After much research, I learn that the triangle covered by the direct route, I20 (Shreveport-Vicksburg and the Mississippi River is absolutely devoid of "full service" FBO's. There is no airport in this triangle where we can stop for lunch and gas. There may be some things to do in Baton Rouge, but it is only 40 minutes from New Orleans. But the only choices remaining are there from here or home from there over ground we have already covered.
A southerly route then, is the only alternative. I finally work out a route over Nacodoches, TX to lunch in De Ridder, LA and then over Lafayette, LA and into NO from the west. The return on Day 3 would go across Lake Ponchartrain to Baton Rouge and spend the night there, then back over Alexandria, Nachitoches and Longview to home on Day 4. But plans change.
The flight with Tamara has left about 3 hours gas in the bird and non-stop to De Ridder is 2:15. To make that, I will have to gas up the bird during the week before. Monday March 1 is the only day in the long range forecast supposed to be clear, but the winds are 12-15 directly out of the west. So flying off and on to north south runways will not be fun enough to justify a fuel run. Plan B, I guess.
Rusk County has cheap gas, and is only a little over an hour away. I also discover that Allen Parish has a courtesy car and reasonable gas. So the final version is to Rusk County for Gas then to Allen Parish for lunch. This leg will have a slight dogleg over De Ridder to avoid the restricted area around Polk AAFB. Through email, I had been assured by Joel that there would be food and transportation available at Oakdale, whether we arrived on Saturday or Sunday.
By Thursday, the long range forecast says that we will have good weather through next Wednesday. I call Millionaire at New Orleans Lakefront Airport and Dawn gladly makes rental car and motel reservations for us. Friday night we pack up planning to leave the house shortly after 8:00AM.
Day 1
After briefing and filing flight plans, we leave the house at 8:15. The temperature is climbing through the 50s, heading for mid 70s. The surface wind is calm to non existent. The winds aloft will be 270 to 300 degrees and 20-35. Nice tailwind for the whole trip. Preflight, load up, saddle up and taxi out. We are off just before 9:00. There are a few low clouds, typical of morning in this part of the world. They begin about 2000' and end about 2500'. Above them at 3500', the quantity of them and the amount of ground covered is very small. They will disappear completely before we get to Longview.
Very smooth with good visibility at 3500 all the way to the southeast side of Longview. We find Henderson, but there ain't no airport. We've been here before and it is just southwest of town. We circle south of town over the football stadium and see Kilgore in one end zone and Rangers in the other. We are over Kilgore, 12 miles north of Henderson. No harm, no foul. Turning south, we can easily see Henderson, now that we know where to look. We had used the wrong highway from Tyler for reference. Henderson Unicom reports winds from the north at 4, so we fly directly into the left downwind and in spite of some float, the landing isn't bad. Taxi to the pumps and get out.
Go to the facilities, chat with a couple in a 172 and some guys in a Seneca. Put 20 some odd gallons in and saddle up for the next leg. I had only filed flight plan for the leg to Henderson. The thinking was that I would have to contact Longview approach on takeoff from Rusk County, and I would request flight following to Oakdale. This would also help us stay clear of the Fort Polk restricted areas and provide warnings as we cross the Warrior MOAs (Military Operations Areas).
We climb towards 5500', and can see both Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn passing through 3500'. All we have to do is stay between them and pass over the west end of Toledo Bend before turning more easterly to Oakdale. This is another of those days where you cannot quite see forever, but you can see the last exit before it. I know from the briefing that we have a tail wind, but it is very smooth up here. Sandra does the crossword puzzle and takes a short nap.
Turning more easterly north of De Ridder, I ask Polk approach for a ground speed readout.
"Four Lima Bravo, we show 120 knots."
(Remember that number, it will become important later.)
North of Bundick Lake, I begin a slow descent towards Oakdale although I still haven't positively identified it. About this time, Sandra notices that the Alternator switch is off. We have been running on battery power since Henderson. Oops! I switch it on and the needle pegs then begins swinging between 20 and 40 amps. How had I missed that? It is on both of our mental checklists. I don't know what distracted us on startup when I should have turned it on, but the check is immediately after runup. I was seeing a slightly higher than normal mag drop during runup, so had repeated the mag check. Sandra asked if anything was wrong and explaining the situation, I dropped the rest of the check.
