Fly Me to the Moon...

As Matt's graduation gift I gave him something he's wanted for a long time...a flying lesson. Today we drove down to the Torrance Regional Airport for a surprise 3-hour flight lesson with a pilot. I wasn't going to travel along, but decided to risk travel sickness and do it anyway. I'm grateful that I made the decision, for it was actually pretty cool (and I didn't feel sick once).

Matt was responsible for take off, the flying in the air, and the landing. As usual, we brought along his buddy, Stephan, since I was unsure if I'd want to ride along. We flew from Torrance (near Redondo Beach), taking off over the Pacific Ocean, and traveled north over LAX and up to Santa Monica. We flew right over our house...albeit, we were at 4500 feet altitude at the time.

Flight Lesson from Courtney Craig on Vimeo.

Untitled from Courtney Craig on Vimeo.

(These 2 videos show the take-off and the initial ascent)

(Flying directly over LAX)

(The landing approach)

Untitled from Courtney Craig on Vimeo.

He did an excellent job controlling the plane, and the instructor said he's a natural! Guess who wants to take formal lessons once he gets a job???

After the lesson, Matt and I had a nice afternoon picnic at the South Coast Botanical Garden. I packed us some Asian Pasta Salad (I LOVE this stuff), homemade egg salad on croissants, fresh fruit, champagne, and creme brulee that we torched at the picnic site! Yum! All in all, a very nice day and a great way to start the Summer!