Chapter 40 Winter '05

Going to South Padre!
We have had a trip to South Padre Island on our wish list since we started this. We have no desire to go during Spring Break, nor during the summer heat. But this year, Sandra gets an entire week for Thanksgiving, so that trip goes in the plan. Sandra has a Special Olympics Volleyball tournament on Saturday and we have Family Thanksgiving in Canton of Thursday, so the plan is to leave Sunday and return Tuesday.
 
All week, the long range forecasts are good and getting better for Dallas, but south Texas is a different story. There is a tropical disturbance in the Caribbean moving west towards Honduras with the northern edge of the rain shield possibly getting that far north. There is a front that will come through here on Saturday but should clear by Sunday morning. But with the moisture from the disturbance over South Texas, the tail of that front might add to the possibility of clouds and rain. Thursday, we develop Plan B: A trip to Alpine, Texas and the Davis Mountains.
 
The weather Saturday rules Alpine out. It will be cold there Sunday behind the front and another front will make it cold and possibly cloudy again on Tuesday. Port Isabel will have rain on Sunday morning not clearing until after dark, but 3 good days following. We decide to postpone departure until Monday morning even though it will not give Sandra a day for cooking before Thursday.
 
We get up Sunday morning with no plans for going anywhere today. When I check the weather at 8:00, the clearing has progressed as far as San Antonio to Victoria and moving fast with a stiff north wind. The forecast at Brownsville says clearing before dark. Ummm, How late can we leave and still arrive before dark? I arbitrarily set noon as the deadline with the decision point at 10:00. At 10:00, the weather is following the forecasts, so the decision is go.
 
Dress, pack, etc and we are airborne just before 12:00. We must get gas first, so we head for Mesquite. Taxi up to the pumps and fill the tanks. Last potty stop and quickly back into the air. Pick up flight following and head for Lockhart with a brisk tail wind. I set Nav1 for Centex and the indication does not agree with our current position. Nav2 does, so we abandon Nav1 and sail on. Gray Approach gives our ground speed as 120 knots as fly along in clear smooth air.
 
Past Austin, we find Lockhart, but cannot locate the airport. Austin tells us 12 o'clock and 3 miles when Sandra spots it. A slow 360 to get down to pattern altitude and set up a landing into a gusty 20 knot wind. The wind dies off just as we are about to touchdown, depositing us firmly on the tarmac. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! We replace fillings as we taxi in to the pumps.

Sandra gets out and heads for the FBO. I write down the time and get out and head for the potty. When I come back out, the Line guy and crew from an Archer are pulling the Mouse away from the pump. Then they pull the Archer up. Oh well, we weren't in that big a hurry. When they finish, I push the Mouse back and add less than 20 gallons. Back inside to wash hands and get another swallow of water and back out. A man and woman have driven up on a motorcycle and are admiring the Mouse. We talk for a few minutes and then climb back in.

Second hot start of the day goes easily and we taxi out. The next leg is 128 miles of nothing to the Alice VOR. Having only one reliable VOR, and not caring if I get somewhat east of course, we go mostly by pilotage. The tailwind has a westerly component in it and we fly between Goliad County airport and the town of Goliad, then just west of Sinton. Although we are above the Corpus Class C, we angle a little south west, approaching Kingsville almost from the north.
 
The big double X of the Kingsville NAS stands out as we approach. Soon, we can make out the ramp with 3 rows of planes parked neatly on it. The center row is all white planes and the 2 outer rows are all dark. That is odd. As we pass almost overhead, I realize that the rows are parked at an angle and we were seeing the sunny side of the center row and the shadow side of the other two. The planes are all white!
 
We cross over I77 and parallel it until it turns directly south. We are now angling slightly east and the highway gets slowly further away. By the time we pass Port Mansfield, we are closer to it than to the highway. By now, we are talking to Valley Approach and request a slow descent. Shortly after pulling power back to 2100, I look off in the distance and am looking right down 13-31 at PIL. I tell Valley that if that is Cameron County at 12 and about 15 miles, I have the airport in sight. They reply that's it and release us to VFR.
 
It is about 5 minutes to 5 and the FBO "closes" at 5. So I call Unicom. When he answers, I identify us and he says he will wait on us. We fly straight into the downwind for 31. I execute another top 5 landing and we taxi up to an old hangar. The line guy is waiting and guides us into a tiedown and we shut down. While he and Sandra are talking, I write down the times, 443nm with 2 stops and 4.5 hours on the Hobbs.
 

