Finally, by mid May, I could get back to the annual. We got it all done, blessed and signed off and combined check flight, BFR and lunch at Lancaster with Dave on May 26. Now that is done and the airplane is good for another year.
Sandra's checkup in mid May cleared her to fly again, but the doc said to stick to one hour flights unless she could get up and walk around in the plane. Yeah, right! First, we have to see how she handles getting in and out. So a $100 hamburger run is indicated. June 2 is a nice day and we decide on Grayson County as the destination. Word has it that there is a new cafe across the street from the ramp. Sandra had no trouble getting in, it was a nice short flight with a long taxi to the south end ramp. She also had no trouble getting out. If anything, it was easier than before the surgery. The cafe was interesting, but nothing to brag about. The flight home was smooth and uneventful.
The first trip with the "good as new" Redhead.
Sandra's aunt in Pontotoc, MS will celebrate her 91st birthday with a party on Sunday, June 12th, and Sandra wants to go. With the hour limit, it would make driving even more tedious than making many stops flying, so weather permitting, we will try to fly.
Flight planning, when limited to around an hour at a time, is a trying experience, but here we go. We flew into Pontotoc for the family reunion in 2003 and learned that there were no facilities available, so another choice is indicated. Tupelo is nearest and also is Elvis' birthplace, so that will give us a reason to go there. If we could fly 2-300 mile legs like before, it would have been a snap. Take off early, stop in eastern AR or just across the river for lunch and arrive early enough to see the Elvis stuff on Saturday. then drive over to Pontotoc Sunday AM for the party all afternoon. Having to make 3 stops rather than one would push arrival too late in the afternoon for any sightseeing, so we need plan B.
We have had Hot Springs, AR on our list for a long time, and we can make it there with one stop and still be in time for lunch on Friday, and it will leave another easy, one stop, flight to Tupelo for Saturday. She also wants to stop in Raymond, MS on the way home and visit Thelma and Terrell, so that determines our route home. Do the flight plans and wait on the weather.
By Thursday night, for the first time in nearly forever, the weather looks good for the entire 5 days. Friday morning, we are off by 9:30. We pick up Flight Following while climbing to 5500 and settle back for the 103nm leg to Idabel, OK. Nice landing there and Sandra stretches her legs while I go potty, munch a treat from the FBO stock and add a few gallons of gas to the Mouse. The right at 11:00, we are off to Hot Springs.
It is clear, but with the usual haze that infects Arkansas most of the time. We land and taxi in to the FBO just after noon. I put the Mouse to bed while Sandra checks out the rental and we are soon on our way to find lunch. We eat the usual fare at a McAllister's and start exploring.
We go south across the lake and along the back roads until we are past the dam. then back across the river and into town. We drive past the spas and bathhouses that made this town famous and up to the top of West Mountain. From the lookout there, you can see most of downtown and back around to the airport. If not for a hangar in the way, we could have seen our little bird. We did a short hike down the hiking trail and then went looking for the motel.
After checking in, cooling down and freshening up, it was time for dinner. I can't for the life of me remember where we ate, which tells you how memorable it was. But it kept us from starvation until the next morning.
Saturday morning, we are in the air before 9:30 for the rest stop at Clarksdale, MS. The Redhead was actually born in Clarksdale, but her family moved to Dallas when she was two, so she has no memories of it. It's major claim to fame is being the home of Morgan Freeman. Or for those who have flown in there this time of year, a crop duster beehive.
Due to a credit card machine malfunction, we don't get saddled up again until after 11:30, rolling on 17 with a crop duster positioning for takeoff on 35. That will get your attention! Take a deep breath, wipe my brow and back up to 5500 for the 90 miles to Tupelo. We taxi in about 12:30 and learn that there has been a problem with the rental car. We can only have it until Sunday morning, but they will let us have the FBO car Sunday and overnight until Monday. Not a problem, so I go back out to put the mouse to bed while Sandra brings the car around for the bags. I finish up and get all the bags out and lined up and wait. And wait. Finally, I go back in and out front. She can't figure out how to get this brand new Cadillac CTS started. It seems to be a couple of steps above our collective skill level. She finally concedes and goes back inside to inquire. She comes back out, gets in and starts it right up.
