Christmas day, and it turns out I am missing a present that can only be found in Elko, Nevada. The skies are clear, but the temperatures are arctic-like! At Elko, the high will be around 5 degrees Fahrenheit for the day (-15 Celsius).

At Minden, it will be a balmy 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and I get into my Mooney after I spend about an hour getting ice off the wings, with Mountain Mike's help. We place the Mooney's tail facing the sun and this helps too.

I then fuel up and get into the plane, knowing well that starting the engine may be an adventure. I was right - we ended up needing to jump start the engine using the flooded procedure for Continentals, since I could not get it to start initially.

But finally, I'm off and the day is beautiful. I head Northeast to Derby to stay out of the F-16's target practice area, and then turn direct to Elko. A brisk Northeasterly breeze slows the Mooney down to around 165 knots groundspeed at 10,500 feet.

Pyramid Lake was half covered with low fog, and the scenery was fantastic. Visibility was probably 100 miles. As I flew past Derby, and near the restricted areas, the terrain became volcanic and Mars-like.

The landing was uneventful at Elko, where my passenger got off the plane to pick up our package - a jack russell puppy! Luckily the runway had been cleared for a small regional airliner, because along the way, all I saw were snowed-in airports. I did not dare turn off the plane's engine due to the extreme cold temperatures.

The return was quick, with a 30 knot tailwind, and just as beautiful.

Happy Holidays everybody!