Oakdale Unicom reports 330 at 4, and when I positively identify the airport, I am still nearly 1500 feet above pattern altitude. We do a left 360 and swing into the normal 45 degree entry to the downwind with a Cirrus reporting inbound from 5 miles east. Only a little high on final, and the landing is decent. We taxi over near the fuel pumps and I let it run at fast idle for another minute while I watch the ammeter. It is still showing charge, but down to between 10-20 amps now, so we shut down as the Cirrus taxis in and parks on the far side of the ramp.
Climbing to 3500, we get Polk Approach and ask for flight following. As I am answering, a wasp crawls up on the glareshield and looks at us. I have a crumpled paper towel lying beside my seat that I use to wipe my hands before startup. I fish it out to use for capture if necessary. He takes off and flies to the rear, then comes back and lands on the windshield brace. He apparently is in some distress due to altitude as he is having trouble keeping his footing. Finally, he drops back onto the glareshield and crawls forward out of sight. We never saw him again and presume that an hour at 3500' did him in. With the early afternoon warming, 3500 is a little bumpier than the first 2 legs, but still quite smooth. Only occasional altitude excursions and some rolling. We pass over Lafayette and see a large array of helicopter pads with a couple of eggbeaters warming up.
We now turn east and are immediately over swamp. This leg is 102nm and with the tailwind should take about 45-50 minutes. The trip over the swamp takes about 20 minutes of it and soon we can see the Mississippi and Baton Rouge 15 miles to the north. Nearing St John the Baptist, we are handed over to New Orleans approach and cleared into the Class B. I keep waiting for the call to reduce our altitude from 3500, but it doesn't come. We are routed over the top of Louis Armstrong and as we are over the runway there, I ask about descent.
"Begin descent at your discretion, Four Lima Brave. I wanted to keep you up until you had passed the pattern at Louis Armstrong. Lakefront is 12 o'clock and 12 miles. Report Lakefront in sight."
"Figured as much approach. Four Lima Bravo has Lakefront in sight."
"Four Lima Bravo, contact Lakefront Tower on 119.9. Good Day"
"Four Lima Bravo to Lakefront on 119.9."
Now, remember that number I told you to remember? A 120 knot groundspeed is 2 nm/minute. 12 nm will take 6 minutes. Pattern altitude is 800' and we are starting from 3500'. Pattern airspeed is 80 knots and we are doing 105. The rule is that you can go down or slow down, but not both.
Then:
"Lakefront Tower, Musketeer Five Niner Four Lima Bravo, Good Afternoon."
"Uh, Musketeer Five Niner Four Lima Bravo, expect to pass over midfield to enter right downwind to 36 right."
"Four Lima Bravo will pass over midfield to enter right downwind for 36 right."
At least I can pass over at 1500' giving us a little more time to lose altitude.
"Four Lima Bravo, let's change those instructions, Make a wide left base to 36 right. We have a Citation over the lake on a long downwind to 36 left."
"Uh Four Lima Bravo to make left base for 36 right?"
"Affirmative, Four Lima Bravo"
Ponder this a bit.
"Lakefront tower, confirm that Four Lima Bravo is to cross the 36 Left approach path for landing on 36 right."
"Affirmative, Four Lima Bravo. You should be well past the approach path before the Citation turns his base."
Oh goody, now I have to be down to 500' to turn final. I edge to the right to give us a slightly longer final and pull the plug on the engine. At about 1200', I begin slowing down so I can drop some flaps. This slows the descent and we turn final still around 1000'. Add second notch of flaps and start a more rapid descent. This leaves us still a little high and above 90mph as we pass over Hangar 17. We will float forever, but we have 3700' of runway. We touch down long, but still make the turnoff on Juliet. Contacting Ground, I tell them we are going to Millionaire (FBO). They clear me to taxi down Charlie to runway 27, down 27 across 36 Left to Alpha, then to Millionaire.
A line guy guides us to a space and after a small problem with the mixture control, we shut down. It is exactly 3:00PM. Sandra grabs everything from the cockpit and heads for the office to set up the car. I write the times in, repack the flight bag and make the "Where's Waldo" picture. After giving instructions to the line guy, I go in. The car is arranged and another line boy will bring the car to the plane so we can unload. I ask about having someone look at the mixture control and the girl says that she will take care of it.
