I got out of Payson around 7:00 in the morning. I was up at sunrise to break camp and get everything packed away. After breakfast at Crosswinds, the airport restaurant, I took off and headed west a few miles before turning south to follow a valley towards Phoenix. North of Phoenix I turned west again and headed out over the desert towards California.

I had a slight tailwind and my ground speed was about 120 mph. I decided to land at Blythe California for fuel. I had plenty but topping off would allow me to not have to worry about refueling later in the day. Blythe lies on the Colorado River and uses the river to irrigate the desert using an extensive system of canals.

The airport is about 10 miles west if the river and although I could see evidence of  once irrigated fields, the area around the airport has been reclaimed by the desert. Originally used as a bomber training field during World War II the place sees little use now. There are a few buildings, two usable runways. From the air I saw large ramp areas and other runways that are now abandoned  and drifted over with sand.

I bought fuel and chatted for a few minutes with the gentleman who runs the operation and then got on my way. I headed west towards Palm Springs and the Banning Pass. I had emailed a friend I planned to meet up with in the LA area in order to determine which airport would be most convenient for him. I had not heard back so I decided to land at the Banning Airport to check my email. The wind was blowing 25-30 right down runway 8 and my landing roll was about  200 feet, maybe less. The air was full of blowing dust and I quickly tied Niner-Zero down and went into the office. No internet!

I was airborne again in about 20 minutes and headed into the LA basin with a course plotted to Flabob airport in Riverside. I heard they had a restaurant and it was lunch time. I tied her down and walked over to the nearest building. A older gentleman informed me that the restaurant was closed for remodeling. He wanted to know where I was headed and seemed amused that all I knew was that my friend lived in ‘LA’  and nothing more specific. As we were speaking Dan called and told me the closest airport to his apartment is Santa Monica. As I now had a specific location I asked for suggestions on the best ways to get there through the complicated airspace around LA. he told me to turn north, climb to 2500 feet, fly to the mountains and turn left. Fly west along the mountains until I could head south west around the LA class bravo airspace into Santa Monica.

Well, it worked and it was a really fun flight. I landed at Santa Monica in time for a late lunch at the airport restaurant. Being very close to the coast, the weather was nice and cool. The only drawback was the fact that the marine layer results in low ceilings until late morning so I would not be getting out early. It does clear out though so I was not expecting a Cape Cod redux. Dan picked me up and we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to  a dive up in Ventura County where we  had a beer and then drove back to LA for a great steak dinner before calling it a night.