We drive through the gate to the plane and load up the bags, then head for town and lunch. All the way, we are marveling at the bells and whistles on this machine. It is definitely above our skill set and more car than our normal rental. The only reason we have it is that it was the only car available and we got it for the mid-size rate. There is a "quick start" guide in the glove box that will get a workout over the next few hours (It didn't have the answer to the start sequence).
We ate lunch at Charley Os and found the motel. After check-in and clean up, we head for Elvis' birthplace. We spent a couple of hours there looking at all the stuff and going through the gift shop. Now what to do with the rest of the day? Looking through the brochures we had picked up at the FBO and motel, there was a reenactment of a civil war battle this afternoon at a place north of town called Bryce's Crossing. Let us see just what that was all about.
We head north with the panel GPS showing us where we are, but have no idea how to tell it where we want to go. We do figure out some of the other features, get the AC set like we want, get the radio speakers balanced and, oh wow, find out about the cooled seats! We find the interpretative center and wander through that, then head for the battlefield proper. Not much to see there, so we head back to town on the back roads. Somehow, the seat on my side switched from cool to heat along the way and I got my buns nicely toasted before I figured out how to switch it back to cool.
The motel desk clerk recommended a restaurant up the street for dinner. It is Italian/Greek and we have pizza and baklava for dinner. Good! After dinner, Sandra hits the fitness center to walk and I sit around talking with some bikers doing the Natchez Trace.
All we have to do Sunday morning is get dressed, eat breakfast, put gas in the car, swap it out at the airport and head for Pontotoc. Simple, right? Well, first, the only waffle batter is blueberry and the finished product is awful. Next that sentient automobile exacts one final measure of embarrassment by not indicating how to open the gas door. No lip on the door, no release in the car, no mention in the quick start guide. The girl in the gas station finally figured it out for us.
We topped off the Caddy and drove on to the airport. While Sandra is taking care of the paperwork, I gave a tour of our bird to a young lady waiting on the instructor for her first lesson. Talk about enthusiasm, she had arrived an hour early. All that settled, we headed for Pontotoc.
Being more than a little early, we drove around town, out to the airport to see what had changed and then to the Wal-Mart for our contribution to the birthday dinner. Then to the party. It was well attended and a good time was had by all. Well fed, the party started breaking up around five and we headed back to Tupelo with snacks to eat for dinner.
Monday morning, we are off for Hawkins Field in Jackson before 10:00. At 130nm, this is the longest leg we will fly, but it has no ill effects on the Redhead. She checks out the rental car while I unload bags and button up the mouse. Then off to Raymond.
We arrived in time to get settled down and talk a while before lunch at the Manor. The food there was good as always and there were some people there we had seen before. Then an afternoon of catching up and general yakking. For the evening meal, we took them to The Olive Garden in Jackson, their favorite place. Then back to the manor for more yakking before we left around 8:00.
We checked into the Hampton in Clinton for the night, to discover that it had been severely damaged by a tornado in March. The whole south side including the patio and pool were closed off for repairs, but the fitness center was open, so Sandra did her walk and then to bed.
Tuesday morning we are on our way home. Off from Hawkins around 9:30 for our first stop at Ruston, LA. Ruston is a college town with a bustling flight school and a nice FBO. Sandra walks around some while a get some gas and go Potty. Then off for our lunch stop at Longview.
East Texas Tower gives us a right base entry and we hit a downdraft turning base to final. We are so low that Sandra asks about it just as I give it a lot more gas. Still made a good landing on 18 and taxi in to be greeted by our old friends at KRS. We love Longview. KRS is among the best independent FBOs we have ever dealt with. And the facility is outstanding.
We take the courtesy van into town for lunch and then sit around the FBO for a while before launching for home. Given the constraints, it has been a nice trip and Sandra has had no problems. Maybe the next trip we can make longer legs.
The long(est) hot summer.