Sandra has picked up a map and many brochures, so after a pit stop, and a long drink of cold water (Our water bottles are nearly empty and no longer cold), we go back to the plane. Put the bags in the car trunk and head for town.
Driving in New Orleans is a totally new experience. The most obvious example is the dearth of left turns. You cannot turn left at many intersections, but there will (normally) be a place in the next block clearly marked as a U-turn. So you make a Uie, come back and turn right. The next example is that no street runs in the same direction for it's length. The "north-south" streets usually make a 45 degree bend left or right at some point and the "east west" streets generally follow the river. As they cross parish lines, the names and numbers change. Add to that, many street names would be unintelligible when pronounced by a local. Try to find "chopitous" on the street map.
Our motel is on Veterans Blvd, just off Williams. The directions say take I10 west, I610, I10 to Williams. OK, fine. We head out, miss the first turn to I10, find the next one and head west on I10. The Redhead is driving and I am frantically studying the map in view of the above considerations. Just past where I10 rejoins I610, traffic comes to a grinding halt. Quick search for alternate routes indicates that if we get off on the next exit (Bonnabel) and go north to the next major intersection, we can turn left there on Veterans. Other than the prohibited left turn, this works out well other than a minor tie up where Veterans crosses back to the south side of I10. The street numbers change 2 blocks before Williams and we do not see the motel. Make a Uie at Williams (perfectly legal Uie lane there) and back up Veterans See the motel tucked back behind a Sonic behind a big glass office building. Make the next (legal) Uie and head back. Miss the turn into the motel (Between the turn in for the office bldg. and the Sonic. Make the Uie at Williams again, make the next Uie past the Motel and take the middle entrance into the Motel lot. Phew, made it!
Check in, move in, and relax a bit while we peruse all the brochures we have picked up. The decision is to eat dinner in the French Quarter and see Bourbon Street on Saturday night. Get back into the little Corolla and head out. Down I10 into town. Take the first French Quarter exit and drive (slowly, very slowly) down Conti street dodging pedestrians and looking for parking. We park off Peters Street and set out walking Across the front of Jackson Square and then down to Royal. The foot traffic is such that we are walking in the street as much as on the sidewalks. We eat dinner at the Gumbo Shop (food was edible, but that is all). Back out and then to Bourbon Street. From here, we see 2/3rds of Bourbon Street, coming out on Canal. Back to Decatur, down to Jackson Square, and out on to the Levee. Back down the Levee to the old Jax Brewery (Now only shops and eateries) then to the car. We miss the entrance to I10 on Canal Street, But eventually get on it and back to the Motel.
Day 2
We sleep in until 8:00AM. After showers, etc, we leave the motel at 9:30 heading for the French Quarter again. This time, we take the Esplanade exit and go down to the French Market and park right across the wall from Cafe Du Monde. Cafe au Lait and beignets, yummy! We get a table and quickly a couple of new friends join us. After an hour of good food and good conversation, Sandra heads for the French Market to do some "shopping" while I go chill on the levee.
The map shows a "driving tour" which will apparently cover all the sights and neighborhoods of the city. It begins at the French Market on the east side of the Quarter, and ends on St Charles and Canal on the west side of the Quarter. That is our next objective. We bail the car out, exiting the lot at the end of Esplanade and the beginning of the route. Up Esplanade, past the fairgrounds to City park. Around the botanical Gardens and up the west side of the largest city park we have ever seen. Robert E Lee Blvd runs across the north side of the park and we take it west to Lakeshore Drive. We stop and walk along the shore for a while arguing with the pigeons and seagulls then continue on. We miss the turn south and finally come back out on Robert E Lee on the east side of the park. Back west again and out on the breakwater.
As we hadn't heard from Millionaire yet, I called them to check on our little bird. The girl said that he had looked at the problem and tried to call. She would call him and have him call us immediately. He quickly called back, but 2 tries couldn't establish a connection. I used the callback function and got him immediately. To fix the problem permanently and correctly, he needed a part. This is Sunday, so the possibility of locating parts today is limited. We discuss several possible sources and fixes which would get us home if we couldn't get the part.
Back on the tour, we pass a place to get to the Causeway. Sandra had always wanted to drive across it and we now have plenty of time, so why not? So, out onto the causeway we go. Almost to the other side, we both decide that we are exceedingly thirsty and could do with a bite to eat. We drive into Mandeville and find a restaurant on the lakefront. There, I had the best bowl of gumbo I have ever hung a lip over. Sandra said the Caesar Salad was good also, but I am not a rabbit, so I don't attempt to judge salads.
