Exploring Mendocino

In May, we drove to Mendocino, California, where we stayed at the Little River Inn by the Pacific Ocean. We like getting away from the hustle and bustle of San Jose to a quiet and secluded place. The drive to Mendocino is long but not very tedious, though a section of the road is a bit winding.

We ate a delicious breakfast at the Little River Inn. This included chocolate chip pancakes (which Alex really liked).

Alex, Inna, and I drank some excellent, delicious cappuccinos,  mochas, and hot chocolates at Moody's Organic Coffee Bar in downtown Mendocino.

We ate lunch at the Cultured Affair Cafe, and Alex had some ice cream.

The Mendocino area has excellent hiking, mountain biking, and kayaking at this time of the year.
On May 25th, Inna and I hiked (and Alex mountain biked) one of the trails in the Van Damme State Park.

We mountain biked the Big River Trail and kayaked the Big River, Mendocino. The trail runs for about 10 miles, or about a 1-2-hour ride each way.

On May 26th, we canoed down the Big River, starting from Catch a Canoe and Bicycles Too rental shop. We saw lots of wild birds and a few harbor seals.

On May 27th, we visited the Mendocino Botanical Gardens, where we enjoyed the variety of flowers. We also enjoyed the ocean view.

Eventually, we made it to the beautiful Mendocino coastal shore.

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Flight training on a Cessna 172SP Skyhawk

I don't recall the first time I flew on an airplane. I believe it was back in Russia when my parents and I traveled to the Black Sea for vacation. Ever since then, I have always been a fan of aviation.

When I was growing up, I always wanted to be a pilot and fly military jet fighters. I built a wooden glider that I launched from a 3rd story window in my apartment in Moscow.

As I got older, I learned that the U.S. military had very high standards for eyesight - 20/20 vision - which I lacked. Ever since I was young, I wore glasses to correct myopia (I was nearsighted). I could never fly one of those fast jet fighters (like the F-16). It was pretty disappointing.

When I attended Lehigh University for my BSEE, I briefly attended the Air Force training. However, I quit early on when I realized that all the other Air Force cadets did was march around. There was no flight training. I wanted to learn to fly - but I didn't think I would ever get the chance.
On April 26, 2012, I received an attractive LivingSocial deal by email. The Trade Winds' Executive Flight Package offered a chance to fly a Cessna 172sp single-engine aircraft with an instructor. I was excited and booked my first flight for  April 29, 2012, at 10:00am.

On Sunday, April 29, I met Gene Hudson, my instructor, at the Trade Winds Aviation clubhouse. He got an extra headset out of his car, and we walked to the Cessna 172SP aircraft. This was a practically new airplane with the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit (instead of individual instruments, it had multiple video screens). Gene had been flying for over 20 years and had thousands of hours of flight experience, so I was not worried.

The Cessna 172SP is a small single-engine propeller plane with a 180 hp engine. It has seating for 4 people (2 in the front and 2 in the rear). The seating is quite cramped, so there is not much elbow room. There are two identical sets of controls for both pilots sitting in front.

After inspecting the plane, we climbed inside the plane's cabin and diligently followed the pilot's checklist. Once completed, we climbed out of the cabin and manually pushed the plane onto a taxiway. We climbed back into the plane and started the engine.

Gene taxied the plane to the runway and contacted Reid-Hillview Airport (RHV) ground control. Before taxing on the runway, Gene verified that all the control surfaces (ailerons, flaps, rudder, etc.) were operational. Then, he contacted the tower and got authorization to take off.

We slowly taxied onto the runway. Gene set the flaps to 10 degrees (a normal flap angle for takeoff) and the engine RPM to 2500. He let go of the brakes, and the plane began to roll down the runway. Once it reached 55 knots, Gene and I gently pulled up on the yoke, and the aircraft was in the air.

We flew straight, climbing, and then Gene turned the plane to the right to avoid entering class B airspace associated with San Jose Airport (SJC). We continued turning and flew south for a while. We practiced a few rolls to the right and left and saw several other airplanes in the distance. Once we reached Gilroy, we turned around and landed at Reid-Hillview Airport. It was a short but exciting first flight. The landing was relatively short, as the 172SP landed at about 60 knots (the same speed as cars on the freeway) and did not require a lot of runway distance.

Jets typically take off and land at much higher speeds, so it was unexpected to take off and land at such slow speeds.