It had been somewhat warmer than normal all spring, but now it gets hot for real! And dry! The north central Texas area is under moderate drought conditions and is an island of moderate in the sea of exceptional to extreme drought that covers the rest of the state. And then there is the heat. We miss the record for the most consecutive days over 100 by one day and then it goes over 100 again. we beat the record for most over 100 days by several days before it is over in mid September. By late August, the heat and drought have led to wildfires everywhere.
As a result, the poor mouse bakes in the hangar all summer. We get a cold front at Labor day and we have planned to visit with Glenn and Becky in Tyler for the weekend. The temps are high 80s to low 90s, but it will be windy. Tyler has 3 usable runways, so finding one with little crosswind is doable and the wind will be less on Monday, so we are go to fly. We take off Saturday on 35 into 030@15G25. Exciting, but not scary. Above 3000, it is only mildly bumpy, but the headwind component makes it a little slow. We get to Tyler and are told to report right base for 04 and by the way, the wind is 040@16G33. As we turn final, the tower updates us that it is now 050@16G33. Thanks a lot.
All right, 04 is 7200' and the FBO is at the far end anyway. Aim for touchdown beyond the stripes and fly the airplane. It wasn't a bad landing by any standard, but under those conditions, I was well pleased with it. Taxi over to Tyler Jet, shut down and call the Duncan's to come get us.
Then follows a relaxing weekend of yakking, cards and eating. Kerry and Retha Stanley come over Sunday afternoon for more yakking cards and food. All too soon, it is Monday afternoon and we have to leave. It is still windy, but well within what we are accustomed to. So the flight home is nearly routine.
The next Saturday is my birthday, so we have to go somewhere. It is finally narrowed down to Port Aransas. There is a motel there that caters to plane people with aviation themed rooms and some special amenities to those who fly in. So the plan is to leave Friday, spend Saturday doing next to nothing and come back Sunday.
Sandra is still only cleared for 2 hour legs, so Friday morning we take off with the new Austin Executive airport as a rest stop. After negotiating with Dallas Approach, we finally reach our cruising altitude of 4500' just south of town and drone on smoothly over Waco and Temple. With Georgetown off our right wing, we begin our descent into KEDC.
Talk about a nice airport! We taxi in under a "porch" that is big enough for a 737. we are under it with a biz jet, an Archer and a Mooney and there is room for more. We go inside to order fuel and take a break. Nice! Large spacious lobby with friendly people on the desk. Big nice bathrooms. All kinds of freebie snacks, water and coffee. Large kitchen, break area. What more could you ask for?
When we are ready to leave, the Mooney is still parked in front of us. The line boy assesses the situation and tells us to get in and he will push us back until we can start up and turn onto the ramp. After the backwards ride, we fire up and taxi nearly to Houston to get to the runway. Now comes the busy part. There have been large (Can you comprehend more than half a million acres?) wildfires that are still smoldering around Bastrop, with the obligatory TFR for water bombers directly in our path.
We contacted Austin Approach immediately after liftoff and are vectored to 090. after exchanging intentions, we are cleared to 5500 on 090 and told to report passing through 5000. When we report 5000, we are told to resume own navigation at or above 5000. That was simple enough!
Flying over the fire areas was sobering. Amongst the dark green of the scrub oak, cedar and mesquite are rivers of black where the wind blew the fires through. Clearings touched by these rivers are blackened with some wisps of smoke still rising in places from the burned out buildings. The smell of smoke is strong in the airplane. Flying south with a north wind, the haze from the smoke increases the further south we go.
Due to the easterly deviation, we pass nearly over the town of Bastrop and just west of Victoria and soon see the coast ahead of us. Rockport passes under the left wing as we begin our descent to Mustang Beach. We zig zag all around the swamps, trying to lose the rest of our altitude and speed while trying to decide on pattern entry. We finally enter a left downwind to 12 with the wind calm and set the mouse gently on the asphalt.
