green

Since we’d already been delayed in Frisco and Midland, we were now looking at a long day of flying if we were to make it home by New Year’s (something we were hoping to accomplish to avoid potential problems with finding hotel rooms and getting flight services on New Year’s Eve). Weather forecasts were looking promising, so we aimed to try.

Weather conditions in El Paso this morning were reporting freezing fog. This can’t be good: a) you can’t see, and b) you stand a chance of icing up your plane. But the forecast showed this condition improving over time, so we headed out. Along the way we passed the Guadalupe mountains again, this time with a snowy frost painting the craggy mountains in white.

Snowy Guadalupe mountains

Happily, the weather forecasts were correct, and by the time we arrived in El Paso the unpleasant icy conditions had melted away, and all was calm and clear. We quickly fueled up and departed the area on our way westward (but not without getting another glimpse of the NASA Super Guppy - yay!).

DARE…to eat pistachios

A clearer view of the Super Guppy

Our next stop was Phoenix/Goodyear airport for lunch, then continuing on to Santa Monica.

Test track?

Phoenix Goodyear Airport

Raul and Theresa’s Mexican Restaurant…

…where I’m amazed they even need to post a sign like this:

Killer Squirrels (this one’s for dad)

An old airstrip?

What’s wrong with this picture?

We had a bit of excitement during our landing into Santa Monica: the plane’s landing light was no longer working. Luckily, Santa Monica is pretty well lit, but it still made landing a bit more challenging for T. He got us down safely, but then there was the matter of taxiing the plane back to our designated space in the dark. T handed me his little neck light to see if we could navigate using it, but it was far too faint. Then I remembered the hand crank LED light T received from his parents for Christmas. I’d charged it early on in the trip home, so I turned it on to HIGH, opened the door, and held it outside pointed towards the ground in front of us. Because I had to shine it from within the plane and from a fair distance to the ground in front of us, it wasn’t terribly bright and did a better job of illuminating the prop than anything else. However, it was enough to help us pick out the taxiway lines and guide us back to parking, so no complaints here. Not strictly a MacGyver moment, but it worked!

So that’s it–we made it safely down, thus completing our second Christmas cross-country trip: some adventure, some good piloting, and some quality time with the families all made for a great holiday trip. See you all next time!

So the day started out promisingly - the weather looked good, and we planned to fly to El Paso today, then home tomorrow. T had a pretty strong headwind, so it was slow going, and by the time we hit Midland we were ready for lunch.

Unfortunately, the updated weather indicated there were icy conditions in and around El Paso and T decided it would be safer to stay put for the night (he elaborates on the decision here). So the nice people at the Avion FBO were able to quickly find us a room at the MCM Eleganté Hotel in Odessa, which they assure us is a “really nice hotel.”

I should probably preface things by saying we were extremely grateful for a) having a place to stay at the last minute on a holiday weekend, with b) complimentary shuttle service to and from the airport and within a 5 mile radius of the hotel, and c) a special FBO room rate to boot. I’m just thrilled to have a clean room with a comfortable bed and hot water in the shower.

The hotel’s Web site boasts they are “West Texas’ Only Four Star Hotel,” but the place has a strange feel to it. Kind of a weird mix of elegant and gaudy. For example, the lobby had large leather club chairs, Tiffany-style stained glass lighting, large aquaria with pretty fish, and lush green plants and poinsettias for the holidays. It also had Las Vegas casino carpeting, a stuffed tiger, and the fish tanks were decorated with ceramic gee-gaws and plastic tropical plants. There was a Starbucks coffee bar adjoining the lobby, but it was situated within what looked like a beauty supply store. The room was opulently furnished, but of the five light sources in the place only two worked (it later turned out that one lamp was merely unplugged, and after pulling the mattress away from the wall we located the needed outlet; we never did figure out what was wrong with the remaining two lamps).

After a nap and unwinding a bit, we checked out the hotel’s restaurant for a quick dinner. The dining room was largely empty, with three occupied tables and the hushed quiet of a library or convent. The mere act of walking in and speaking in conversational tones felt brash and boisterous; every head turned our way. After several minutes of waiting and spotting zero restaurant employees to seat us or tend to the already-seated customer–including one table who were still scanning the menu–we took this as an indicator of a potentially unpleasant dining experience and high-tailed it outta there.

Happily, the manager on duty directed us to a local Italian restaurant, Zucchi’s. Situated in a corner of a strip mall, it was a surprisingly cozy place with good atmosphere, including a pianist playing bluesy tunes on his Yamaha electronic keyboard. The service was friendly and the food decent (on the down side, the wine was dismal and they didn’t serve espresso), but the overall experience was enjoyable and superior to what likely would have felt like detention at the hotel restaurant.

Anyway, we’re turning in and hoping to get an early start tomorrow in hopes of getting home before things get too crazy with New Year’s revelers… wish us luck.

Lunch @ Cafe Rosa

Parking the plane for the night

Hotel lobby

Hotel room

Pianist at Zucchi’s

A couple parting aerial shots as we leave the Dallas area:

Saturday practice

Details of Dallas-Fort Worth Airport

The weather has left us grounded an extra day in Frisco, so we went out with my SIL and the kids to run a few errands…

Hermit crabs at the mall (J wants one VERY badly)

Lunch at the Cotton Patch

Despite the fact that it was cold and raining, we made a stop at the Double Dip Frozen Custard stand for a dipped cone (which was awesome).

Playing with one of my niece’s Christmas presents, “Mall Madness.” I love my niece very much.

It looks like we’re going to be here a little while…

Happily, the trip from Little Rock to McKinney was pretty uneventful. In the morning we weren’t quite sure if we’d beat the storm before it arrived in Frisco, TX, but the weather was gorgeous the entire flight. I took lots of sky pictures because, well, I like shooting clouds, and there were plenty of opportunities along the way. (Click the thumbnail to the right to view a 360-degree panorama from the flight deck!)

After a quick fuel stop, we headed out to our second stop, Little Rock, AR. Along the way we saw some really nifty cloud formations. They were thin and patchy, but overall formed an undulating fabric of fluffy white. Sort of like sand dunes, or a rolling ocean…

As we were on final approach, we got to see an enormous train yard outside the city. I’ve seen train yards before, but this is probably the most impressive example I’ve seen.

It was well past time for lunch by now, so we stopped in at The Flight Deck restaurant for a quick lunch while the plane was being topped off. The place was pretty empty, but the food was tasty and the service terrific. Besides, how can you go wrong with a place that serves the Greatest Cheeseburger in Aviation History?

No, really:

So T ordered that; I had the Garden Sandwich, which was quite delicious.

After lunch T confirmed the weather was holding so we left shortly thereafter, but not without a parting shot of the beautiful hangar and flags flying at half-staff (in the real world, former President Gerald Ford died on December 26)

Since T knew we’d be facing headwinds as we traveled west, he planned two stops on our way to Frisco. I still wasn’t feeling 100%, so I napped for much of the leg, but I did wake up to take a few pics on the way to our first stop in Huntsville, AL

T has been watching the weather and we had a clear shot to Frisco today, so we headed out early morning to race the big cold front moving its way eastward across the country. T’s family saw us off at the airport, but before we could leave we needed to deal with frost on the plane. It was 25 degrees when we arrived, so we ended up getting the plane de-iced…

Back porch buffet breakfast for a local chipmunk

Frost on the wings

De-icing the plane

Early morning ballooning