We are in the minivan, headed for the Island as the sun sinks below the horizon. We find the La Copa and negotiate a $59 rate (plus taxes) for 2 nights as well as a suggestion for dinner. We tote the stuff to the room and relax a minute. We didn't have a real lunch, relying on in flight snacks, so hunger quickly overtakes us. We head out for Captain Jack's.
 
Sandra's shrimp looked delicious, but I ordered fried scallops. I used to love scallops, but the last few times I have ordered them I have regretted it. I ate them, but mostly because I was starving. Wish I had ordered the shrimp!
 
As usual, we had forgot something. Sandra had no sleep shirt. We had planned a quick run back to the Wal-mart in Port Isabel after dinner, but there was a beach attire store right across the street with a big sign advertising T shirts, so we walk over. That task accomplished, we are back in the room in time to locate ABC and watch Desperate Housewives.
 
During the night, the cell phone battery went dead, reminding Sandra what else we had forgotten. Ah, well, go get a charger tomorrow.
 
Monday morning, we arise at 8 and leisurely get dressed and go to breakfast. The motel serves good waffles and Sandra finds fruit and bagels and toast. I take my third cup of coffee and go out on the pool deck while Sandra calls about dolphin tours. When she joins me, we stroll up the beach about a half mile and back. We sit at the end of the boardwalk and watch an oil rig being towed through the pass and out into the Gulf.
The tour starts at 1:30 so we have time to pursue other interests. First across the bridge and to Wal-mart for a cell phone charger. Plugged into the car jack, the phone is now charging. Back to the island and north out of town. When it is obvious the road is giving out, we park and walk out onto the beach for a while. Then back into town and out onto the south point where the Redhead takes off her shoes and wades in the surf.
A little after noon, we find a sandwich shop in town and grab a bite, then to the tour docks. Signup, pay up and get a bottle of water and wait for boarding call. The boat is The Getaway, we all file on, stopping to pose for the picture that they will try to sell us for some high price when we return. We make jokes about them making the pictures so they can identify the bodies and find seats.
 
Getting out of the cramped boat basin is a trick. I swear that at times, we were less than two feet from other boats as we ootched around and wiggled out into the bay. A couple of dolphins picked us up as we went by the Coast Guard station and escorted us out to the pass. When you see pictures of dolphins escorting a boat, be aware of just how difficult it is to get that picture with a normal camera. They are visible only for the instant they breach under the bow to breathe. Even standing on the bow with the camera ready, by the time I could react, they were below the surface again.
 
Out into the gulf, we piddled around for nearly an hour chasing two pods of them. I did manage to get two good pictures before we went back in and up the channel to South bay. They let out a "try" net and scooped up an assortment of local bay life; a small ray, some shiners, and a couple of small shrimp.
 
After wiggling back into the berth, we disembark and laugh at the picture posted on the board. It seems like there is nothing left now but a ride in the country, so we head for Harlingen. We drive through San Benito on the business route and into Harlingen, across town to I77 and towards Brownsville. We are navigating by the seat of our pants, so we stop at the Visitor Center in Brownsville for a map. It enables us to navigate a little more intelligently through town and back to the road to Port Isabel. Back to the La Copa to decide on dinner.
We finally decide on Pirates Landing in Port Isabel. Back across the bridge for the third time today for a fine dinner. A quick stroll around the lighthouse to let dinner settle and back to the room around 8:30. It has been a lovely day. No clouds, light wind and upper 70s. Couldn't ask for better. But the forecast says possible low clouds in the morning burning off by mid morning.
 
Up at seven, the small patch of sky we can see past the building next door is clear. Shower, dress, pack and eat breakfast. After checkout, we go outside to load the car and there isn't a cloud to be seen and the winds are light. Drive to the airport and prepare to leave. Load the plane and order fuel. Preflight and briefing and we are ready for the trip home. The winds aloft will be primarily westerly at 10-15 knots, no significant impact on our proposed route.
 
We are off about 9:30, picking up flight following from Valley Approach as we climb to 4500'. The air is smooth and visibility excellent. Navigation is simple, just keep Laguna Madre on the right side. We fly up the coast past Port Mansfield and over the nothingness that stretches the rest of the way to Corpus Christi. We see fishing camps and sand dunes, boats and barges in the bay and ships and oil rigs out in the gulf.
 
