinking Grand Island, NE would be a great stop since they have a restaurant on the field.  Off we go!!  Julie and I, having a fabric covered airplane, had managed to secure a hangar in Iowa City (thanks Matt Wolford) to avoid predicted hail.  We said our goodbyes to the airport staff, Matt and his parents who had come in to help from the Galesburg, IL area.  They took our picture with our Parrot Head hats we'd brought along for the kids in Mobile, AL.  We filed IFR due to weather. The trip over was treacherous due to wind and storms.  We saw very little of the countryside.  Landed with winds 30 or so knots!  Julie mentioned I may need to hold onto the wing so I unbuckled my seat belt, ready to climb out on the step to even the load if necessary. Tremendous winds after parking.  We held onto the plane with the help of the wonderful men there at the airport and  tied it down securely.  Had to dig into our bags looking for the jacket we thought we might need in the northern states!  Who knew the temperature would be COLD here!!!(hot as heck in Iowa City, IA)  We ran over to join our friends Lin and Susan,  Team 12, and Rebecca and Joyce, Team 1, who had been waiting for us.  Everyone decided to head out to Alliance, NE with the exception of Team 13!!!  We'd fought the wind and weather to get here and decided to stay overnight in Grand Island.  Glad we did!  The folks at the airport called the hotel for us to get transportation and a nice rate! Uncle Ed's Steakhouse was across the street where we enjoyed a very tasty prime rib and made our strategy for the next day.  Next morning we left for the airport to make our way to Alliance, NE.  In our excitement of getting there the day before unharmed, we'd left our Master Switches on by mistake!  DRATS!!  Those fantastic men helped us with a jump and off we went!  Before we left, though, they had this HUGE wooden cowboy riding an airplane in front of their building.  PIRATE ATTACK!  Great experience in Grand Island, NE.  Thanks so much for your help and hospitality!!!



Heading out to Alliance, NE



Prime rib dinner at Uncle Ed's Steakhouse
Grand Island, NE







Hello, Alliance, NE!!