Quick trip

Between upgrades and maintenance, I have not been flying as much and our travel has been limited. Cecilia had some business in Greenville which made it the perfect trip to work back into travel.

The weather forecast was good. It was supposed to be clear. The winds were another story. They were supposed to be as much as 35 on the nose at 9000 I decided we should fly lower as the gain of 3 knots per 1000 feet would be lost to the winds.

Our departure was pretty clear with just some scattered clouds but just North we had a thin overcast that persisted until mid South Carolina. I had also filed via SAV VOR to avoid the restricted airspace but just after departure we were given direct.

The winds were on the nose but about 5 knots less than forecast. All was good until the controller moved us to 7000 for airspace. This put us closer to the forecast. Our air time was 1:42 which beat the estimate by 2 minutes so all was good.

Our rental car was waiting for us and the Marriott had our room ready so we dropped our stuff and went off to sightsee and get CCs stuff done. CC wanted to reminisce a bit so we drove by her childhood home and also visited the park near where she was living when we met. Finally, we took a stroll downtown.

After a quick lunch we switched to the other side of town. We visited Pelham Mill Park which was the site of the first textile mill in South Carolina. They had harnessed the Enoree river by building a dam and redirecting the water. A long time ago we lived downstream near the confluence of Rocky Creek. We hiked a bit and enjoyed the rapids and then headed to the Marriott to enjoy the lounge snacks and take a rest.

One disturbing story, CC wanted a salad so we stopped by Panera to satisfy her craving. The total was $8.09. I gave the young lady $10.10 and said, keep the penny. She then stared at the register for at least 2 minutes. Finally she handed me a dollar bill and 4 quarters. I asked if they were out of singles and she said no. So I handed the coins back and asked for a bill. She said hold on, she wasn’t very good with money.

I know cash is passé but really? This episode was offset by the excellent chocolate chip brownies they had put out for dessert so in the end all was tasty.