Soon we approach Baffin Bay. I intend to cross the neck of the bay and ease onto V163 to cross Corpus. Abeam Waldron NOLF, we are on the airway and headed over downtown Corpus. We pass over the harbor and the aircraft carrier as a large ship is crossing the bay and about to enter the port area. We pass just west of Taft and turn slightly to the right. I77 runs NE from Sinton through Refugio and after about 15 more miles, turns north to Victoria. We plan to cross it over Refugio and then again just south of Victoria. This works out well and as we approach the town, we can easily identify the airport off the far northeast side of town.

Closing flight following, we find a Beech doing pattern work on 30R. I announce that we will enter a left base for 3L and by the way, what kind of Beech is that? He replies that it is a Musketeer also. We see him turn final to 30 Right as we turn a longer final to 30 Left. I hold a little more altitude on final as there is an industrial park that runs almost to the threshold. Dropping it in like that makes a little firmer landing than I like, but it will do.

We taxi in and shut down where the line guy indicates and pile out. When I come back out from the bathroom, there is a nice Bonanza parked next to me and Sandra remarks that it is painted in Miami Dolphins colors. I go out to check and order fuel and start a conversation with the Bonanza pilot. He acknowledges that they are indeed Dolphin colors and shows me the valve covers are also in those colors. Back inside, he says that his mother was a huge Don Shula fan and she insisted on those colors.
 
The Feedlot Restaurant is closed until Dec 5, so we make arrangements for a ride into town for lunch. We are delivered to a Mexican restaurant where the menu is large and the food is excellent. Well fed, Sandra calls for the ride back while I pay the bill.
 
Back at the airport, we relax a minute and then saddle up for the 260nm trip home. Straight out on 30L and then turn north. By Hallettsville, we are on course in slightly bumpy but clear air at 4500. The westerly wind promotes a fairly large crab angle to maintain our course, but we proceed on across I10, west of La Grange, west of Giddings, over Lexington and Rockdale. I sight down the hinge line on the cowling and then at the next landmark. The crab angle is about 30 degrees, but we seem to be making good time.
 
Over Cameron and Rosebud, west of Marlin, Across the west edge of the expanded boundary of P49. It is normal size for now, but the President is expected this evening and it will go to full size at 1800. On to the north, east of Hillsboro, easing slightly east, over Italy and into DFW airspace. Approaching Dallas Executive, we descend to 3000 and continue north over Love Field and then over Addison. Wind is calm, so we ease into the downwind at Aero Country and make another acceptable landing.
 
The end of another good trip in our Magic Carpet.
 
What we learned this trip.

Flying is a continuing learning experience. Sometimes the lessons are subtle and sometimes they are obvious. This time, we learned an obvious lesson.
 
On the way to the airport Sunday morning, I remembered that I had not plotted the course lines on the sectionals. I normally put this off until I am sure of the trip so I don't clutter the sectionals with lines for trips not taken. My mantra as I back out of the driveway is, "well if we don't have it now, we will either do without or buy it when we need it.".
 
How hard can this be? Our navigation is normally exemplary. We have Centex VOR to Lockhart, Alice VOR to Harlingen VOR to Cameron County. I plan to follow the coast back to Corpus and then VOR to Victoria. But this VOR to VOR plan is normally modified by our desire to fly a straighter route and use the VORs as backup.

The first fly in the ointment is the discovery that NAV1 is way off. This means that I cannot easily go outbound from one VOR until the other nav sees the next one. Chasing the "correct" radial to Centex put us off course before I figured out that the indicator was in error. The problem finding the airport at Lockhart was more due to it being hidden among a bunch of industrial buildings, so that was no problem. We'll just be more careful next leg.
 
Lockhart is 30 miles south of the Centex VOR, Nav2 is a little weaker than Nav1, so we lost it about 20 miles south of Lockhart. Not truly meaningful, as without the lines on the sectional, we didn't have the correct outbound radial anyway. This leaves at least 50 miles before we can hope to pick up Alice. Alice is on the Brownsville Sectional, and Lockhart is on the north edge of the south panel of the San Antonio sectional. With no course line from Lockhart, we flew by guess. The raw course from the Nav Log was 190, and with wind forecast correction, 193.
 
