6/7 Byron Flying, Couchsurfing, and Hitchhiking

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For the first time I had a repeat Couchsurfer - Amanda, who couchsurfed at my place in Germany along with her boyfriend Brian, came up to the Bay Area this weekend for a big Quora meetup, movie-making, and other fun. Today I took her out to Byron to go up in a glider.

After Amanda's flight, I went up for two flights with the instructor (JDB). For the first time I did a satisfactory "boxing the wake" -- this is a maneuver done while being towed by the tow-plane, to demonstrate your control of the aircraft. First you descend down through the tow-plane's propeller wake (very noticeably turbulent!), and then take the glider in a square path around the wake - right, up, left, down, etc. You have to hold a lot of rudder to keep the glider flying straight even though it's off to the side of the tow-plane, and the tow-line is pulling the glider inwards. We also practiced slack line maneuvers - dealing with slack line that might develop in the tow rope.

Amanda continued on her roadtrip back to Los Angles, and I decided to give myself a little adventure and try hitchhiking back to Berkeley. I thought I'd probably get a ride into Byron, stop at the gas station for an ice cream sandwich, and then get a ride to a BART station. But, lo and behold, the first car to pass picked me up, and drove all the way back to Berkeley.

It was brutally hot out at Byron today: 96 degrees F forecast, 105 for tomorrow. Summer is here. Time to head to the mountains!