Wednesday morning, June 28, opened hopefully with clear valley weather as the members prepared to fly en masse to Oceano Dunes on the coast, 128 nautical miles south of South County, for a picnic, a flying contest, and a flour bomb drop.

Mark Stern, the local pilot, gives an early morning pilot briefing. Clockwise from lower-left: Jack Kelsey, Teddy Clemons, Kent Power, Mark Stern, Clyde Smith, Bud Northington.

Right up to the last minute Mark monitored weather conditions at Oceano, but had to declare a no-go when the coastal fog refused to move out. So Plan B--a flight to Paso Robles, 97 nm south in the Salinas Valley--was executed.

IDPA President Clyde Smith (left) reviews his flight plan to Paso Robles with Teddy Clemons.

Oops, a dead battery! Frank Garguilo of Two Genes Aviation prepares to jumpstart Alec Naiman's rented Archer, full of passengers waiting to fly to Paso Robles.

"This high-wing makes a great sunshade!" Denise Kowalczyk waiting with son Jay as Terry Ridgway prepares his rented Maule for the flight to Paso Robles.

At Paso Robles, the Central Coast Council of, by and for People Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (CCC) put on a grand picnic lunch for us in the airport terminal. Paso Robles may not have been as picturesque as Oceano, but the food was good and the CCC enthusiastic and supportive.

Winding down after a great picnic lunch at Paso Robles.

Bud Northington and Joe Stevens hanging out at the Paso Robles terminal. "Ah, lunch was good!"

Wednesday's flight manifest of 46 people in 10 aircraft: (first name in each listing is the pilot) Archer: Mark Stern, Henry Kisor, Bud Northington. Cherokee Six/300: Henri Corderoy du Tiers, Xavier Hinard, Daniel Abbou, Philippe and Brigitte Sazarin, Philippe Marti. Maule: Terry Ridgway (hearing), Joe Stevens, Denise and Jay Kowalczyk. Cessna 210: Kent and Morna Power, Becky Center, Teddy Clemons, Mike Tyacke. Lance: Frank Sira (Two Genes Aviation pilot-hearing), Alexandre Baker, Joan and Dave Hartley, Barry and Pat Schwartzmann. Cherokee Six/300: Tim Coffman, Becki Coffman, Randy Fraser, Donna Fraser, Dennis Whitley. Archer: Clyde Smith, Maralee Hankins-Smith, Eric Debieuvre, Jean Hauser. Archer: Alec Naiman, Patrick Seamans, Cathy Roach. Seneca: Francisco (Two Genes Aviation pilot-hearing), Jeff Willoughby, Jerri Willoughby, Bernie Gross, Helga Gross, Sigmund Loza. Cherokee 235: Jack and Nora Kelsey, Debra Kelsey-Salo, Damara Long. (Cathy Roach and Joe Stevens switched places on the return.)

Back at South County we had to scrub the flour bomb drop--an inadvertent strike on a car on busy Highway 101 next to the runway was just too much of a concern for the county airport manager--but we held the spot landing contest, in which Mark Stern won first place (can you say "home field advantage"?), followed by Alec Naiman, Henri Corderoy du Tiers and Tim Coffman, in that order. Gene Mecadon, president of Two Genes Aviation, Terry Ridgway and Denise Kowalczyk refereed the event.

After the flying contest: Tim Coffman, Mark Stern, Terry Ridgway (referee), Alec Naiman, Henri Corderoy du Tiers, and Denise Kowalczyk (referee).

That evening most of us repaired to Maurizio's, a fine Italian restaurant, in Morgan Hill for dinner, and fell into bed tired and happy.