You did WHAT? Sunday, 5/17/26

Saturday was Armed Forces Day.  Our dinky Nevada County Air Park always puts on a day-long celebration honoring the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, including veterans, active-duty personnel, and military families, and Jimmy is an Air Force veteran.  It's a family-friendly event and it's free.  Jimmy and I don't live far from the air park and, in fact, enjoy riding our bikes over to it.  Today we drove, wandered around looking at aircraft and visited with friends.  The event features food and drink and vendor booths and flyovers from various aircraft.  And airplane rides.  When I asked about airplane rides, I was told they were booked.  My face fell, and the guy laughed and said, "Well, let me put you on the list in case we can fit you in tomorrow."  

And so they did.

This pic of "our plane" was taken on Saturday, when the day warranted wearing shorts.  Big change on Sunday with huge winds (maybe we'll fly, maybe not) and much cooler temps.  We wore jeans and windbreakers.

I wasn't feeling well (sinusitis? a cold?) and hadn't planned on flying ... but, OMGosh, here I am, first time EVER in a tiny plane, a biplane, WACO (not whacko) and my beloved Jimmy right next to me.  And I wasn't afraid.  Wow.  Juan Browne, our ace pilot, will be flying the pretty red plane from the seat behind us!

Buckled in.  Hooked up.  Ready, set, go!

Waving bye to Drake,

the young man who helped us squeeze into our seats.

Don't touch anything!

It isn't easy to maneuver a phone, plus a camera, while zipping down the runway!  And definitely don't hold either one above the windscreen or out the side opening, or it's gone!  So, this isn't the best video, but it's us taking off!  

 

We flew over Nevada County,

probably over our house on Banner Lava Cap.

Past the airport.  We saw the South Yuba River Canyon after this.

Into the foothills, with the Sierra crest in the distance.  We could fly because the wind was "coming straight down the runway."  Once in the air, our little plane did well, not many bumps.  It felt solid, except the ground beneath us was way down there!  We took some pics, as you see, and a couple of videos, and the rest of the time (20-25 min airtime), we ... we were simply awed.

Nevada County has trees!  I'm not sure which body of water that is on the right.  I was so excited to be flying with the wind in my hair.  A "convertible" airplane!

Juan gave us info on where we were/what we were seeing via the headphones.  Above, we were over Lake Wildwood (who knew it was so big?).  We have several friends living in this community. 

Coming around to Hwy 49.  We knew what this was without being told, by the look of it.  The highway is being widened, tons o' trees have been removed, with bare dirt exposed.

A closer view of Hwy 49, our north/south corridor.

Too soon our ride was over.

Juan gives us the thumbs up.

We didn't mind paying the fee as the proceeds provide aviation scholarships for local youth through the nonprofit Golden Empire Flying Association, of which Juan is President.  (He used to be our neighbor.)  

All done.  Juan takes the WACO to the garage.  The wind REALLY came up in the afternoon; I doubt any more flights took place.

When we got home, I took a long nap and felt better afterwards.  Anyhoot, who would want to miss an opportunity like this?  Just goes to show you -- you're never too old for a FUN new experience!

Monday's jaunt (5-11-26)

 

Back in 2007, when we fired up this blog, we wanted to come up with a catchy web address.  We settled on intrepid-decrepit-travelers.com, thinking we were mighty clever using this funny moniker.  And now, almost twenty years later, we realize we were ahead of our time.  Because some mornings we wake up feeling intrepid (yeehaw!), and then there are days that decrepit is a more apt description for how the ol' bodies feel when we roll out of bed.  On those days, it's hi-ho, hi-ho, up and atem anyway.

I think the best way to coax a resistant body is to head out on the bike.  And so we did, on Monday, driving up to Truckee on a warm and sunny day.  The paved Truckee River Legacy Trail is a gem, and it follows the river as it rushes eastward toward Nevada and its ultimate destination, Pyramid Lake.  Beautiful, above, isn't it?

Beginning our bike ride at Truckee Regional Park, it's about a 10 mile R/T trail.  We parked the bikes whenever we felt like it (no hurries, no worries).  At this point I scampered down to the water's edge.  Yep, it's cold, and ripping along.

Spotted a few clumps of Lupines next to the path.  I thought they were Harlequin Lupines, but, no, this plant is Lupinus arbustus, or Long spurred lupine.  Really pretty.

Yellow Bitterbrush was in full bloom the entire length of the trail.

Da River

Oh boy, we were tickled.  Not long after we began, we heard a train whistle.  Lucky us, two trains crossed here, one headed east and ta'other going west.  Eastbound had nine locomotives -- most we've ever seen!  Later, we heard one more train but couldn't see that one.

Ah, made it to the top!  Truckee and environs elevation is roughly 6000' (+/-) and the gain on this trail is 472'.  We ate our granola bars and shared a drink, grateful to sit here for a few minutes.  Water is provided via a hand pump, which I pulled "on" but couldn't shut it off.  Thank you, Jimmy!

Thoughtful folks installed this bike fix-it "station" at Glenshire trailhead.

Scenic overlook with the river and the high Sierra crest.  We have to cross the bridge over Martis Creek (above the red checkmark) to get up to Glenshire trailhead.  Quite a workout, too, even with battery assist!  Nice spot for a bench.

Between 1868 and the 1920's, ice ponds were created by damming sections of the Truckee River and its tributaries, such as Martis Creek (here) where high-quality ice was harvested and supplied to Nevada's Comstock mines and California cities via the railroad.  Above is a section of the old dam.

Back in town, we rode to the other side of the river and came upon this massive snow removal gizmo!  No longer in use, but I bet it was something to see, flinging deep snow everywhere!

I don't know if you can read this,

but this same machine rescued a snowbound train in 1952. 

And this giant crane rights train cars after a derailment.

Also no longer in use.

Wrapping up our ride, we stopped at Jax @ the Trax for a burger and a BLT, and, by gum, if we weren't in time to hail the eastbound Amtrak!  It stops in Truckee for a few minutes, with its engine idling smack in the middle of a main street, picks up and drops off people, and with a toot-toot of its horn, chugs off down the hill to Reno, and beyond.  We stood outside watching the process, smiling the entire time.  We like trains.

There's been talk about relocating and rehabilitating these historic cottages, but who knows if or when this will happen.  Built 1905/ish, they've been vacant for a long time.  Located between the train tracks and the river, the land must be valuable, but now these old houses seem like safety hazards.  

Surprise!  While poking around the old places (photo above this one), we discovered another walk/bike bridge over the Truckee ... which led to a new one-mile paved trail, which, I believe will eventually be paved all the way to Hwy 89, a great big plus as far as we're concerned.

Overall, we only put 15 miles on our bikes, 15 up/down miles, much of it in full sun, but we returned home happy as larks, albeit tired.  In the evening, we popped popcorn, put our feet up, and watched Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix, a lovely story.  (loved the book)

Intrepid?  Decrepit?  Whatever!  Travelers?  Always.  Count me grateful.