Taxi in to a parking spot on the ramp and shut down. Sandra heads for the facilities while I call Mary to get the particulars on the courtesy car supplied by the Motel. It is a red Subaru, and she gives me the license plate number as there are two nearly identical Subarus parked there. I go get it and drive it back to the plane and then go potty myself. We load up the bags and since there are no ropes in the tiedown rings, I chock the plane.
As I am getting back in the car I see a bag in the back seat, boldly labeled; "Tiedown ropes". Grab it, go back and tie the Mouse down properly. Now in to town for a late lunch. We located the motel, checked in and grabbed a light bite at a local cafe. Then, armed with large "to go" iced teas, headed for the beach. This is a truly nice public beach. Clean and only lightly populated at this time of year. It is still hot and bright, so shade for me is a requirement. The area under the pier furnishes a large area of it. We mess around at the beach for a while, then head back to the motel to freshen up for dinner.
We walked over to the Krazy Cajun for dinner. Typical beach eatery, butcher paper tablecloths, paper towels for napkins, etc.. It was good food and filled us up for the night. We took a different route back to the motel and wound up taking a "shortcut" across the high school athletic fields to get back to the motel. Saved walking another three blocks to get around the school complex.
Saturday morning, we feasted on the "breakfast" delivered to our door. The apple fritters were good, but the Bavarian Crème filled doughnut was superb! If I could get one of those every morning, I would weigh a ton!
Freshly fed, showered and dressed, we checked with the desk on the requirements for the courtesy car for the day. We are assured that the only possible need will be late this afternoon, so we can use it to our heart's content as long as they can reach us if the circumstances change. We head out to the local "supermarket" for lunch stuff. When we leave, our little softside cooler contains water, sandwiches and we have chips and cookies in a separate bag. we are ready for a day on the beach.
We stayed on the beach until mid afternoon. Sandra, who freckles and tans moving back and forth between the sun and shade, and me who burns and peels staying in the shade except for trips to the restrooms. It might not seem like an exciting birthday, but vegging out is sometimes a good thing. The lunch was good and we might have stayed a while longer except we were out of water.
Leaving the beach, we went over to the Sonic for large ice teas and then back to the motel. We sat around the pool for a while and then prepared for dinner. About 7:00, we walked over to Beaches, considerably more upscale than The Krazy Cajun. It was a nice dinner and Sandra purchased a couple of sweets from their bakery to go for later. Then we walked back to the motel around 8:30. We sat around the pool, chatting with other folks as they came and went during the evening and ate the sweets as my "birthday cake" around 10. What a nice, no pressure, relaxing birthday this has been.
Sunday morning and it is time to leave. We goof around a little with breakfast and packing, then check out. There is a party of three that also need a ride to the airport, so we stuff them and their bags in the Subaru and head out. Out at the airport, we unstuff and they take their bags to a pretty Diamond while I load up and preflight. Sandra takes the car over to the gas station to fill it up while I wait for them to clear the gas pump. after filling the plane and making one last potty stop. we saddle up.
It is a reasonably smooth easy flight back to Austin Executive for a break and then on to home. The second leg is increasingly bumpy and I really earned my pay for that two hours. But we made it and after stopping for a late lunch, we got home around three.
I had been noticing that the vacuum reading was getting lower and lower. During runup at EDC, it was barely in the green at 1500rpm. On Monday, I picked up new filters and installed them. a small improvement, but still just barely in the green at 1500. So down to Aeromark for a consult. We have a big trip planned for BACFest 2011, and I don't want it to quit in the middle of that.
Conventional wisdom is that vacuum pumps fail catastrophically, not gradually. None of the old heads at the airport really think that changing the pump will cure the problem until I mention that this pump has at least 800 hours on it. When Mark gets it off, it looks OK, but when he spins it the vanes disintegrate immediately.
The new pump is in and ready for test flight on the 22nd, so I go out to check it out. It works just fine. Vacuum is in the green at idle and near regulator cutout at 1500. Take it around the pattern and all is ready for the BACFest trip.
BACFest 2011. Brrrrr.