The westerly component in our tailwind was moving us east without us having any way to determine how far east. We know where we are when we pass over Yorktown, but still have no handle on our drift. Eyeballing a line on the sectional at this point does little as there are precious few landmarks to work from. We pass between Goliad and their airport (about 12 miles apart) and I crank in a little more right crab. At this point, there is no reason to make Alice a waypoint as we are well east of it. We will try to proceed due south and make adjustments as necessary when we have identified Sinton which appears on both San Antonio and Brownsville. We do manage to pass west of Sinton and can now eyeball a line from our present position to Port Isabel with no difficulty.
 
On the return trip, we have the same problem from Corpus to Victoria. The Corpus VOR is on the Brownsville sectional and without the line from there to VCT, we don't know where we should be relative to the more prominent landmarks there. We find VCT with no problems, but it is pretty much all pilotage.
 
The final leg home is easier. VCT lies just 3 miles east of 97 degrees west. 97 degrees west goes just east of DFW. All we have to do is use it as a course line and begin easing east when we have the Dallas area in sight.
If I ever leave home again without the course lines drawn in, I will do them the first time I can lay the sectionals out. Our pilotage skills are good, but the lines make them better.
 
Thanksgiving.

For 4 years, we have been waiting for a chance to fly to Canton for a family gathering. This looks like our chance. It is supposed to be cool and cloudy, but the clouds are very high. Like above 10,000'. And we only have a few items (mostly food) to take with us.
 
In spite of the previous lesson learned, I don't even make a nav log. This will be simple. We have flown over the airport several times as well as seeing it from the ground. I20 passes about 1000' from the south end of the runway. We will get gas at Mesquite, and we can easily follow I20 from there.
 
Flight to Mesquite is uneventful. We land on 35 and taxi to the self serve pumps. An RV that landed in front of us is filling up, so we pull up behind him and shut down. He will be there a while, so I hike to the FBO to go potty. As I am walking back across the ramp. He is taxiing out. Sandra already has us pulled up to the pump and has the ground wire connected. Cool day, light load and short trip meaning lower altitude and a short climb. Gas is $2.90, so fill it up.
 
Off we go, turn out over I20 and head east, over Forney and Terrell. Terrell wind is calm, Tyler wind is calm, and I announce seven miles out. I don't specify a runway, we had used 35 at home and HQZ, but with calm winds, it is open. What wind Terrell reports now favors 18, but it is still a tossup. While I am vacillating, a Cardinal reports 5 miles out over I20, asking where we are now and runway intentions. I reply that I am now about 3 miles out, 2 miles south of 20 and planning on a crosswind entry to 18. Since I assume he is faster, I tell him I will stay well south of 20 and let him go by inside of me and land first.
 
The time comes for me to turn onto the downwind and I still haven't seen him, so I ask where he is. He says he cannot find the field and he is still at 2000' over I 20. I look east and there he is, still headed east. I tell him where he is and that we will land first. Just before I turn base, he reports us in sight and that he is turning onto the downwind.
 
Turning final. I can see why this is a "low-use airport". The runway is holey asphalt with faded markings and grass encroaching nearly across it in places. The threshold is just beyond a barbed wire fence and there are (depending on your point of view) 2 hills or 2 valleys in the 3700'. I already knew from the picture in Flight Guide that the taxiway didn't go all the way to the north end and there are no buildings at the parking ramp.

Oh well, decent landing and let it roll all the way to the "ramp". It is asphalt and in much worse condition than the strip. I pick our way to the far edge and shut down. The Cardinal pulls in beside us and shuts down. Sandra calls Marie to tell her we are here and I go over to look at the Cardinal as an SUV pulls up to it. The family unloads stuff, baby and carseat and in a minute, drive away.
 
Marie arrives in a few minutes and we throw the food and fixin's in her car and head for her house. The normal family Thanksgiving follows. Yak, Yak, Yak. Eat too much. Watch the Cowboys almost embarrass themselves, etc.. At halftime, we gather up our stuff to go. I don't want to take off at or after dark.
 
When we get back to the "airport", the Cardinal is gone. Load up, quick walk around and saddle up. As I pull out, I decide that the "taxiway" would not be a good idea, so back taxi the runway. Runup is ok and we roll. Dean is waiting by his Explorer and waves to us as we come over the hill and go airborne.
 
Straight out over Canton and right turn back to the northwest. Climb to 3500 and watch the sun go down as we fly over Terrell. It is dark for real as we pass across the south end of Lake Lavon and look for the landmarks to guide us to home. McKinney is showing a little wind from the north, so we fly over the Preston Road-380 cloverleaf and swing back into the downwind to 35. Turn on the landing light as we pass over the golf course and ease it onto the runway.
 
