A Little Solo Action

This morning I got up nice and early (well, 0930 is early to me) to head to the airport and get a little flying in before it got too hot and bumpy. I would actually prefer to fly earlier, but here in South Texas, the ceilings are always around 1500-2000 feet until about 11 in the morning. Then, the clouds lift/burn off and the wind kicks up. Today was no exception to this rule. By the time I got to the airport, preflighted the plane and was ready to go...the weather was great. My "new" field is home to a lot of gliders, so I went south a little bit to my first airport to get gas (much cheaper there, too) and practice a couple landings. They went OK, but the wind was trying to get the best of me. Without the instructor weighing the plane down, there is a little more float and *a little* bit more challenging. After playing in the pattern, I went out west and just cruised around some and then do some "turns around a point". This is an exercise about 800 feet off the ground where you have to manage the airplane with the given wind conditions. Since it was fairly windy, today was a good day for that. After about 8 or so laps around the "point" I headed back up to my primary field and wrapped it up for the day. It was a fun way to enjoy an early Saturday afternoon. I am looking forward to having my checkride so I can explore a little more than right around home...so many airports and so little time!!!