It was time to head home. The distance straight line is 1544 miles. Given the shorter days and the 3 hour time difference against us, it was not very practical to fly home in one day. We had a basic plan how to get home, head East, but lots of options as to what we would do exactly. We decided to head out early and see how far we could go.
There is some high terrain on the direct route so I routed us over Monument Valley for the terrain and the view and then angled South to Albuquerque. From there we headed East and landed at our first fuel stop, Santa Rosa New Mexico. Pulling up to the pump, things looked OK until I saw a message on the screen saying out of order, call this number. I called and got the local police department. I explained the issue and they said they would check and call me back. We waited a bit and I started looking for an alternate, it was a good thing we did not stay as no one ever called back.
I still had a good bit of fuel (a good reason to never land with minimum fuel) and I had looked at lots of fuel stops when planning the trip. Hereford Texas had a great price 30 and was minutes East. Landing in Hereford we found a working Self Serve and more. On final I had the sense that I had entered a cattle barn. Opening the planes door, I was sure I was in the barn. Hereford was also pretty windy as in a solid 20 knots plus gusts. We did a quick turn and were in the air on our way to Oklahoma.
On the way out we had flown the Texas Oklahoma border. It is not very straight so you can move in and out of each state while heading straight. Our next fuel stop was Ardmore Downtown chosen because the reviews were good (Santa Rosa also had an excellent recent review). The reviews were accurate this time. Cheap gas and nice facilities. It also means I have now landed in Oklahoma, 28 left.
We had looked at both Shreveport and Meridian as our overnight. Shreveport looked like a nicer stay with a Riverwalk while Meridian got us further. In the end my sense of the front we were about to fly through said to go the distance and overnight in Meridian. The weather was good so we pressed on. We landed in Meridian a bit before sunset. I had checked hotel availability that morning but when I tried to book the local Fairfield I found out that it had sold out while we flew. The staff at Meridian Aviation is great. When we arrived the staff apologized that they were out of courtesy cars but that they could run us to a hotel. We just needed to find a hotel.
Before I started on the hotel search I wanted a snack. We had been on the move and had subsisted on some granola bars. Meridian FBO has a great snack area with free snacks, OK it is payed for by the gas but no incremental cost. They have Hot dogs, chili, nacho topping, ice cream, waffles, Tea, Lemonade, popcorn, Pizza at some hours and more. I had a chili dog and CC had one as well. CC also had some soft serve Ice Cream. One other cool feature of Meridian, we got to park in a line of Navy Jets.
I started trying to find a room and got stuck on hold with Holiday Inn express. The staff had a book of hotels and while I was on hold got me a room at a nearby Holiday Inn. They also got us a great rate. Then they ran us over. There was an IHOP across the street for dinner and in the morning they brought us back to our plane. Incredible service!!! Shreveport was covered in storms which validated yesterday's decision on where to stop. There was only a 100 foot layer at 2000 feet on our way home. A flash through the clouds and 2:25 later we were pushing the plane back into the hangar. Another successful trip completed.
There is some high terrain on the direct route so I routed us over Monument Valley for the terrain and the view and then angled South to Albuquerque. From there we headed East and landed at our first fuel stop, Santa Rosa New Mexico. Pulling up to the pump, things looked OK until I saw a message on the screen saying out of order, call this number. I called and got the local police department. I explained the issue and they said they would check and call me back. We waited a bit and I started looking for an alternate, it was a good thing we did not stay as no one ever called back.
I still had a good bit of fuel (a good reason to never land with minimum fuel) and I had looked at lots of fuel stops when planning the trip. Hereford Texas had a great price 30 and was minutes East. Landing in Hereford we found a working Self Serve and more. On final I had the sense that I had entered a cattle barn. Opening the planes door, I was sure I was in the barn. Hereford was also pretty windy as in a solid 20 knots plus gusts. We did a quick turn and were in the air on our way to Oklahoma.
On the way out we had flown the Texas Oklahoma border. It is not very straight so you can move in and out of each state while heading straight. Our next fuel stop was Ardmore Downtown chosen because the reviews were good (Santa Rosa also had an excellent recent review). The reviews were accurate this time. Cheap gas and nice facilities. It also means I have now landed in Oklahoma, 28 left.
We had looked at both Shreveport and Meridian as our overnight. Shreveport looked like a nicer stay with a Riverwalk while Meridian got us further. In the end my sense of the front we were about to fly through said to go the distance and overnight in Meridian. The weather was good so we pressed on. We landed in Meridian a bit before sunset. I had checked hotel availability that morning but when I tried to book the local Fairfield I found out that it had sold out while we flew. The staff at Meridian Aviation is great. When we arrived the staff apologized that they were out of courtesy cars but that they could run us to a hotel. We just needed to find a hotel.
Before I started on the hotel search I wanted a snack. We had been on the move and had subsisted on some granola bars. Meridian FBO has a great snack area with free snacks, OK it is payed for by the gas but no incremental cost. They have Hot dogs, chili, nacho topping, ice cream, waffles, Tea, Lemonade, popcorn, Pizza at some hours and more. I had a chili dog and CC had one as well. CC also had some soft serve Ice Cream. One other cool feature of Meridian, we got to park in a line of Navy Jets.
I started trying to find a room and got stuck on hold with Holiday Inn express. The staff had a book of hotels and while I was on hold got me a room at a nearby Holiday Inn. They also got us a great rate. Then they ran us over. There was an IHOP across the street for dinner and in the morning they brought us back to our plane. Incredible service!!! Shreveport was covered in storms which validated yesterday's decision on where to stop. There was only a 100 foot layer at 2000 feet on our way home. A flash through the clouds and 2:25 later we were pushing the plane back into the hangar. Another successful trip completed.
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