We get to the house in time to see the Cowboys lose in overtime.
 
Johnny Cace's and two sunsets.


It finally decides to be winter. No rain, this year is turning out to be one of the driest on record after last years deluges. But we do have clouds, wind, cold and misery. Sandra will be out for Christmas on Dec 21, but the forecast doesn't work out for a trip before Christmas. We haven't even gone up to look at the lights yet.
 
The weather pattern shifted over the weekend and by Tuesday, was supposed to be good through Christmas. Too late to make an overnight around other plans for the holidays, but a day trip would be ok. The problem is that we are running out of day trip destinations.
 
We finally decided on Longview. We had been thinking about that when we were sidetracked by the Sorghum Day in Wewoka. So we will fly over there on Thursday afternoon and come back late enough to see the lights before landing.
 
Beautiful clear day with temperature in the low 60s when we take off just before 1:00PM. The haze is just awful. Virtually no visibility to the south, but more than adequate to the north (out my side). Even at 3500', the air is silky smooth and we have a nice just over an hour flight. Approach directs me into a right base for 17 and we are cleared to land from 7 miles out.
 
By the time we taxi in, the line guys are waiting for us at KRS. We get parked and shut down. Goof around for a while before getting the car and map for the drive to town. We have plenty of time. We don't want to take off much before five and it is only 2:30.

For those of you not familiar with east Texas, Johnny Cace's is a landmark. Arguably the finest seafood restaurant in Texas if not the whole world. That is our destination. I order frog legs and Sandra goes for the stuffed flounder. We eat slowly and enjoy the ambiance. Then a drive around town, returning to the airport about 4:15.
 
By now, in the shade of the hangar, it is getting cold. It will get into the 30s tonight, but we are prepared for the flight back. I go to the plane, check the fuel levels and slip on the sweatshirt I brought. Stand outside and talk to the guy that has just arrived in an Arrow. Back inside, pay for the gas and attend the potty and we are ready to go.
 
Takeoff is at 4:50, after a case of fumblemouth getting and reading back departure clearance. Climbing out, I start the turn to the west as I contact Longview Approach, which immediately asks for my on course heading. I have no idea! We flew down on a heading of 115, and I am turning to put that on the bottom of the DG. Quick math and I tell him 285. Should have been 295, but that will be close enough.
 
We climb to 4500 which puts us above the haze layer. It is no worse than earlier, but in the lower sun, the refraction makes visibility a little worse. No problem, we can find our way home from here easily.
 
The sun sets into the haze as we are flying just south of Lake Fork. When it is nearly below the haze, it reappears through the haze, setting on the real horizon. This is a new phenomenon for us. There is just a smidgen of the sun above the haze, glowing bright yellow-white. There is also about two thirds of the sun above the real horizon glowing a bright LED red. It disappears below the haze and we watch it rapidly set below the horizon. We are still in good light, but there are lights coming on on the ground. We configure for night flight, turn on lights get flashlights and check them and settle back into the nicest time of day for flying.
Darkness is eating away the ground east and north of us. The loss of light is making the visibility to the south and west better. We pass just south of Greenville and turn directly west towards the south end of Lake Lavon. The high clouds above us are still painted pinks and purples from the last rays of the sun and the air is still glassy smooth. We could almost believe we were perfectly still from the smoothness.
 
We begin descending and check in with McKinney, telling them our intent is to go to 2000-2500, west across Plano and north over Frisco and back over Stonebriar before landing at Aero Country. We monitor Aero Country CTAF and keep McKinney live while we head west over Allen and west Plano. We cross over the big Frisco Mall and out over the Colony almost to Lake Lewisville before looping around to the north.
 
Over 122.9, we keep hearing the repetitive clicks of someone trying to turn on runway lights somewhere. As we come back across Celina, we hear, "Aero Country Unicom, Citabria xxxxMike Sierra. Why can't I get the runway lights on?". OOPS! We may have a problem here. I look at where the airport should be and there is the proverbial black hole.
 
I switch to CTAF, "Mike Sierra, Musketeer Five Niner Four Lima Bravo. The runway lights are no longer on the radio, they are on a timer. Where are you?"

