Vientiuno

First things first. 

Sleeping in, in a familiar place, with the fan gently cooling the alreadywarming air around me was amazing. As I finished getting ready, I looked out across the pool, smiled and realized how this place, this room, this country feels like my home away from home. 

My good friend john Dudley gave me a "lesson" as he calls it, more like a session in movement, alignment, motion and relaxation. He has been a practitioner of this kind of muscle/skeletal work for some time. I feel like a million bucks (that's like a billion Colombian pesos here). 

I just got a haircut. Best $2.50 I've spent today. Much cooler. Helmet hair tomorrow? I think not. Carmen, my very capable wife, who always cuts my hair at home would approve of this one. Right?

Some pilots from the new group rolled in about 2:00pm and got settled. The rest of the group will be here around midnight. Tomorrow we will fly and acquaint the new guests to the airial playground we affectionately call the sandbox:

Matt "farmer" Beechinor, created this map of the area for our guests when they arrive. It should give everyone a sense of where we fly.  

Flying "the box" is to launch between La Union and Roldanillo at the Las Tankas launch in the mountains that run roughly north-south (or another another launch called Pico), fly south along the mountains to Roldanillo, then cross the valley to the east to the city of Zarsal then north to La Vitoria, and finally back west, to land at La Union. It's not super hard on good days, but it can be a challenge for most days. 

It's 5:30pm. 

As I write this I felt and heard a low rumbling sound and the hotel and the room began to shake. Earthquake? Yes!

I jumped up from my bed where I was typing this into my phone to check the pool from my upstairs window. The water in the kiddie pool was sloshing around and the larger pool had some waves in it. All these years living in California and I had to come all the way down here to Colombia to feel my first earthquake. 5.2 magnitude with the epicenter about 7 miles north of the hotel. Hope there wasn't any damage.  So cool. 

Saw this tiny gecko on the Walt to dinner.

Dinner was in town at an upstairs restaurant overlooking the parké or town square. The arroz con pollo was very good, but too big to finish. I went big on the pizza last night and vowed to take it easy tonight. Success. 

The tandem list is full for tomorrow as we have lots of lower time pilots this tour. 

Turns out Matt has set the site XC distance record from Medellin and I may have set the site record from La Pintada. All because we chose to fly all the way back just for fun. How about that!?  

I traded my soccer team patch (that I carry in the name window of my glider bag) to a young boy in La Pintada. He gave me a tattered green patch (with a string on it from around his neck) of the national team so I would have the "best team" patch. I offered the less popular red "America" team patch to him which was still in mint condition thinking he might not like it. He gestured with his hand over his heart and seemed deeply grateful that I would gift him my patch that he knew I liked so much. The feeling was mutual, I assure you. 

I told the police officers (see earlier blog) about this patch exchange and I think it moved them as much as it did me. 

I'm off to bed early. Maybe I'll get up to help Marge welcome the late arrivals. I tend to stay up late prepping before a big day anyway, so we'll see. 

"Live, from La Union, it's Saturday night!"

Ciao,

Martín

Viente

A slow quiet morning with intermittent rain allowed us to sip coffee, have a plentiful breakfast and decompress from the 4 days of adventure we've enjoyed. 

Dawn and I chopped up the fruit we purchased the night before and it was an impressive buffet, complete with yogurt packs with instant coffee this time around. 

Mango, papaya, pineapple, watermelon, banana and a mystery fruit (that deserves further research as to its name), and lime wedges to keep tummys happy. 

Everything is charged up and ready to go. The sun is peeking out a little more now. It would be great to fly back to La Union today and back at Casa Blanca tonight. 

Upon arriving at launch, the wind is strong over the back and rain is on the way. We snap a group photo, drive down the hill, have lunch in Ansermanuevo, and drive back to La Union in an hour and a half. 

Flacko, Boris, Dawn & Jim, Shane, Brian, Destin, Matt and Marty. (Dubin, the third driver was in town with his family). 

We unloaded, unpacked, hit the pool, did laundry, took naps, and the guides began to get ready for the next group to arrive late the next day. It was serendipitous to get back early. We are glad to be back and relax, knowing we would stay in one familiar place the next day. We flew over some amazing terrain, and yet despite the risks, we all came out it with nothing more than a few scuffs, bruises and plenty of bug bites. Bravo, team. 

The church was open, well lit and services could be heard from the speakers inside. Not many inside, but this Iglesia gets a lot of use and is packed on Saturday and Sunday nights. 

We ate at the pizza place together and I ate way too much. It was so good, thin, crispy crust with ham and pineapple. Yum.  

It's good to be "home" at Casa Blanca. 

Cheers,

Martín