BACFest 2011 is set for Ithaca, NY, Sep 29 to Oct 1, and we have mapped out an ambitious itinerary. We plan to make Niagara Falls, BACFest, and then the rest of the northeast states, including the Hudson River flight. The weather forecasts are looking reasonable, so I order the sectionals and do up the rest of the detail planning. We plan to leave home on the 26th and return about October 6.
The sectionals arrive in the mail on the 24th concurrent with the utter deterioration of the weather forecasts. Massive revisions in the plans are necessary. We will fly commercial to Buffalo, arriving mid afternoon Wednesday. We will depart Buffalo late Monday afternoon for home.
Up at o'dark thirty, pack and head for DFW. Leave the car in the long term lot and catch the shuttle to the terminal. Check in and wait. Board the aluminum tube and hop to Atlanta. Find the departure gate and grab a quick lunch. Board another aluminum tube and hop to Buffalo. The weather was pretty in Dallas and not quite so pretty in Atlanta. In Buffalo, it is gawdaful. I pick up the bags while Sandra gets the car. It is a brand new Chrysler 200 sedan with less than 20 miles on it. Sweet!
We leave the airport under leaden skies and head for the thruway. By the time we are through the tollbooth, it is raining. We pass thru mizzle, rain, biblical torrents back to mizzle and repeat. This is not a day for sightseeing. We exit the turnpike at Seneca falls and start looking for a place to spend the night. Guess what, there are no Motels to be found here. We do find a B&B with a vacancy and settle in for the night. The host recommends a restaurant in town for dinner that turns out to be excellent, so we are set for the night.
Thursday morning we leisurely indulge in a fantastic breakfast and hit the road. The scenic route leads down the west side of Cayuga Lake with a few detours for sightseeing. We went up the hill to the scenic overlook at Taughannock Falls. It is a high waterfall into a very rugged gorge. Very pretty, even on this grey day. Then we stopped at a park on the lake where we hiked back into the falls at river level. Very impressive!
After checking in, schlepping the bags to our room and unpacking, it is time for us to find a lunch bite. Sandra and Denni Cote have found a place south of town on Elmira road they want to go to. Pile into the Cote SUV and head out.
The place is on the side of a hill, overlooking a nice valley and the decor is rustic. The only thing on the menu that appeals to me is a pulled pork sandwich with their "special" barbeque sauce. I should have known better. The "sauce" looks and tastes like French salad dressing. It didn't taste awful, but it was definitely not barbeque as Texas defines it. I ate it anyway.
Back to the motel to sit around and gab, welcoming new arrivals and preparing for the evening reception. By reception time, we have a good crowd. With the substantial appetizers and late lunch, only a few went looking for dinner.
Friday morning, the breakfast area is taken over by a bunch of airplane nuts. Around nine, Sandra, Denni and Chris Koch gather up the women for sightseeing and shopping while the men head for the airport. We walk the line, drooling over the planes that managed to fly in, greeting and setting up several new arrivals. After a lunch of pizza, we had several presentations in the firehouse conference room. About three, we broke up and headed back to the motel.
I checked my phone for messages and there was one from Gary Mascelli. They had decided to fly up Friday afternoon as the weather was good and Sunday looked doable. From the time on the message, they would be arriving about now. I quickly rounded up a ride back to the airport with Tom Corcoran to greet them and provide transportation if needed. When we got to the airport, Zero Eight Romeo was sitting pretty on the ramp and Gary and Mary were nowhere to be seen. I called Gary and they were just driving off the ramp. they swung into the FBO parking lot and jumped out for hugs, handshakes and introductions.
After a brief chat, we pile back into cars for the short drive back to the motel. There is now a steady stream at the desk and by Happy Hour, there are more than 50 people in the room. After a couple of drinks and some light munchies, around a dozen of us hoof it over to the neighboring shopping center for a late dinner at Rose's.
Saturday morning, the girls bug out to the local stuff and the guys gab while the Director's meeting takes place. We then have the members meeting during lunch and everyone sits around gabbing all afternoon until time to get ready for the banquet. The food was good, and thanks to a few early drinks, the speaker was tolerable for a while. After it was over, a group adjourned to the bar and tried to make the bartender's college fund fatter. All in all, it had been a good BACFest.
