POWER PARACHUTE

After our wheeler ride to Dripping Springs, Gary invited Paul up for a ride in his beautiful power parachute. Paul agreed (of coure) and I tagged along to get a few pictures.

While waiting for the power chute to warm up, I went over to talk to Dale, the pilot who gives ultralight rides. He and I decided to go up and fly around with Paul and Gary! Ha...I am really terrified to do this, but feel as though I should work through my fear and do it...so off we go into the wild blue yonder. And yes...I was terrified! Dale didn't help matters much, having a blast demonstrating a few "tricks" and "G forces in my butt." (to use his terminology) Banking hard to the left, then right (like a figure 8) with the plane at a wild angle to the ground. Takeoff and landing were a breeze in comparison. I felt a tiny bit dizzy when we finally landed.

We did manage to fly circles around Paul and Gary, and I even used both hands to get some photos.

We finished the day by going to the Black Rock Cafe and buying dinner for Gary and Jerrie.

DRIPPING SPRINGS 2

We were not dissapointed with the ride into Dripping springs. And to make it even better, One of Gray's friends, Denny, had brought along his GPS and was searching out geo-caches. Geo-caching has become quite a popular pastime here, and nationwide. People with GPSs hide a tin or container with trinkets (or whatever) inside. They then mark the location on the GPS, and post it to the internet. (the caches are usually remote and well hidden)

Denny found the first cache quite effeciently: a large old tin with various goodies including a large chipped magnifying glass, a book of matches, etc. lol. The usual procedure is to put something in the cache, and take something out, which we did.

We found an old can with what appeared to be "Brown Derby Beer" written on it. Kinda cool.

The second cache was supposed to be at Dripping Springs. Tho we found the correct coordinants, we could not find the cache. I was dissapointed as I had brought along my digital watch to add to the cache. (it keeps defaulting to military time, so I was happy to part with it)

Dripping Springs itself was really fascinating. Water does indeed ooze out of the rocks here, leaving a cool puddle for the local wildlife. Denny and (the other) Gary explored the small cave like opening behind the spring.

There are lots of fascinating petroglyphs here as well: beautifully crisp and preserved for viewing.

Denny led us flawlessly back to Black Rock in Brenda, and a great time was had by all!!

RIDE TO DRIPPING SPRINGS IN THE RZR

We had heard about Dripping Springs, a place in the desert where water drips right out of the rocks.

So, when Gary Kelderman invited us to join his group of 4 wheelers and friends into Dripping Springs, we quickly agreed to go along. Gary and his wife Jerrie, and several of their friends gathered at Gary's Peterbilt motorcoach on their wheelers. They were a friendly jovial group, and I felt sure we'd have great time.

The ride through the desert was a blast: lots of very steep hill climbs and descents. We passed several old mines, gaping holes in the earth. Old buildings and foundations intriqued us with their secret histories.