A Time to Soar

This morning, Chloe and I used up one of the gift certificates she received for Christmas last year: a 1 hour glider ride over the Boulder area!

When I woke up, the weather looked very promising... clear, sunny blue skies. Unfortunately, conditions changed over the next couple of hours and some cloud cover started coming in. When we arrived at the airport, there were still some patches of blue sky so we decided to give it a go.

Chloe was a trooper... the only time some anxiety crept in was when we were stepping into the glider. Because it only has one wheel under the fuselage, it doesn't rest level and can wobble easily . So when she stepped in, it wobbled and it gave her some pause. But once the tow rope was attached and the tow plane started pulling us down the runway - and despite the "cozy" conditions we enjoyed - she was clearly excited and all smiles as we lifted off. We were pulled by the tow plane for about 20 minutes to an altitude just above cloud cover. Sean, our pilot, then released the rope and we were on our own.

We were able to get a good aerial view of Boulder for most of the flight, but the clouds did prevent us from getting closer to or clear views of the mountains. Chloe had trouble picking things out, so I pointed out some items of interest to her: her school, where she played soccer, Folsom Field, our neighborhood and Haystack Mountain, to name a few.

We were aloft for about 40 minutes before touching down again on terra firma.

(Photos below. Click on photo for a larger version.)

A pre-glide photo.

Our tow plane and pilot.

All smiles aloft.

Soaring above the clouds.

A mid-flight photo.

A hazy view of

the mountains.

Central and Northern
Boulder.

CU's Folsom Field.

North Boulder (our
neighborhood is
in the middle of the
frame.)

Another mid-flight photo.

Boulder's newest sky jockies.