Santa Fe (#31)

Today we headed to Santa Fe. We woke early and my first check of the weather showed all clear.  We Ubered back to the airport and prepped the plane.  A last check of the weather showed Santa Fe had gone to 200 overcast.  This was low and combined with being in the mountains would normally be a no go.

But, there was a good alternative 13 minutes South that was clear and many more backups just in case.  My gut was that the layer would clear once it warmed a bit so we launched at risk.  It was a supposed to be about 1:20 flight and with the time change a 20 minute time difference.

Well our tailwind was totally gone and we took off and climbed to 8000.  The headwind was supposed to be <20 but for a while we had 40 knots on the nose.  This actually worked out well.  The clouds were not lifting as quickly as I hoped.  As we got close the controller told us to expect the ILS and that some people had been getting in.  I was not going to mess with a mountain approach starting at 10,400 with a potential miss at 6500 feet and a missed hold at 11,000.  Luckily, right as we were crossing our diversion decision point, we got an updated forecast, the layer had broken and we only had scattered clouds.

We headed in and then could not see the airport because although it was clear over the airport, there were still clouds between our location and the airport.  We maneuvered a bit and the airport appeared  and soon were on the ground at Santa Fe Jet Center.

One great thing about private travel is the ground part.  I was directed to a space right out front.  I shut down, they greeted us, and before I could get out, our rental car from Avis was brought next to the plane.  CC went inside as it was still cool out leaving me to clean up.  They offered to load the bags for us but I declined, we were only taking an overnight pack with us.  I quickly had the limited bags I needed in the car.  I did stop to chat with some nice folks heading out about the plane but otherwise zero hassle.

I stepped inside to get CC and check in.  The staff had made CC a hot chocolate so after giving my fuel order and providing a contact number, I got one too.  Then they offered us some sodas for the road and we were off.

Our first stop was the farmers market.  It was quaint and filled with stalls selling veggies at high markups.  I chuckled when I saw Vidalia Onions for sale.  I was tempted to ask if they really came from Georgia but I behaved.  They also had an arts market which we browsed and got our first souvenir.

After the market we headed to Bandelier National Monument.  Bandelier showcases the cave dwellings from around 1100-1600.  What is very cool about this park is that in addition to walking by and looking at the dwellings, there are select caves where you can climb ladders and enter the caves.  You can see the soot stained roofs and imagine how terrible it must have been back then.  Yes I like indoor plumbing, air conditioning and all the modern conveniences.

In addition to the loop trail, they had an additional one that terminated in a 140 foot vertical climb.  Climbing was a combination of ladders and steps in the rocks.  We were at about 6500 feet elevation so by the time we reached the top we were a bit winded.  Overall it was a nice view and a cool climb.

Here we are after catching our breath, safe in our mountain cave.

After the National Park we headed for downtown Santa Fe.  Santa Fe Plaza is mostly tourist shops built around a square.  This day there was an art show and Motorcycle gathering in addition to the normal vendors.  We strolled a bit and then found The Burito Company where we had some Southwestern food.

Santa Fe had some strict building codes, everything had a certain look that included fake wood beams sticking out of the sides.  It was getting late and we were tired so we headed to the Courtyard.  This too had the fake wood.  It was nice enough but the room seemed dated as in out of the 70s.

It has been almost a year since a new state but Santa Fe New Mexico is #31 in the countdown.

Go West My Boy

I have always wanted to visit out West.  This year we decided to head to Sedona to see the famed Red Rocks.

Sedona is pretty far, 1552 miles direct so it is about 9 hours without headwinds and weather.  Our first day goal was to get to Amarillo Texas, this put 1000 miles behind us and made the next days much easier.  I could do this in 2 hops but we decided to make it easier by doing 3.

Leaving home we had clear blue skies but we would be flying along a front with multiple lows.  This meant we would experience all sorts of weather along the way.  We had good VFR weather to begin but it was rather hazy so it was rather a dull flight without much to see along the way.  When we left, our final destination was below minimums and depending on which forecast you believed, it would not clear before sunset.  You can't worry about everything, so off we went.

