Day 1: to CANTON, ILLINOIS

DAY 1: (WESTBOUND) GREAT BARRINGTON, MA to CANTON, IL

I'm heading west as I unexpectedly got offered a NOLS backpacking contract with Naval Academy students.  My earlier Alaska mountaineering contract with the Navy had been canceled so I was very happy to get the offer for this one.  Starved for a bit of summer adventure since the last two summers were dedicated to grad school, I agreed.  

After much debate and wondering, instead of heading into the world of COVID commercial airline travel, I got Freddy ready for another adventure.  The potential reward is 3 days of flying (the same time it takes to get to the moon) and an adventure in thy sky before the adventure in the mountains.  The potential logistical nightmare is if I get stuck somewhere along the way due to weather or some other thing and need to somehow get myself and my gear to a commercial airport.  I guess it's all part of the adventure of the unknown.  

So now, I've gotten almost half way but some potential weather tomorrow.  Two days to go.  

If there are any aviation buffs out there, you can track my flights by going to flightaware.com and putting in Freddy's callsign: N7202G.  There's even a "Get Notifications" button so you can get emails with each flight if you're one of my parents.  

I had plans of writing with style and grace, but a bad sleep last night and almost 10 hours of flying have me a bit beat.  It's nearly time for bed so here are some memorable moments:

- Making it east past the rising clouds!  It was like getting out past the breaking waves when surfing.

- Feeling so in tune with the motions of the sun.  I was chasing it so time actually went slower today - by a tiny bit.  

- realizing with disappointment that instead of regular Triscuits (my favorite flying snack), I bought Mini Triscuits which are not very conducive to dipping in hummus.  

- Turning on the runway lights (always a favorite task) and landing just after sunset.

- Skateboarding on the dark runway with just the runway lights.  

If you want to see any pics, check instagram or facebook.  Will try to add later but now need to go to sleep.  

Also if you are a subscriber and reply to the email, I won't get it.  To leave a comment (I love comments, as it shows people actually are intersted in what I write), you must click on the link in the email and then add your comment in the comment window.  

That's all for today.  Hope you are all healthy and as well as can be in this crazy time!