I love to travel. When money is tight I may have to adjust the distance and simply go for a hike or even drive to a favourite spot for a simple 2 hour vacation from the "everyday". Someone asked me the other day where I considered my home town To be after telling them I've moved every few years over my entire life. As I looked at this picture from my flight the other day I realized - this launch, this mountain, this valley - truly is my home.

Yesterday was a stunning day in the valley, so Martin & I decided to switch things up and do a fly and hike.  We drove up around 11:30 and sat on launch for a while, enjoying the January sun.  We both enjoyed a sunny flight then had a leisurely walk back up to retrieve my FJ, still in awe at this incredible weather we get to experience!

Gotta love your neighbourhood when you're driving to a meeting and you spy some paragliders dropping in from a morning hike and fly!  Peter, Claudia and Martin ignored the drizzly forecast and nabbed an early flight off Elk Mountain yesterday.

One of my goals this year is to double my airtime over last year.  Shouldn't be hard as I didn't actually fly much last year compared to years past.  So far so good - last year I didn't record any flights in January so am ahead for the month with only my New Year's Day flight.  Looking forward to some hike & fly trips up Elk before the next big snowfall up there!

On a day that was far too windy to fly, I called my flying buddy Martin and asked if he'd like to join me on a small local hike.  The strong outflow winds ensured a clear view all the way to Vancouver Island, and the sun glinting off Cultus Lake was an added bonus.