When flying, I learned the importance of using trim tabs to adjust altitude so I would not always have to pull up or down on the yoke. The Yoke should be neutral in flight; setting trim tabs correctly allows this. I also learned that one must always use the rudder in conjunction with the ailerons for all the turns.

My most challenging part was using the foot pedals to steer the plane on the ground. The top of the pedal activates the rear landing gear brakes, and the lower part controls the front landing gear. It's tricky to steer the plane using both feet.

I had a fantastic first flight and took the ground school class to learn more about flying.

A few months later, I took the written Airman's Knowledge exam and passed with a score of 93%. Not bad at all!

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Los Cabos, Mexico

We flew on Virgin Airlines from San Jose to Los Cabos, Mexico, in April.

We stayed at the Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort, which we visited many years earlier. This Hilton has lovely pools and excellent Mexican food.

The Hilton has two tennis courts, and I played tennis with Alex one day. The courts are not in perfect shape, but they are playable.

We ate lunch at El Meson and dinner at Fenicia, Madeo, and La Barca.

The Pacific Ocean is rough with heavy surf, so we did not swim. Nevertheless, we had a charming, relaxing time. We originally scheduled this trip for December 2011, but Alex got sick, so we rescheduled it for April 2012.

The room attendants made some wonderful characters using towels.

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Skiing Whistler

In February, Inna, Alex, and I flew on Alaska Airlines from San Jose to Seattle, Washington, then traveled by car to Whistler, Canada. We rented a Jeep Grand Cherokee through Alamo Car Rental (Costco.com to get a better rate) to ensure we had a 4-wheel-drive vehicle available in case we needed it. However, it turned out that we never needed to use 4-wheel drive.

Since the drive from Seattle to Whistler is about 4 hours, we decided to fly into Seattle in the evening, stay overnight at Sleep Inn Sea-Tac Hotel, and then drive to Whistler in the morning.

Early in the morning, we got up, ate breakfast at the local IHOP, and drove to the Pan-Pacific Whistler Mountainside hotel, located right at the Whistler/Blackcomb chair lift. 

The drive to Whistler was quite scenic and not difficult at all. In comparison, a drive to Lake Tahoe can be more challenging (due to the elevation gain of around 7,000 ft). There is little, if any, elevation on the drive to Whistler. Pan-Pacific Hotel is quite lovely and is ideally suited for skiing and snowboarding.

The hotel has ski/snowboard lockers, so the wet skiing gear does not need to be stored in a car or in one's room. 

The lockers make it easy to change gear and lock it for safekeeping. The room was small but nicely furnished.

One day, we got to see the Fire & Ice show from the balcony of our Pan-Pacific Whistler Mountainside hotel. Several ski and snowboard stunts were performed.

I rented a snowboard for the first few days while Alex took snowboarding lessons and Inna rented skis. Inna and I skied together on primarily green and a few blue-rated slopes.

Whistler Mountain has long, wide ski runs, and skiing there was fantastic. The snow was in excellent condition and not icy (at least not on Whistler). When I did try to snowboard on Blackcomb another day, the conditions there were much icier. 

Snowboarding at Whistler was fun, and the whole Whistler Village setup adds much to the resort.

There are numerous restaurants, many pubs, and places to drink. We found quite a few excellent restaurants, which added a lot of enjoyment to our stay there. Even the food at the Whistler lodges was delicious!

We especially enjoyed eating at Quattro Restaurant. The dishes there were incredibly delicious.

We also really liked the resort's atmosphere and the exceptional food throughout. The quality of the food was significantly better than anything we have tried at Lake Tahoe's resorts (Sugar Bowl, Squaw Valley, Kirkwood, Sierra-at-Tahoe, or Northstar).

After snowboarding for two days, I got reasonably tired and decided to try skiing. I exchanged my rented snowboard for skis. I found that skiing was much less tiring than snowboarding. 

However, my skiing technique has declined over the years, and I have found that I cannot control my skis as well as I used to. 


Alex really enjoyed his 3-day Snowboarding camp and improved significantly. On the last day, we skied/snowboarded together, and Alex showed how much he had improved.

On Thursday, February 23, we drove back to Seattle, Washington, and then flew back to San Jose. The border crossing back to the USA took some time. Overall, this ski trip was very tiring but enjoyable.

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