Wow! It was just like winning the Indianapolis--uh, 495...

Oh, you thought it was the Indianapolis 500? Not this one. You'll find out when we get to the punch line...

I still have the no-broadband problem here, so all of these still pictures are all clipped from nice videos which I'll put up when I get some broadband. Hey, this is still a lot better than the early days of dial-up...

This was a perfect weather day for flying, so I raced toward Pocatello, and stopped at the Lake Walcott Park, the Minidoka Dam and the rapids (which they call 'falls') below the dam.

 It is a small park, and a pleasant place to try out the repaired drone. I put it up for a lazy flight in the morning glare:

 

In the map above, you can make out the Minidoka Dam. Below it are those Minidoka Falls, where the birds run riot. Hundreds of them. Must be fine dining.

 

 

Happy as I could be, I drove back toward Twin Falls, stopping where the Hanson Bridge crosses the Snake River Gorge:

 

 

 

These two stills are from the beginning and end of a video sequence, which captures the place nicely from above.

 

 

 I continued on in to Twin Falls to fly the Shoshone Falls. First I stopped just upstream from the big falls, to fly up over the Snake River. In this image, the main dam is just where the beautiful water ends:

 

 

The power company has performed a creditable service in developing park-like access to the river:  

 

They also developed a park around nearby Dierkes Lake:

 

 

Dierkes is small but superb for family outings with children. The drone loved it!

 

 

 

I was on a roll! What a great day!

 

Oh, wait.  http://shoshonefalls.tfid.org/live.htm

 

That's right. They turned off the !#!$!%!^! Shoshone Falls! A couple of local people told me that, yes, they had heard the falls were turned off until Spring. The drought, you know.

 

Confucius say: Some days are like that...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put in a Dierkes Lake Still and the Bosch view of the non-falls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lovely waterfall--and a required pit stop...

The day began calm, so I went to Perrine Coulee Falls around the corner from the Perrine Bridge (who was that Perrine guy, anyway? http://www.divexprt.com/HDRphotography/Idaho%20Trip%202014/BaseJumpersOffBridge/BaseJumpersOffBridge.html  He's the one upper left in the bowler hat).

In any event, the falls is in a sheltered alcove, so I launched and took in from the road level up to where eagles fly. Gorgeous view up there!

 

Imagine the power to erode stone that water has!

 

 

There are very nice homes on the rim of the butte above. They and the drone have quite a view--Centennial Park, the Snake River, and around to the right in the second picture of these next two, the Perrine Bridge.

 

 

I stood on that big hill in the center to shoot the images of the kayakers and the bridge yesterday. You can hardly make out the bridge in this morning light, but its image is reflected on the water surface at the far right.

 

Since I'm a glutton for punishment, I'll download a short clip of the falls, and see if it takes until bedtime...

 

 

Now the bad news. Had a hard landing with the Inspire yesterday and broke a strut on the airframe. Don't ask. It doesn't matter what happened or why, it is always the pilot's fault. After the landing, I tried a takeoff, and could see the right rear engine wobbling. That is what we highly-trained professionals call a 'clue.'

 

Requires a brief excursion to the repair facility in Vegas, where I hope they will execute a NASCAR pit stop in world record time. Then I will whip back up here and resume the adventure.

 

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

― Winston S. Churchill

 

“We are all worms, But I do believe that I am a glow worm.”

― Winston S. Churchill

 

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

 

     “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

 

“Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”

 

Thanks, Winston. I needed that...

Looking for Summer weather in Fall...

Last time I was here, the weather in May two years ago was gorgeous. Not so in September. I was talking with store clerks yesterday, and they said two profound things: "September. Time to get ready for Winter.

Even worse, when I then asked, "Doesn't the wind ever stop around here?" they answered, "You're in Idaho, Blows all the time. If you wait five minutes, it will blow even harder."

Still, I've managed some good videos, but the Internet access is so slow all I can do is put a few stills here.

 

That view is of some kayakers on the Snake river below the Perrine Bridge. That's the bridge from which the BASE jumpers parachute. The wind was too strong for the drones, but I went to see the hardy few braving the wind and cool temperatures. Two were wet, and from what I overheard, one didn't quite make it to the landing area, landed in the water by the river bank and was pulled out by the other  Here's some from my last visit:  http://www.divexprt.com/HDRphotography/Idaho%20Trip%202014/BaseJumpersOffBridge/BaseJumpersOffBridge.html

 

It's easier in Summer...

 

Then I went to the Yingst Road overlook, where there is a waterfall.

