Schafer '06

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003399" TEXT="#080000" background="043c8c00erkjxk.jpg"> <div> <B> Schafer Meadows (8U2) in Montana was as beautiful as usual this year.  The only downside was the huge thunderstorm that hit about an hour after I arrived.  Brad, Mark and Melody had arrived ahead of me (thanks to my dead battery) and set up their camp.  I had time to button down the plane and toss my gear under the picnic table before  it started.  We had continuous lightning, rain heavy enough to flood most of the camp and hail!  The storm lasted all afternoon and well into the night.</B></div> <div> <B>  Brad was the only one to come through the whole event unscathed.   Mark and Melody found that they'd inadvertently pitched their tent on the main drainage for the campground.  I was perched on the picnic table throughout the storm, completely oblivious to the fact that I'd left my sleeping bag out in the rain. </B></div> <div> <B>Fortunately, the next day dawned with clear skies and, as is the custom after a rain, everyone set their damp gear out on the final approach hillside to dry in the sun.</B></div> <div> <B>As an aside, I'd like to point out that usually my  visits to Schafer are accompanied by excellent weather, but whenever Mark and Melody come along, we seem to experience some sort of atmospheric curse.  There's not enough data for a trend yet, but I'll be following this closely :-)</B></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#0066CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#99CCFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>John Galban's Flying Site</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFF99" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC0000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>  |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="John Galbans Flying Site"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="16"><B>     </B><A HREF="id66.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Enroute to MT 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="04910100.gif" border=0 width="16" height="16" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>     </B><A HREF="id68.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Schafer Beer Miracle 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="04a10100.gif" border=0 width="16" height="16" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="John Galbans Flying Site"><U><B><IMG SRC="04b100e0.gif" border=0 width="16" height="14" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B> </B></div> <div> Schafer '06</div> <div> <IMG SRC="2199bf40.jpg" border=0 width="667" height="500" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> N4BQ seems right at home among the wildflowers.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="21c9bf40.jpg" border=0 width="667" height="500" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Melody, Brad and I cook dinner in the cold, pouring rain.  Note the effectiveness of my camo rain gear!  I didn't see</div> <div> myself in this picture at first glance.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="21e9bf40.jpg" border=0 width="667" height="500" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> All of the overnight rain instantly forms clouds by midmorning.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="2209bf40.jpg" border=0 width="667" height="500" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> A Schafer rain ritual.  The day after a heavy rain, almost everything in camp (including tents and girlfriends) are brought</div> <div> out to the open area above the runway to dry.  In 2004, Mark took <A HREF="http://www.webspawner.com/users/flyingtrails/imageGallery/schafer1_R.JPG" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.webspawner.com/users/flyingtr"><U>this pic</U></A> of Doug and I drying off after they arrived.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="2229bf40.jpg" border=0 width="667" height="500" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Mark got this excellent shot of a 182 turning final, as Brad, Melody and I dry off in the sun.  You can tell the newbies</div> <div> from the veterans on the benches, because the newbies will always duck as the plane flies about 30 ft. over their heads.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>