We get each other located and I go back to McKinney Tower and ask them to call Aero Country about the lights. We go on across Stonebriar and Twin Creeks and back south. Mike Sierra calls McKinney and asks them if they can raise anyone at Aero Country. McKinney says they have called them and someone is looking at it.
 
We continue for a few minutes, Mike Sierra orbiting over the field and us orbiting south of it. As we are coming back past the runway on one of our orbits, Sandra sees the lights come on. Before we can say anything, Mike Sierra sees them also and says that he is entering the downwind for landing. We make a right 270 to get back to the downwind and are just crossing Virginia Parkway when he lands.
 
On around the pattern and make a simply awful landing. Feel our way down to the unlit turnoff and back to the hangar. Stop at Dave's on the way out to thank him for the help on the lights. Come to find out, the timer is set for 6:15. Today was the shortest day of the year and that time is nearly an hour after sunset.
 
Diana


There is a memorial exhibition of Princess Diana stuff at the Houston Museum of Science that runs through the end of the year. Sandra, the incurable Anglophile, has simply got to go. She had planned to go by car with some friends. By Monday, they had all backed out and the weather looked good and I only need 4.7 hours to make 100 for the year. So.....

Earl had sold the hangar during the summer and the new owner had told us and the owner of the Citabria that he would start remodeling the hangar after the first of the year. We had made arrangements with John Landsden to move into his hangar after Christmas. Of course, this was contingent in him clearing enough space. On Monday after Christmas, John called me and said that he had gotten his hangar cleaned out and rearranged and to make sure that there was enough room, he had already moved the Mouse.

Tuesday, the Redhead went out to the airport to see the new space and move the remainder of our stuff. After a thorough inspection, negotiation of the rent and the quirks of the doors, we all went to lunch.

I do the flight planning for Houston on Tuesday afternoon. The basic flight would be 2.3 hours each way with no wind, so it will be close on the 4.7 hours. We will need to make a fuel stop going, so that should add the necessary time. From the weather briefing at noon on Wednesday, we will have a stiff tail wind all the way and the high center will move east during Wednesday night, giving us a tailwind on Thursday coming back. This may be close.

We head for the hangar just after twelve. Getting ready to go now is a little different than at the old hangar. Open doors, pull Cessna 150 out and across the taxiway. Pull Mouse to door and do preflight. Pull Mouse out onto the taxiway, put car inside, push Cessna back in and close up the doors.

We are airborne at 12:45 under a layer of cirrus clouds at 25,000'. Quick hop over to Mesquite and fill the tanks. Then off to Sugarland. We pick up flight following as we climb through 2000' on our way to 5500. I don't really want to know what our ground speed is as we level off over Richard Chambers lake. The visibility is very good and the air is so smooth that we barely seem to be moving. It is more like the earth is sliding by under us.

Even though we have a good lock on the Leona VOR, we are making all the landmarks dead on. We pass between Fairfield and Teague with I45 just off to our left. The vehicles on it are seemingly crawling along as I watch them sliding under the wing. Passing Buffalo, the Redhead nods off to napland. The lines on the sectional were for a 10 degree turn to the right over Leona to the Navasota VOR then 30 degrees to the left to Sugarland. I decide unilaterally to continue straight ahead and fly to Sugarland direct.

Sandra comes back to life about 20 miles south of Madisonville, with Gibson Creek to our right and the upper end of Lake Conroe to the right. We can see College Station, 25 miles to the west, and Lake Somerville nearly 40 miles to the southwest. The Houston skyline is already visible in the far distance. We cross 290 several miles east of Hempstead and start our descent. I figure that it is about time to begin identifying the Sugarland area and there over the nose is the airport. 20 miles ahead and we are staring right down the runway.

When we report in to Sugarland Tower, we are told to report midfield, right downwind. I verify right pattern and move over to fly straight into the downwind. The surface wind will be about 20 degrees to the left and 10 gusting to 19, so I leave the entry a little close to the runway and let it move us out to the proper distance. Around the base leg and onto final. Line up and land nearly on the 2000' displaced threshold. Not too bad, roll out and make turnoff Charlie. Call ground and taxi to the FBO. Shut down, wave at the line guys and get the book out to write down the time on the Hobbs. 2.3 hours total including the stop at Mesquite. We'll need 2.4 on the return and it is planned to be direct.

They bring up the rental car as we are stretching out our legs. Make the picture, pile the bags in the trunk. Sandra drives back around front while I check the tanks and order fuel. Then into town.