Sunday morning is the usual breakfast and goodbyes. It is cold and spitting rain as we leave around ten. We take the scenic route back to Buffalo. Over to Watkins Glen, up the west side of Seneca Lake to Geneva and across on US20. We then navigated successfully through Buffalo and up to Niagara. We saw a few glimpses of sun around Geneva, but mostly, it has stayed gray and cold.
We ate lunch at a local pizza place on the south side of Niagara. There were four large screens showing the Buffalo game and one small one showing the Dallas Game. There was a table under it with guys wearing Cowboy jerseys. We felt almost at home.
We quickly found room at the Hampton Inn and settled in to rest up for dinner. The girl at the desk recommended the Red Coach Inn for dinner and it proved to be an excellent choice. After dinner, Sandra hit the fitness center for her walk while I just messed around.
We have to check in at the airport at 2:00 so it is time to end our sightseeing. Back into Buffalo and look for lunch and a gas station near the airport. With us and the car full, we go check in. Seemingly interminable wait, stuff aluminum tube and take off to Atlanta. It is mostly overcast in Buffalo, but as we go south, the clouds begin breaking up until we land in Atlanta in scattered clouds.
We finally get back to Dallas around 11:00. By the time we collect bags, get to parking, negotiate the construction to get back on LBJ and stop to eat at IHOP, we are home about 1:00AM. Another BACFest attended. This makes four, two flying the Mouse, one driving and one flying commercial. Next year will be in Gulf Shores, AL. Maybe we can fly to that one.
More of the same.
We plan 3 more trips before Thanksgiving; a BAC Fly in at Sikeston, MO, The Big Omelet in Abbeville, LA and a trip to San Antonio to watch Ginny Swearingen run in a marathon. Two weeks after BACFest, Sandra comes down with a head cold. The next week it is my turn and the trip to Missouri that weekend gets scratched. Then the weather goes to pot and Abbeville gets scratched for the third time. The weather continues bad and we drive to San Antonio to spend a weekend with the Swearingens. So much for adding any time to the by now, anemic, 2011 total.
On Thanksgiving, I'm not feeling well. Like I might have an ear infection on the left side. Friday, I feel worse. My left shoulder is aching like I slept wrong on it and the left side of my neck and head are very sensitive. By Saturday, the symptoms are worse and I now have a rash on my left shoulder, extending up the back of my neck into the hairline. Sunday morning, I head for Prima Care to get an expert diagnosis. Sandra was right, it is shingles.
Friends, this malady is no fun! The rash is a form of Chickenpox. The skin sensitivity is due to nerve irritation. And the pain receptor nerves also go haywire, causing the sensation of muscle and/or bone pain that is not really there. Treatment includes anti-virals, anti-inflammatories and serious pain-killers. After ten days, I am back down to OTC pain-killer/anti-inflammatory pills and think I may actually survive this. By Christmas, I am down to some lingering skin sensitivity and itchy, scaly skin in the area of the rash. It is time to think about flying again.
On Christmas, it looks like Friday and Saturday will be decent, so we start looking for a place to go. I have slipped out of currency on December 11, so plans will have to work around that. In other words, we will have to wait until the morning temperature gets out of the 40s (No heat in the hangar, and no heater on the engine and three months of sitting in those conditions. ), do my three trips around the pattern then take off for our intended destination. We finally decided on Fredericksburg and told the Hangar Hotel to expect us between 3 and 5.
We ate a brunch at 11:00 and headed for the airport. The plan was to preflight, taxi down to the pumps and get gas. Then Sandra would go for a little walk while I got current and then head south. Best laid plans and all that, right?
Sandra cleaned the windows while I did pre-flight. Load bags and close up the hangar. The battery just barely got it started after the long layoff with lots of cold temps. But we have jumped it off at the hangar, got fuel and still restarted before, so head for the fuel farm. Slowly to get as much charge back into the battery as possible. Bring the tanks up to about 50 gallons and Sandra heads off while I am getting the hoses, etc put away.
