March 16, 2003 - Oakland to Santa Rosa.
I had joined Alameda Aero Club the a week ago and was eager to make use of their (cheaper!) planes. So, the plan was to go to Monterey and spend the day there. Thunderstorm activity started late in the week and continued into the weekend. Sunday saw the tail end of the bad weather but it was still low clouds, ceilings between 3000 - 4500. Up over the ocean beach, it was clear and it seemed like the dark stuff was moving south-east quickly. I decided to go to Santa Rosa instead. Monterey trip needs better weather.
By the time we taxied on to the runway in 234JG, the scattered layer was quicky becoming even more scattered. The trip to STS was great. Unrestricted visibility, scattered clouds at 4500.
Got into santa rosa and had brunch at Manny's. Decent Food. Good OJ :). There was a light drizzle when we landed and by the time we were getting ready to leave, it turned into hail. It started pouring so we just sat in the plane on the ramp. I could see it was clear and sunny everywhere to the west and south west and the it looked like the rain cloud was moving away. Sure enough, the hail subsided and we left. On the return trip, We went over point reyes and flew down the coast. While I was looking out to see which hole in the clouds to drop through, Ruth was furiously snapping pictures. She realised that she loved to fly over the coast. The cloud layer over the coast was 2000 - 2500 scattered. SF Bay itself was clear and beautiful. We flew slightly north of the GG bridge and down into OAK.