CFO flyin

Update! All~ the WX forecasts look great for the fly-in this weekend (29-30 March). The 8th Annual CFO Furnace Creek Fly-In for Stargazing and Brunch is a go! Looking forward to seeing you there! Claudia & Chuck Ferguson

To register your plans to attend this flyin, please fill out the form below.

For those who have been patiently awaiting for the date for our 8th annual CFO Furnace Creek Weekend-Brunch Fly-In for Stargazing and Brunch, here is the info:

Primary date: Saturday, March 29/30 2007
Rain date: April 5th/6th

Note: in the past, we've had to use the rain date several times in the past (and for the recent SMX Fly-in for lunch), so be forewarned!!  Please check back with this website just before you leave for any last minute updates we may have for you.  If we have to go to our rain/wind dates, we'll notify you as quickly as we can after the decision is made and we will send out email notification.

Chuck and I are planning to make this a long weekend and will be flying to Furnace Creek early on Saturday and leaving on Monday.  If you've never been to Furnace Creek before, it's a great place to get away from it all and enjoy the fresh (usually warm) air. There's a great golf course (if you're into golf), swimming pool, museum of Death Valley, and if you like star gazing, bring your star charts and telescopes!  Death Valley has no "light pollution", so it's great fun to find constellations and other celestial objects.  (We'll have a half moon to look at.)  If you'd like to join us for the entire weekend, please feel welcome to do so.  We'll also be happy to see you if you fly in just for brunch.  Please let us know (in the signup form) if you're coming just for brunch or for the weekend!

Saturday Stargazing:
Those who are there for Saturday are invited to a star-gazing party at the Furnace Creek airport on Saturday night, preceded by a 6 o'clock dinner at the Wrangler Steak House restaurant at the Ranch.  If you've got a telescope, please bring it!  (The DeGroots, who normally bring theirs, will not be with us this year, so a telescope is needed!)  If you have a red filter for your flashlight, it will help.  You will also want to bring folding chairs.  We set up for our stargazing out at the airport at about 8:30 p.m., just after dark.  If you have not been out on a clear warm night at Furnace Creek before, you are in for an awe-filled experience.

Accommodations at Furnace Creek:
Please note before you start that we do NOT make any arrangements with Xanterra - they run the lodging - and they don't deal with groups as small as we are, so you are on your own as far as rooms are concerned. CFO does not get a discount, so if you call them, please don't ask for one.  They'll say "huh?"  Death Valley is a National Park, so they don’t need to give discounts.

OK, so much for the caveats.

You can reserve your room right on the web at www.furnacecreekresort.com Prices run about $175-$195/night at the Ranch. As of the mid-January, the Furnace Creek website indicated that there are not many rooms left at the Ranch for our fly-in weekend.  We didn't check the "rain/wind date".  If you like, there is also a campground, or you can splurge and stay up on the hill at the Furnace Creek Inn (# available rooms unknown).  This is their busy season, so we'd recommend that you make your reservations as early as you can.  If they are out of rooms when you check (hope not!), please keep checking back.  They do get cancellations.  Also, in the past, some folks who couldn't get a room at the Ranch have opted to stay up at Stovepipe Wells.  The rooms up there aren't fancy, but they are clean and a bit less expensive than the Ranch.  It's just a short hop from the Stovepipe airport to Furnace Creek.

Sunday Brunch:
If you come for Sunday only, please plan to land at Furnace Creek between 11:00 and 11:30.  Earlier is fine - we'll be there to meet you between 10:30 and 11:45.  The Furnace Creek courtesy van will provide transportation.  Brunch at the Inn will be scheduled for noon.  (If you land late, it's up to you to contact the van.)  The cost for brunch was about $30/person last year.  The food is fabulous - come hungry!

We look forward to seeing you at Furnace Creek again this year.

Claudia & Chuck Ferguson & N34147

Useful info from previous years:

The Inn Dining Room has a published dress code for suppertime: "Dress code is casual elegance.  Sorry no jeans (except after 8:30pm), shorts or tee-shirts."  However we have found that the dress code at the Inn Dining Room does permit shorts and jeans if they are in good taste.  In previous years there were quite a few who showed up in shorts/jeans and the Inn was just fine with that.  I think their point is that people should be clean and neat and not looking scruffy.  They like to keep up their image (and we don’t want folks to think ill of CFO either).

There are no businesses at the airport, but the Chevron station a half mile up the road will send somebody down to unlock the fuel tank if you call and ask.  Avgas there is expensive but IS available.  Usually it’s about $1/gal more than you’re used to paying.  We’ve never had a problem with them running out.

If you want to stay the weekend, but don't want to stay at the Ranch, there are accommodations on either end of the scale: a huge campground, trailer park (if you want to drive your motor home instead of flying) and the very upscale Inn.  There is also Stovepipe Wells, which is about 20+ miles north.  There is a modest motel with a few basic rooms there and an unattended airstrip.  In the past, some folks have been able to find a room there, and then fly down to Furnace Creek to meet with the rest of us.

Restaurants also run the gamut.  There is a coffee shop, a steak house, a hamburger snack bar at the golf course, and the dining room up at the Inn.  There are also limited groceries available in the gift store at the Ranch.  Plan to pay “resort prices”.

For those who like to golf, there's a very nice course there where they promise you'll get the “lowest score” you've ever had.  Of course, they can make this promise because they have the golf course with the lowest elevation in the world – minus 214 feet!  The scenery that time of year is wonderful and the roads are great for bicycling and hiking, so feel free to bring your bicycle or hiking gear.

Bring your star charts and/or telescopes for star gazing at night - no light pollution as there are no nearby cities.  If you don’t have a star chart and want one, they sell them at the Visitor Center gift shop.  There is a large pool at the Ranch, and a play area for children.  They also have a little museum at the ranch, and a bigger one at the Visitor Center nearby that are interesting to wander through.  If you're feeling adventurous, they also have horseback riding.

There is a courtesy (yep, it's still free!) van that will take you between the airport, the Ranch, and the Inn.  There is a phone in the public building at the Furnace Creek airport and you can call for the van to pick you up from there.  The walk to the Ranch is about three quarters of a mile and the Inn is another half mile beyond that.  You can also catch the van at the Ranch reception desk, and at the front of Inn.

In past years, the WX has been anything from 80 to 100 degrees during the daytime.  At night, it cools off some, and can get down into the 60’s.  By late March, it’s apt to be pretty warm, so you may want to think shorts and t-shirts, with a light jacket for night.  Do, however, check the web weather before you finish packing.  If you’re like us, we also think in terms of emergency procedures and usually bring extra wraps.

We hope to see you there!

Copyright Keith Peterson 2008