Weather was clear from home  to Clarke County Mississippi (23M) our first stop.  We were about 80 miles out when we got a significant reroute.  Since we had clear skies I decided to cancel IFR and continue direct.  Our next controller informed us the Military Operation area was in use ahead of us with several F18s maneuvering.   I wasn't gonna play Top Gun so we turned to stay just outside the area, as we approached the jets finished up. 

I had a hunch this would happen, they don't have that much gas.  Once the jets were clear we were able to head directly to the airport.  Then came the tricky part,  the runway hides behind tall trees,  I was literally right at the airport before I saw it.  The airport was quite interesting for several reasons.   No self serve, Kim pumps for you, challenging runway and to get the best price you needed to pay cash or debit.  Gas was $3.65 which is a darn good price for Avgas so I was ready for the challenges.

One more surprise, after Kim came out to fuel us she took our picture.  They have walls of planes and pilots.  We were also made famous on their Facebook page.  A final bonus was the sign in the men's room.

Our next stop was Sherman Texas (KSWI).  It was also chosen for the low gas price of $3.65.  Leaving home we had clear skies but the direct line to Sherman took us through significant storms over Monroe and Jackson.  I had found a fix just South of Monroe that would clear the weather and the Meridian controller was quite accommodating, getting our route updated.

I did one additional thing, rather than filing to the airport I filed to the initial fix on the instrument approach.  It was not clear heading out whether we would have good weather upon arrival.

The slight detour worked well, we had storms off to our right but other than a few drops in the windshield we avoided the rain.  We were soon tracking inbound on the GPS34 approach and talking to local traffic at Sherman.  After 23M I was going to use all the available tools to find the next runway. 

Arriving there was a chopper in the pattern who was a potential conflict. He asked our speed and when I told him 130 knots he replied, wow you all are really haulin A--, welcome to Texas.  We got the spacing sorted out and were soon on the ground.  The cheap fuel had attracted others and we had to wait in line for gas but soon we were topped off, refreshed and ready to go.

All day the weather at Amarillo (KTDW) had been 200 overcast with poor visibility but after fueling, I checked the latest update and it had begun to clear, as I said no need to start worrying early.    With clearing skies the last leg was pretty uneventful.

We had been enjoying some tailwinds from the lows but they went away and our friendly headwind returned.  Also, the ground started rising. 

The local controllers worked us in nicely and we were soon cleaning the bugs off the plane.  Then a quick Uber to the Courtyard Marriott in downtown and we had a room for the night,  We found a trendy dinner spot and had our first real meal of the day.  After that it was back to the room to plan the next day.

About 9:30 the thunder and rain came.  Oddly this was a happy event as I had payed a bit extra to have the plane hangared for the night just in case.  I slept well knowing the plane was safe.

Run Away!!!

Saturday when we were leaving town, it looked like we might have a significant impact from Dorian.  We also figured that by Monday morning we would have more clarity on the storm's path.  Well Dorian decided to hang out in the Bahamas for an extended visit.  On Sunday night after the wedding we had no idea where Dorian would go but we couldn't rule out a visit.

Not wanting to bring the plane home and have it get clobbered by the storm, we decided to go with our backup plan and run away.  The question was where to go?  I quickly settled on Tifton, GA.  Our friends at the wedding were asking me our destination and when I answered Tifton, I was met with universal scorn.  That said there was method to my madness.   I wanted to be West of any storm impact, this meant >100 miles from the coast.  I also wanted to avoid having the storm between us and home for an extended period.  This meant looking West of home.

Location wise, I needed an airport with good facilities, good approaches, nearby hotels and food.  When you look Southwest, you don't have a good selection of hotels, unless you go to Tampa but that was really out of the way.  Atlanta area was possible but it also kept us farther from home.  Tifton, actually had it all.  Good approaches, well priced gas, local maintenance, lots of hotels and food.  As a bonus, I knew it as I have stopped there many times driving 75.  It is also only an hour from Columbia and 45 minutes from home so it only added 30 minutes of travel.

So Monday after the last brunch festivities we headed off to Tifton.  Even if we had wanted to leave early to get home, there was some low weather so our mid day departure was pretty set.  Travelling to Tifton we could see the weather building at home.  Both the radar and my eyes confirmed that avoiding Florida for a bit was a good plan.

