And so it begins...

After a long, hard drive I made it to Arizona. Day one of the drive took me from Seattle to Twin Falls, Idaho. Overall it was a fine drive, with the only downside being the thick smoke that hung in the air all the way across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The visibility was only one or two miles; it was like driving in a smoky bubble. By the end of the day my eyes were burning.

The next day was a trek across the Nevada desert. The smoke was still in the air, and it lasted all the way across the Northern part of Nevada. It was the most difficult part of the drive, as the altitude across much of Nevada is around 6000', and my little Smart car was really sucking wind. I did nearly the entire drive with the pedal firmly to the floor just to be able to do the speed limit. Unfortunately my car doesn't have cruise control, and my right calf is still sore from mashing the gas. But I made it to Vegas, and that evening I went to the Aria casino for the buffet. It was excellent, and had the added perk of being lobster night with free wine.

The last day was a fairly easy drive to Mesa. I watched as the temperature slowly rose from 90 in Las Vegas, to a high of 109 in Arizona. When I finally got to Mesa it was 105. Ugh. The first thing I did when I got to Phoenix was stop at a car wash to scrub the layer of bugs off the car. Then it was off to the ATP office at the airport to pick up the keys to my apartment. Finally I arrived at the apartment, met my two roommates, and got unpacked.

The apartment is OK. It's a three bedroom, so we each get a room to ourselves for now. Another guy was supposed to be arriving by today, but he hasn't shown up, so hopefully I'll get to keep a room to myself for awhile. There's not much for amenities in the apartment. I have a small bed and a dresser, and that's it. There's a couch and love seat in the living room, and a dining table with four chairs. Fortunately we have a washer/dryer in the apartment. We're on the second foor, and our balcony overlooks a beach volleyball court and a nice pool. The complex also has a fairly nice gym.

On Sunday I relaxed after the long trip, and then went out to pick up a few things I needed. I also bought some glassware since there were only two cups in the whole apartment. In the evening one of my roommates and I went across the street for a beer, and some of the instructors were there as well. It turns out that one of them was my instructor, so it was great to get a chance to talk with him before class. The instructors were also having a BBQ that night, so we all went over to the their apartment for beers, and then grilled carne asada and steaks out by the volleyball court. It was a lot of fun.

This morning I woke up bright and early to get ready for class. I had a quick breakfast and made the five-minute drive to the airport. I met the other student that will be going through the multi-engine and instrument phases with me, and we spent the first couple of hours doing paperwork. After that, we kicked off ground school with a 50-question general aviation test. I was worried I wouldn't do well, since a lot of that stuff I haven't reviewed since I got my pilot's license 13 years ago, but I ended up only missing a couple of obscure questions, so I was happy about that. My instructor seems to think I'll do pretty well.

Then we headed outside to check out the planes (HOT HOT HOT), and then back inside to see the simulators. We fired one up, and I took the opportunity to take off, kill an engine, and then land. I didn't crash, and was able to breeze through the engine out checklist from memory, so I think that's a good sign. When I got home, some of the other books I had ordered were waiting for me on the doorstep.  So I have a whole pile of stuff I need to study.

Once it cooled off to a chilly 98 deg. tonight, I walked about a mile to Staples to pick up a couple of things. It's funny how after just a couple of days 98 deg. feels pleasant.

Tomorrow and Wednesday will be spent in the simulators, and hopefully I'll get to fly on Thursday.