Evil Tower

Amy and I are camping at Wallaby Ranch, the first of the three flight parks I plan to visit on this trip. The new "pole barn" is a nice addition to an already comfortable "reality-free zone". We spent the first day pitching the tent, unloading gliders, and catching up with all the transplanted New Englanders that call Wallaby their winter home.

Aside from a few early morning training flights before the winds mix to the surface we have been blown-out. On Wednesday we toured the "evil" Bok Tower. I call it the "evil tower" since I always lose GPS reception whenever I try to snag it as a turn point during the Wallaby and Flytec competitions. Me and my frustrated friends slowly sink out trying to get our GPSs to record a point within the turn point cylinder without flying into each other, the tower, or the trees below.

From the ground, the tower is anything but evil. The tower is surrounded by gardens designed by Fredrick Olmsted, the same guy that designed many of the public gardens in Boston. The tower is made of pink stone from Georgia and is decorated with beautiful wildlife carvings and a large sundial.

We sat in the bucolic gardens and listened to the bells in the carillon tower as puffy white cummies raced by in the crystal blue sky.

Maybe the winds will back down on Friday or Saturday.