Our thirst and hunger appeased, we decide to walk along the lakeshore park. A mile and a half later, we come to the end of it. We stroll along the boat basin at the end of the park and start back. By the time we are halfway back, we realize that the sun and the glare from the lake is burning us very quickly.
Back at the car, we decide that we have driven the causeway, so there is no real need to go back that way. So we head east on the back roads, soon coming out on US90. We go into Slidell, LA and stop at a Target for some sunburn cream and an extra pair of slacks for Sandra, since we will be staying an extra day. Then back down I10 and pick up the driving tour near where we had left it. Exiting I610 on Canal Street, we go to Metairie Road, through the Cemetery and around the luxury homes at the Metairie Country Club. Then southeast on Palmetto to Carrolton Avenue. Down Carrolton to the river and back towards the French Quarter on St Charles Avenue. This takes us past Tulane University, Audubon Park and the Garden District.
By this time, it is nearly dark. In the dark and heavy traffic, the navigator misreads the map and we make a wrong turn. We are looking for Lee Circle as the D-Day museum is just off of it. We finally get there and have to go around twice as we are in the wrong lane to make the correct exit. We drive past the Museum (closed at 6:30PM) and stumble around in the convention area until we finally come back out on Canal street.
We decide that now, all we need is supper to call it a day. We decide that we had seen some restaurants in the Ponchartrain Blvd, Breakwater area and we head up Canal all the way to Robert E Lee. Doesn't it seem confusing that Lee Circle (with a large statue of Robert E. Lee) and Robert E Lee Blvd are on opposite sides of town? Sandra's choice is a nice little restaurant on the road from Ponchartrain Blvd to the Breakwater.
The Redhead has sworn that she will eat shrimp all four days we are on this trip, so she orders fried shrimp. I love Cajun food, but the etouffe last night was so bad and the gumbo this afternoon so good, I try something different. It is called Panned Chicken with Crawfish. It is chicken, sautéed in a coating similar to chicken marsala, topped with a cream sauce with crawfish. Simply delicious. Not being able to handle doggy bags, we stuff ourselves and head for the motel.
Day 3
Monday is again, clear and cool. The plan is Cemeteries, museums and plantations. That order is decided by locations in order to make a circle over as much new territory as possible.
Back down I10 to the cemeteries. Stop in Greenwood Cemetery and walk around making several pictures. I won't go into why cemeteries are attractions in New Orleans, look it up for yourself. Leaving the Cemetery on Canal Street, we head downtown to St Charles then to Lee Circle. Three quarters of the way around it and down one block to a parking lot between the D-Day Museum and the Confederate Museum.
D-Day Museum first. This place is fabulous! It does not contain oodles of artifacts, but does show a complete history of the allied invasions of WWII. Many photos and narratives I had never seen before. Among the most interesting items was a comparison of the scope of the Pacific landings with Normandy and the plans for the invasion of Japan. This invasion, had it been necessary would have been as large as Normandy and the pacific landings combined. It is certainly a blessing to all involved that it was not necessary.
While in the Museum, Rocco called. He was unable to get the part for the Mouse, but would be happy to show me what to do in order to fly home. I called Dave and got his assurance that this method would not be a risk. Leaving the Museum shortly after 2:00, we decide to skip the Confederate Museum and head for plantations. On down to Magazine Street, across the south side of the Garden District, up the west side on Louisiana. Louisiana becomes Toledano, becomes Washington, goes past Xavier University, becomes Palmetto and provides us access to Airline Drive. We now go by the south side of Metairie Country Club and head west to Williams Blvd where we turn south to LA48.
Eight miles down 48, we come to Destrehan Plantation. We are getting hungry and thirsty, but pass no place to stop along the way. The sign says they close at four, and it is now 3:10. We don't have time to find a place to eat. Just hope our tummies don't growl so loud we can't hear the docent.
The tour is as good as any plantation we have visited. The main house was started in 1787 and completed in 1790. It is typical of that location and period. Much period correct furniture is inside with some of the most outstanding cabinet work I have ever seen. After the tour and some individual walking around, we get back in the car. We can see the I310 bridge a mile upstream and there is a town just across the river. As we had not seen anyplace to eat on the way up, the best bet is to try there.
