February 26

 The Ben Report

By Benjamin

I went up for the third time in the Piper Super Cub airplane last Friday. Once again, I was

allowed to do nearly all the flying. We flew along the nearby Swiss Helm mountain range,

practiced flying in rectangular patterns, climbing and descending while holding a straight line,

turning in a smooth circle, and finally we did some takeoff and landing practice. It was a lot of

fun, and I’ve already been threatened to be taken up on another flight sometime.

In terms of projects, we started demolishing an old trailer last week. We ripped out all the

interior walls, pulled up the carpet, took the drywall and ceiling off, removed all the insulation,

threw away all the wiring, and this morning we were working on tearing down the exterior

walls. One thing is for sure, destruction is a lot easier than construction.

The storage shed that we built is officially done now. Last Tuesday we spray-painted the siding a

sand-brown colour, and a few days later they painted the trim dark grey. All the wiring is done,

and this morning it passed inspection. There should be a picture somewhere down below.

Finally, on Saturday, we went to a weird little town in the mountains called Bisbee, and did the

Bisbee 1000. Bisbee is an old town that sprang up around a copper mine, and because it’s in the

mountains, there is a lot of elevation changes. Many back alleys are actually long staircases

because the ground is so steep. The Bisbee 1000 is a foot race that happens every year, where

the contestants have to climb all those staircases. We didn’t actually participate in the race, but

we walked through the entire course, and yes, there are actually 1000 (or more) steps to climb.

We were all pretty tired when we finished.

George, Ben and I went for a ride on Thursday with Larry Dye, in the Cessna 185.

This is the trailer that's being demolished.  We lived in it 2 years ago when we were down here.  At that time, posts were put around it, and a new roof over it.  The posts and roof will be left in place for possible future use. 

We were still all walking upright after the 1000 stairs we climbed.  

Today most of the shell of the trailer came down.

The finished storage shed.

It was a lovely day today, 26 degrees and a bit overcast.