I saddle up and hit the starter. Nothing! It will just barely turn over. Now what? Sandra is out of sight on her walk. I get my cell phone and call her. Her walk is now back to the hangar to get the car so we can jump the battery. While sitting there waiting, I figure out the next steps. When we get it started, I will go do my thing while she puts the car back and waits around the hangar. When I am current again, I will come back to the hangar and we will wait about 20 minutes and try the starter. If it seems normal, we will head south. Else put it back and go get a new battery.
We like to never got it started with the funky post arrangements on my car and the cheap jumper cables. Just as I was about to give up, it fired up. Put away the jumpers and close the baggage door and Sandra is off to the hangar and I head for the runup area for 35. The patterns are a little ragged, but the landings are acceptable, so taxi back to the hangar and shut down. I clean up the baggage compartment and take a break.
After about 20 minutes, I tell her that if it starts and I give her a thumbs up, close the hangar and we will be on the way. Lo, and behold, it sounds normal and fires right up. Sandra clambers in and belts up and we are on our way. We take off and pick up flight following on the downwind. We are immediately cleared into the Bravo, but given a heading of 260 at or below 3500. Almost to Denton, we are given 270 until Dallas Motor Speedway. Over Meacham, we are cleared to 4500 and we can settle back to cruise flight. It is a nice flight, reasonably smooth with good visibility as we are handed off to Waco, Gray and finally Houston Center.
Thanks to a little tailwind, we are averaging 120 knots on this flight. By 3:45, we are entering the pattern at Gillespie County. The landing with an 80 degree crosswind gusting around 12 knots was ugly, but not really scary. We taxi in and swing the Mouse around so we can push it into an empty tiedown right in front of the Hangar Hotel. We push it into the space and she goes in to register while I tie it down and gather the bags. I get into the lobby just as she finishes and we head for the room.
After unpacking, we join the rotating gang of people sitting out front watching planes arrive and depart. We all sit around, swapping tales and howdying new arrivals. Soon, the sun gets low and it starts cooling off and we all depart the porch. Sandra and I go to the room to decide on supper plans and call a cab. The cab (at our request) lets us out in the center of town and we walk south/east along main street until we come to the Rathskellar. Pretty nice dinner in a decent atmosphere.
After dinner, we continue as far as the Nimitz Museum, then cross the street and walk back to the far side of the Courthouse square. There we cross the street and walk through the City Park which still has all of the Christmas decorations on display. Then we cross the street and call for a cab back to the airport. After calling a second time and then calling a different cab company, we finally get a cab back to the airport. It is still early, and we hit the Officer's Club for a drink, along with a number of the people we had been talking with during the afternoon. We sit around talking and listening to the blind pianist until he is done for the night. When he wakes up his seeing eye dog and leaves, it is time for the party to break up.
Saturday morning, we finally pry ourselves out of bed, shower, dress and pack up. We strolled over to the diner for a great breakfast. After some more gabbing with new friends, we take the bags out to the plane and Sandra goes back in to check out while I preflight and get gas. The Mouse fires right up for the trip to the gas pumps and after gassing up, we saddle up. No trouble restarting, and we are off the ground at 11:20.
The air is incredibly smooth this morning and we have a tailwind again. I am hands in lap during climb on course after picking up Flight Following and we just sit back and enjoy. Back through Houston to Gray to Waco to Dallas Approach we drone. We are brought down to 3500 entering Dallas Bravo, then to 2500 approaching Love Field. We get a nice head on view of a 737 at 3 o'clock as he passes above and behind us passing over Addison. From there into the downwind at Aero country and this trip is nearly over. The landing has only a slight skip and we are home.
It has not been a good year for flying. We only have 34 hours for the year. That is not good. Hopefully, we can do better in 2012.
Note: on Dec 13, my computer died. As far as the Journal is concerned, I only lost the pictures from this year and the part of this chapter I already had written. That is the reason there are no Where's Waldo pictures from the Mississippi trip
