Woke up at 9:15 A.M.

Tagged along with Jesse as he flew up to Emporia.  This time we took the courtesy car and went into town.  Had to stay at 2500 feet MSL because of the low clouds.  But we were hooked up with a Crown Victoria Police Interceptor complete with the spotlight!  Nothin' like rollin' in style...

Turns out Emporia is quite the happenin' place.  They have a state university, and the students were out in full-force enjoyin' the weather.  It's so good to see people!  haha...the town is about 30,000...just a bit bigger than Chanute (and, yes, yes, that is HEAVY sarcasm)....

We hit up Bad Ol' Bern's Barbecue...quite tasty food.  I went with the rib tips.  Nice waitresses, too...somewhat helpful in tellin' us what to do.  Then we walked down the strip...and we quickly realized that although Emporia does have stuff...well, it also doesn't.  We stopped by a clown (though admittedly not professional) and his balloon shop, one sorry pawn shop, a pet shop, the town visitor's center, a motorcycle shop, a sports shop, and then hit up a bridge with a sweet 10-foot waterfall and next a very poor zoo (deer, turkeys, and a bald eagle?).

Oh, and we figured out where stink-bait comes from.  Emporia.  The town smelled EXACTLY like stink-bait.  Just like sniffin' it right out of the bag.  I do not lie.  But at the same, it was enjoyable.  Not the smell.  The town.  There was actually somethin' goin' on!

Flew back to Chanute.  Clouds were at 4,000 MSL.  Yeah, I definitely needed to go up on my own!

Came back, filed my first IFR flight plan, called up a friend, then headed for the clouds on the way up to Topeka!!!  On the way up there, I flew at 5,000 feet MSL, and frankly, we were just at the bases of the clouds.  Only really went through one, maybe...visibility was poor but not extinct.  The ground was still visible below.

Landed at Topeka, stayed for about 20 minutes, then headed back.  This time at 6,000 feet.  And that was the sweet spot.  We were in the thick of it!  It was kind of funny to me...I didn't really know what I was expectin' (I was just excited to fly in clouds!), but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  I just flew the instruments!  After awhile of bein' in there, my friend was kind of bored with the scenery...just white windows...so I asked for 8,000 feet.  I was eager to log the actual IFR flight time, but at the same time, I wanted him to be happy, too...

So I headed up higher.  This time above the clouds.  Aggggh, it's so fun!  I've been waitin' five years for this rating, and it's sooo nice to have!  But I quickly realized that you really don't have a clue where you are at in relation to the earth beneath you!  Without a GPS, you are just guessin' and waitin' for that TO/FROM indicator to flip on the VOR indicator!  But it's really quite easy bein' on the radio with the radar guys...they know where you are at, and they told me when to descend and whatnot...kind of nice actually!

What was not helpful was some guy flyin' above the clouds not on a flight plan...we came within three miles of him, only after looking like crazy from the ten miles out point...he was crossin' right along my path and goin' through my altitude.  grr.

Came down through the clouds, and they were quite low by this point...until Chanute!  I dropped down about 12 miles north of town, but Chanute was actually clear!  It's so funny how that works.  I guess they have to start and end somewhere...

Landed, then went for a run.  Ran about 5 miles!

Came back, chilled at the FBO with some very sore legs.  Went to bed at 12:30 A.M.

I'm not goin' to lie...it's pretty sweet flying through clouds!  And bein' on top...yeah, that's just as good.  Blue skies, gorgeous sunshine...and a view of some HUGE rising cumulus clouds off in the west.  Stuff you just can't see from the ground.  The guys on the ground think it's just another cloudy day.  Too bad...

(The picture up above is me over the clouds at 8,000 feet MSL).