I had a great last flight at Whitewater on Thursday. On my first flight I released around 1200' and stayed up for around 15 mins but was unable to gain altitude. On my second flight I went up to 2000'. After sitting around there for some time I was up to around 2500' but the climbing was very slow. There was no thermal core. I flew to the north over a large sod field and eventually "bumped" into something. I climbed at around 150 feet per minute until I got to 3000'.
At this point the strangest thing happened to me. A black duck flew ~30 feet under me. I did a double-take. I never expected to see a duck that high since they are not soaring birds. He quacked as he flew by.
I eventually made it up to the clouds at ~4000' feet. I flew out to the side of the cloud and kept going up. I was cruising along the side of the cloud diving through wisps that were sticking out. Then, when a cloud wisp formed under me, I was able to spiral down through it. I eventually came down and had a great landing after a 1 hour 40 min flight.
This was a great last flight in Wisconsin! California here I come.

As most of you know, Mandy and I are moving to California (Cupertino) at the end of this month. We will miss all of our friends here in Chicago. Since this is a flying blog . . . .now something flying related. I shot this video while in California a few weeks ago. This is a pilot flying at Fort Funston on the San Francisco Pinnensula. This will be about 40 mins from where we will be living and is soarable for ~50% of the year. With mountain biking and a beach nearby, there are plenty of things to do when the wind is not good. My hang gliders will be in the moving truck for all of August, so tune back in for September posts!