cazalea
[Seiko Moderator]
20933
It was just an experiment
Commercial airline flights maintain internal air pressure about equal to 6000-8000 foot elevation. If your Eustachian tubes don't ventilate well, like mine, altitude/pressure changes can be annoying and painful (think of small children who cry on the plane during a descent).
This situation is called EAR BAROTRAUMA. Planes can go up and down rapidly and you don't know at what elevation your ears "pop". If I am driving and know the altitude where this happens, I thought perhaps it might be helpful.
There are pilots and doctors here at WPS who could probably explain it better than I can. I flew a lot in my career, and I learned that pressurizing is underway when you reach 10,000 ft. A "ding" is sounded when pressurization is confirmed, and about that time is when the flight attendants generally say you are free to get up and move about the cabin.
(I was on a flight once sitting in row 1 or 2 when an alarm when off in the cockpit and we had to return to SAN because the pilot's window wasn't completely shut. Pilots were not happy. Then after it was slammed by the ground crew and signed off in the log, we took off again for ORD but ran into weather causing us to run low on fuel which meant we landed in Omaha, which wasn't good because they had no gate for us and our airline normally never lands there, and we had to buy fuel with the pilot's credit card ... but I digress.)
Drive in the Country, Part 1
Every year for the last 20 I have taken a drive (one or more) around our County, which is one of the largest in the United States at about 4200 square miles. Usually that's in the Lotus, but today we decided to head out of the house at 6 am when low tempe...
Thanks for coming along - it's different every time! Here are links other trips
First visit to Mt Palomar Second visit (snowy!) photos
That was a long-ish drive…
did your ears really stay plugged up for weeks after a flight?! That’s so uncomfortable. But i’m not clear on what you learned about your ear pressure from this drive, which I am curious to understand.🤔
It was just an experiment
Commercial airline flights maintain internal air pressure about equal to 6000-8000 foot elevation. If your Eustachian tubes don't ventilate well, like mine, altitude/pressure changes can be annoying and painful (think of small children who cry on the plan...
That must have been quite the credit card charge😳
Your pressure experiment makes sense now given a history with your eustachian tube. It can indeed be horribly uncomfortable with such a differential between the middle ear and outside.😣
Drive in the Country, Part 2
We stopped and stretched our legs near the top of the mountain, then noticed a house way above us. Wow. This is a mile high and temperature is down around 30 or lower, and we take a pass on the restroom (outhouse) here. In the distance looking eastward we...
Drive in the Country, Part 3 Finale
We left off part 2 after seeking a refreshment stop after llama land. At this point we turned West and headed down out of the mountains. This is near Dudley's, a famous bakery in this area - favored by hungry and thirsty travelers, motorcyclists, etc. And...
You’re welcome; here are your bonus pics!
Thanks for reading. Mike PS - my wife gets camel affection on an earlier trip ...
The Camel Dairy
It's near Ramona, going up towards Julian. Back some years ago you could even ride a camel; I don't know if they still offer that. The camel I'm on here was in Palm Springs. ...
That....
Right there is why we live in the prettiest state in the nation, and why I'll feel bittersweet in case I decide to leave it for socioeconomic reasons.... Great images, as always Mike, cheers, Filip
I’m glad it was illuminating
I hope the medical stuff wasn’t too distracting. It was the justification (or rationalizing) for making the trip today, but being out there is its own reward. Mike
Definitely not distracting since it gave me a sense of the elevations there.👍🏽
As an aside, I’ve never seen a farm or whatever you drove past there that had a camel! I’d expect them in dry, arid environments…not SD🤯🤣
The camel 🐪 wrangler served in North Africa
And became fond of his camels and brought a few to the states. They sell the milk which is very rich and has some health benefits in improving people deal with autism. ...
Wow, now that’s a heck of a story!
I’m glad I asked, otherwise I’d think that camels are normally found in parts of the U.S. But that is a cool sight that you share in the pics above.
I have enjoyed the drive:
It feels somehow better to address eye-popping pictures than ear-popping heights.
Really enjoyed
reading your road trips and looking at the pics. thanks for sharing. All the best D