The FBO has made our reservations at the Sheraton Four Points, just off 59 at the Kirby exit. Nice place, our room is on the 9th floor with a fine view to the west. Rest up a bit and watch the sunset then decide on a place for dinner.

After scanning the literature the bride acquired at the FBO and hotel lobby, we decide on a place called Milagro Taco. The ad looks nice (read $$$), and it is only a few blocks away, so off we go. It is on a high dollar corner of Kirby and Westheimer and looks posh from the outside. We park and go inside to discover that it is the Tex-Mex equivalent of Fuddruckers. Oh, well, our taste buds are already screaming "Tex-Mex", so we go up to the counter and order.

The food was actually pretty good. My tamales were real shredded pork, but the masa was a little raw. You could help yourself to chips and several kinds of salsa. All this for less than $20. After dinner, we drove around a little. We went out to the west end of Westheimer and off Gessner, found the strip mall where a piano bar was located when I was working in Houston some 25 years ago. The piano bar was gone, but a sports bar was in the complex next door. We had a drink and watched some guys shoot pool for a while then back towards down town. A "nightcap" at a TCBY (I have a fondness for their White Chocolate Mousse) and back to the room.

Up at 7 on Thursday morning, shower, dress and pack. Check out and go find breakfast at a bagel shop on South Kirby near Rice. Then find the Museum of Natural Science. Finally found it and drove around it looking for parking. Go in and buy the tickets for the 10:45 start. Sandra visits the gift shop while I sit outside until time to enter.

The exhibit was put together under her brother's supervision and includes things from childhood to the present. There were school notebooks and toys, home movies made by her father. Items from her high school and working girl days. Items from her courtship and wedding, including her wedding dress and jewels. There was an entire room of her clothes as Princess, from wedding through divorce and death, showing the evolution of fashion in general and her look in particular. The final item was a display of some the condolence books that filled cases on two walls at the exit.

I spent over an hour in the exhibit, but the Anglophile was inside nearly two hours. That done, all that remained was lunch and launch. Having seen a lot of commercial stuff on Highway 6 between US59 and the airport, we decided to get out of town first. The construction in the center of town meant driving on detours nearly to Oklahoma before we could get on westbound 59. Finally, out past Stafford and Sugarland to Highway 6 and then north. We found a hamburger place and ate well, then find a gas station to fill the car and then to the airport.

Briefing, preflight, bill paying and we are soon ready to go. A check of the book indicates that we need to get to 96.0 on the Hobbs to log 100 hours for 2005. That is 2.4 hours for 226nm at 100 knots with a tailwind for the last 100nm. This is gonna be close!

Takeoff and straight out on the downwind until Houston turns us to 300 degrees to clear well west of Houston International. Finally on course at 4500', we pass just east of Hempstead and Navasota. The air is glassy smooth and the visibility is good. We drone smoothly on past Madisonville with I45 now just off our right and by Buffalo, we can see Richard Chambers in the distance. Crossing the lake with Corsicana to the left, the Hobbs reads 95.1. We are only 70 miles from home.

I angle more nearly north. To make the time stretch some, we will go up the east sides of Ray Hubbard and Lavon and come back across the north side of McKinney. East of Ray Hubbard, Dallas offers us descent and direct to Aero Country. I close flight following, telling them we will fly north a while and then check in with TKI.

We continue north, descending to 2500 and turn west north of Lavon. We stay north of 380 until it is time to turn south towards the tower for downwind entry. As I start the turn to downwind, the Hobbs reads a fat 95.8. I am tempted to do a full stop and taxi back. The landing is not bad. Not good, but not bad either and as I am turning off, Sandra says "It turned point nine on final, taxi slow.".

As we turn into our taxiway, we see a couple of women sitting in chairs in front of the hangar between where we were and where we are now. They wave, but it takes a few moments before they understand that their car is in our way. After they move it, I ease down to our place and shut down. Hobbs reads a fat 96.0.

Open the hangar, get the Cessna out, get the car out, put the Mouse in, put the Cessna in, close the doors. It is oil change time, so I get the bucket and hose, hook them up and start the oil draining. I will come back next week and finish that. The girls apologize for not moving the car immediately. They were wondering why I needed so much room to get in the hangar, not knowing that we had moved.

This completes our flying for 2005. The annual expires on Dec 31, so that will start our new year. This has been a good one; South Dakota and Wyoming, South Padre, two sunsets, four fly-ins, what more could we ask?