We cross the river and start back down river towards New Orleans. Luling is just barely a wide spot in the road. We continue on and soon are back on US90 paralleling the river. A place in Gretna looks promising enough that we take the next exit and come back. It is primarily a seafood market with nearly no menu and the smell is atrocious. Back in the car and soldier on.
We cross back into New Orleans on the Crescent City Bridge (US90). We have by now decided that we should head back for Lakefront as there is at least one more good restaurant there. We go back up I10 and then West End Blvd to Lakefront. We go to Acme Oyster Bar. Right on the Marina. We are seated looking out over the dock, being served by a terminally cute, super perky young thing named Ashlie. It is not very crowded yet as it is only about 6:30, so there is a lot of kidding around.
I decide to do the entire number. A half dozen oysters on the half shell, chicken and andouille gumbo and crawfish etouffe. I have had better gumbo (Yesterday afternoon for example) and better etouffe, but never at the same time in the same place. A large sailboat comes in and the occupants come into the restaurant. As we are finishing dinner, the service goes to pot. When Ashlie finally makes it back to take out dessert order she explained that the evening shift is one waitress short since the girl supposed to come on at 6 had called at 6:30 to report she had been in an accident. The manager was out on the floor waiting tables and the confusion is about over. We order dessert and eat it leisurely. Then pay (with a generous tip) and head back for the motel around 8:00.
Day 4
Tuesday is clear but windy. We check out and head for the airport about 8:30. Finding a bagel shop on West Esplanade (No connection to the Esplanade that runs across the east side of the French Market), we eat breakfast. Arriving at the airport we contact Rocco and he comes over to show me the problem and the temporary fix that will allow us to head for home. For all the time he spent talking to me and looking for a part, he refuses any pay. Airplane people are a different breed!
I preflight and check the fuel quantities. Going back in, I order fuel and call Flight service. The forecasts are good except that we will have a 20-30 knot headwind all the way. Oh, well. Our normal low and slow will be low and slower, but we have got all day.
Saddle up, start up, get ATIS, get clearance, get taxi instructions. We wait on the west side of 36 Left facing a beautiful Piaggio twin on the east side. He goes first and finally, we take off and are at 500' before we are over the water. Departure offers a left turn on course to Baton Rouge, but I decline in favor of a straight ahead course until we reach the north shore. It is so clear that we can see the north shoreline some 20 miles away. We climb to 3200' and level out, by now well within gliding range of the north shore. Just south of Ponchatoula, we turn more westerly and when handed over to Baton Rouge, advise that we will hold this course until we reach the Baton Rouge VOR and turn for Alexandria.
We drone on, the Mouse valiantly paddling upstream, over Baton Rouge and turn northwest. Handed over to Lafayette Approach, we continue. The air is slightly bumpy, requiring constant attention, but not more than annoying. We note a stratified band of smoke slightly above and to our left, but other than that, it is absolutely clear. Nearing Alexandria, the bottom of the smoke thickens and slowly gets down to our altitude. I climb to 4500 and advise Polk that the smoke plume makes VFR impossible below that altitude. They advise that there was a controlled burn last night just south of us and that plume is the result. The smoke ends abruptly about 20 miles from Alexandria and back to clear and a million.
The AEX VOR passes under us and the airport is off to the right. Forty more miles to Nachitoches. Their AWOS is reporting 330 at 14 and 35 in use. There being absolutely no traffic in the area, I enter on a right base and land. We park and go inside. Both courtesy cars are out, but one is expected back momentarily, so we relax in their gorgeous facility. When a car returns, we head downtown to Mama's Oyster House for a good lunch. Back to the airport and put another 20 gallons of gas in the bird and we are ready to go.
Saddle up, fire up and go. Pick up flight following from Polk Approach and head northwest into the teeth of the wind. By 2500', we can already see Toledo Bend to the west. Polk hands us off to Shreveport, which we can see 25 miles to our left. Soon Shreveport hands us to Longview East as we approach Carthage. Longview East hands us off to Longview West and as we come up on Lake Lavon, I cancel flight following, contact McKinney and begin our descent towards home. We take a long loop around Frisco and start our turn into the downwind for 35 over the Preston Road/US380 cloverleaf. Good stable approach and a real kisser of a landing. The perfect end of another enjoyable trip.