 

 

A local told me that most of the falls around Twin Falls are from agriculture, the overflow from farms' irrigation canals. For my purposes, this little falls was perfect--it was in an alcove protected from the wind!

 

The water flows down to the Snake River.

 

 

Where it is just another tributary of the mighty Snake.

 

 

I sent a drone up to view the higher part of the falls:

 

 

And I have a very nice video flying up there and slowly coming down the falls:

 

 

For a final stop, I went to the Twin Falls Hydroelectric plant, where a very nice lake and park are above this outlet:

 

 

Where the birds zip around just above the cataract:

 

 

At every stop, I had to put on a jacket each time I got out of the car and got blown about a lot. Still, the scenery here is so dramatic that you take it as you can.

 

Look on the bright side! With luck, later in my trip I'll get the bright colors of Fall foliage to photograph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This trip is starting hard...

I had forgotten how awful the wireless is here. I just spent two hours laboriously uploading two very short videos, only to have them be lost to some glitch--probably rebooting the motel's server when they came in. The staff tells me there is no fast wireless in town. Hard to believe.

I'll retreat to stills, and put things up when I get wireless that works.

It is a good thing my trip is long, as the clouds are offering only brief periods of sunshine. I went out to Niagara Springs, where the underground rivers flow perpetually. Even the still uploads are very slow. This from a really nice video:

 

The I put the drone up over the Snake river nearby.

 

 

 

The complex in the picture is their fish hatchery.

 

More to come! Only stills, though. Sigh.

 

 

 

It's a loooong way to Tipperary...

Tipperary Corners, that is. After eight hours on the road, I stopped briefly at this segment of the Snake River just East of Twin Falls. It was a bit windy, and I was in no shape to fly the drones. Better to get a night's sleep before flying.:

 

The River has many overlooks, rapids and waterfalls, so it is a rich place to explore. Remembering my trip two years ago, http://www.divexprt.com/HDRphotography/Idaho.html I knew there were a lot of drone subjects all along the river.

 

 Just have to get out and drive, because they are scattered fifty miles either side of where I'm staying..

 

I'd better get at it...

 

 

Oh, boy. That video clip just took forever to upload. The motel's wireless is quite weak, even early in the morning when nobody else is up.

 

I may have to show very short clips, and more stills. Oh--first I have to go out and get the material!

Flying with the hot air balloons is good practice...

...for some tricky flying I have to do next month in Idaho.

When you fly drones, you either fly visually by looking at the drone, or (if it is far away or behind something) piloting by the camera's view displayed on your Ipad. Now start shooting a moving target, and it gets tricky. After all, one doesn't want to scare the balloon's passengers or crash into the big moose.

First, however, we perpetual adolescents must be entertained by playing the burners:

Think of it as a Wurlitzer organ--with lights...

I've already put lots of clips of the balloons being filled and taking off (see earlier posts) and  http://divexprt.phanfare.com/6956381  so I'll concentrate on those of maneuvering near the baskets.  This morning there were three balloons. Captain Gary hustled his into the air first, and drifted away fairly quickly.

I had to get on the other balloons now!  Captain Ron was piloting the second balloon to get off, and didn't mind the drone buzzing his ship:

 

Captain Casey had a wedding party. a pleasant way to celebrate, on a gorgeous, calm flying day. Good luck to the bride and groom!

 

 

A very worthwhile practice session!

 

Of course, flying a thousand feet over water from the platform on the far right of this webcam feed across and down to the waterfall on the left will be challenging. At that distance, I won't see the drone and do the entire round trip by piloting the camera    http://shoshonefalls.tfid.org/live.htm

 

The best water flows are in June or July when they open the dam upstream. I tried to hit that on my last visit. They kept broadcasting radio spots that said: 'We'll be opening the dam any day now,' but never did. 

. http://www.divexprt.com/HDRphotography/Idaho%20Trip%202014/ShoshoneFalls/ShoshoneFalls.html   

September is late, but still pretty if I can get close to the main flow.

 

 We take what they give us...

Another fun morning with the hot air balloons...

Trying to get in as much drone practice as I can before some trips in September, I dropped in on the balloon flyers early this morning.

They began, of course, setting up the gear and testing the equipment (see my YouTube film on the entire process at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iHl3mDILXU

Love it when they test the burners!

 

Now the second set!

 

 

When Captain Casey's  balloon took off, I tried to get close to see both the happy clients and the firing of the burners in flight!

 

 

These sure are fun!