Wednesday (9th) - 1530 it was sunny and warm as we headed north with the forecast for Calgary not so good...maybe a good thing? If the bad weather is here perhaps the good stuff is in Grande Prairie?  After all we do want to do the fun flight on Thursday evening.  Going through Red Deer hummmmmm the clouds are a little thicker, Leduc and it is blowing and raining seriously (at least none of the white stuff!).  Over night in Spruce Grove...want a deal?  We stayed at the Grove Inn right on the highway; had an all-you-can-eat smorg supper (domestic beer $2.45 a bottle!), a decent room (pets allowed, sheets didn't match) and a better than average breakfast for less than $100!  

Thursday – 0800 - it was bright and clear to the north & west...a good sign, we thought.  An hour up the road the clouds are closing in...quickly!  By Whitecourt it is snowing, seriously!  And so it was all the way into Grande Prairie.

              - 1500 - and check in was jovial as the locals assured us "foreigners" that this was just a blip and we would have great weather for the weekend. 

              - 1700 - and the proposed fun flight is definitely off so there is time to get settled in our room and locate the parking stalls with plug ins before heading across the road for the master briefing followed by a wine & pizza party sponsored by a local sports bar.  Somehow, the organizing committee must all be crew because they opened the wine and pizzas for the crew while the pilots were in the briefing!  Guess how much was left when the briefing ended?  A visit to the restaurant alongside the hotel was in order.  Del Michaud was heard to comment the next day that "there was a time when we partied til the last possible minute at these events, on this night everyone was in for the duration by 9!"  

              - Midnight - the snow is blowing by the hotel window parallel with the ground, not a good sign!?

Friday - 0800 - first briefing (hat's off to the organizers; Tim Horton's coffee and muffins etc. in the reception area) and a task is called.  It may be a bit wet or muddy out there but it is flyable!  Gary Lockyer, assisted by Tom Shepard and Debby Spaith were out to separate the players right away with a tricky little double task; a Fly-in followed by a Hesitation Waltz or Multiple Choice each with limited scoring area.  Personally I found it very pleasing, I actually saw both targets and got my marker into the scoring area.  A bit of a windy landing didn't bode well for later in the day... 

         - 1600 - task sheets and markers were laid out but...no go too windy although it should come down after sunset so meet at 1900 to do a night glow.

          - 2000 - the night glow is a go...briefly until the wind picked up again near 2130.  That was long enough anyway!  And thoughts were already towards the morning, was this wind here to stay???

          - 2330 - CTV Edmonton reported "the top 20 pilots in Canada were in Grande Prairie competing for the Canadian Championship" and my approach to the first target this morning was the film feature.

Saturday - 0800 - it's a go!  Winds are light and variable and...what's this...3 markers!? time to get serious .  It's a Gordon Bennett Memorial variation followed by a Minimum Distance Double Drop then on to a Hesitation Waltz.  The initial reaction was how the !@!#@$!#@# are we supposed to hit those targets with these winds?  Guess what, the balloonmeister knew what he was doing and it was possible though only 5 competitors scored points at the first target (2 markers).  The GBM was certainly interesting, perhaps only because I hadn't been at a serious competition for a while, and is difficult to describe without a diagram and a rule book.

             - 1100 - (or whenever one got back from the flight) was a lunch BBQ hosted by Atco Gas.  Burgers, smokies, salad & pickles disappeared in great quantity.

             - 1600 - once, twice on hold but...no go.  Time to hang out and socialize.

Sunday - 0800 - I had notes from this morning, where in blazes are they?  Oh yeah, they blew away - guess that sort of tells the story.  Ditto for the evening flight.

           - 1230 - Anyone who attended events in years gone by will remember the great lunches hosted by Bea Collins at her acreage.  She is no longer on the acreage, but with the assistance of Stan Wereschuk and a host of others, put on a Tailgate Turkey Fry.  Now that was good!  Most everyone attending was asked to bring pot-luck so we ended up with lots of salads, pickles and desserts to fill in what little room was left after the turkey.

           - 1600 - like I said before - scratch!

           - 1830 - was supposed to be something of a trip down memory lane or the like...a visit to the "original" Chinese restaurant, the Number 1 where it all started for Pat & me.  Unfortunately Pat's Mom had become very ill and so Pat had flown home earlier in the day.   Chinese & Mateus stayed on the schedule however, and I was accompanied by Walt & Linda (they were there the first time) as well as my crew for the event (locals George & Verna Sukkau plus Carter Ginn and his Dad). A good time was had by all, though the 7 of us managed only one bottle of Mateus whereas the first go around 11 of us wiped out 9 bottles.  What a difference 20 years makes!  Home and in bed by 2300.

Monday - 0800 - it's a go!  Another GBM variation (Lockyer must lay awake at night dreaming these things up!) with a time limit to boot.  Another good flight (saved by my alert crew who waved me down to point out the impending end of the scoring period) and we got right in on the target.  Hot damn, might even move up in the standings!

            - 1100 - Awards Luncheon (delicious as usual) and it was apparent local knowledge had some influence as the top 3 spots went to a couple of locals (Marvin Shultz and Dan Balisky) and (X-local) Harold Warner in between.  At this point I can't find my copies of the results so listen for the stories at the next meeting. For sure in the Canadians, Aaron Semkuley was fourth, a very good showing!

           - 1530 - we're outta here!  We, as in Chester (the dog) and me, heading home.  Along about Whitecourt we caught up to Ron Lessoway and his (by far) better half who showed us the Hwy. 22 route home.  Can't say when we'll be going to Grande Prairie again, though it is a great place to fly, but we'll definitely take that route again.

Overall, a well put together event!  Congratulations and thanks to the organizing crew in Grande Prairie.

Searle