Chapter 7

May 20^th 2043

Well, my airplane is unloaded and should be inflated soon. It was a bit more difficult getting it over the side than I had expected. The winch is on the right side and the land on the left. I still managed to get it on the ground safely though. After uncrating it, it was just a matter of wheeling it's cart to where I planned to set it up and roll it out. Then I filled the gas tank with gas pellets and distilled water and started it up. It would start inflating the plane and keep it inflated even after it had the propeller going. Finally, I set up the little windsock that came with it.

I'm planning on a water take off and landing but I'm inflating on land. It looks like it's about ready. I'll be flying west along the river, and if nothing goes wrong, I'll be back in an hour. I'm taking my backpack and a couple of my guns just in case though. I'm also bringing a camera so I can make a map later if I find a place.

Well, I made it back safely. I was pretty scary at first. It took me a while to work up the nerve to release the anchor rope. When I finally did, my little plane lurched forward and with a splash, I was in the river.

I turned upstream and opened the throttle. My little plane leapt forward. I went up stream a ways and then turned around, pushed the throttle all the way open and my little plane raced back down river. Before I knew it, I was airborne with a scream. I'm not sure if it was from fear or excitement. If I had to guess, I'd say a bit of both.

I took a little time to get comfortable with flying before I headed up river. It didn't take long to get to the mountains. I circled around to the right and continued to look. The land on the north side of the river rose a lot more gradually than the south side. I saw a few streams and creeks, even another smaller river but I didn't see any place I wanted to settle. It was pretty though. I decided to try the south side and I found it. The perfect spot!

About three miles upriver, a creek joins it. The creek winds its way up the hills until it reaches the base of a little plateau. There's a nice pool there, where a waterfall comes out of the cliff. Just north of the pool is a steep forested area about a hundred yards wide. Then there's another cliff, with a cave and a small clearing. The trees and the creek kind of form two sides to the clearing. The creek is further downhill though. The cliff forms the third side. The clearing continues down the fourth side, which is a steep but drivable hill - kind of like a steep curving driveway — that leads to a large open field. The creek runs right through it. On the other side, there are more trees but there seems to be a path of sorts that leads up to the plateau.

The whole space of the clearing is about the size of a nice size property lot. You could put my parent's house on it and still leave room for a driveway, garage, and a nice front, back and side yard. What makes that spot so great, besides the cave, is there's a little depression, in a group of boulders that looks just big enough for my pod. If I park my pod there, it won't roll in a storm. And it's only about 10 yards from the cave. It's perfect!