We arrived in Tifton to find an airport without a lot of action.  We soon secured the plane and went inside to see a notice that they were un-attended for the Holiday.  They had left building access though.  It is a very nice facility.  In addition they have 2 airport cars that you can sign out for short trips.  We signed one out, and in the process met one of the airport employees who had come in to help with some of the storm response.  He gave us some pointers and sent us on our way.

Though the airport was not hopping, it was being used as a staging area for power repair trucks.  We saw rows of them on our arrival and even more when we were leaving.

The car allowed us to move our luggage to the hotel a few minutes down the road, grab some snacks from the local Publix and get ready to shelter in place.  Returning the car after an hour we talked to the employee again and since things were slow, he said we could keep the car overnight.  Yes I picked well.

This facilitated us getting a nice dinner.  After dinner the storm updates looked like our hangar would be safe so I went to sleep with the idea to re-evaluate in the morning.  Waking up to the 5AM update I was confident that we could go home and that the plane and our persons would be safe.

I completed some work meetings and then headed back to the airport.  Since they were on holiday Monday I had them fuel me while we loaded and prepped the plane.  There were still some broken low clouds above the field but the en-route weather was mostly marginal VFR or better.  I grabbed my clearance by cellphone and was pleasantly surprised when I got my clearance and release all at once.

We were quickly climbing to 7000 for the 45 minute ride home.  We did have 20 knots of wind on the nose heading into the storm and there were some light rain showers hanging around Jacksonville.

It was pretty cool to zoom out our data link radar and see the Hurricane far far out.  Approaching home we started to see some buildups but they were not very tall.  The controllers were on their A game and worked with us to avoid anything that looked ominous.  We ended up taking the GPS 14 approach starting over Jacksonville International.

We slid through the clouds for a few minutes and broke out around 1800 with the Dames point Bridge in sight.  The airport soon appeared as we descended on the LPV approach.  The winds were 20+ knots from the North-East so we circled to 5.  The tower had closed for the storm so this was the first time I had come in with the field uncontrolled during the day.  With the good weather below the clouds, I cancelled with Jacksonville and soon we were rolling out after a smooth touch down.

Door to door it was about 2 hours to make the return.  Did we have to run away? No but it was the cautious move.  It was sort of fun to just take a somewhat random trip for a day but glad to be home and now hunkering down for a rainy, windy, Wednesday.

Pre Evacuation

I am sure many of you have been watching Dorian for quite some time. I remember when it was just a X on the NHC map and look how grown up it is now. Well Hurricane or not we had plans.

We had a wedding to attend in Columbia, SC on Sunday night. All week I watched the storm, wondering if we needed to evacuate the South Florida family members and whether we would be safe.

By Friday night it looked like Miami was going to survive and that we had some time to wait for the storm. As a precaution we packed an extra bag with several days of clothe in case we could not return as planned.

On Saturday we headed North into building storms. Initially it looked wile we would need to head far West to avoid the rain but a sizable hole opened and after a small detour around Brunswick, we headed up to Columbia.

Weather in SC was warm in the afternoons but nice in the morning.  Saturday we spent time wandering downtown and visiting USC.   There was also a street fair which was a weekly event with lots of food and fun.

I like the school bus converted to a BBQ.  Why didn't I ride this bus?

Saturday night we had a Rehearsal dinner and spent time hanging out with people.  We were very well fed, great food at every turn.  I personally parked in front of the candy bowls.

The wedding was beautiful and successful in that they are now married.  We then headed off for a party.  More food and friends.  Lots of fun, and we even dressed up.

Optimistically on Sunday afternoon I had filed our return for Monday. Forecast was for morning fog in The Carolinas and afternoon storms at home. The best shot looked to be for a mid day trip.  The news started to sound grim and after the wedding it looked pretty bad.

It was announced that I-26 would become 1 way away from Charleston starting noon Monday.  A decision had to be made, go home or hunker down.  We were pretty sure it would not be a big event in Jacksonville but then I had that nagging voice, did we really want to sit through another hurricane when a safe spot was an hour away...

We had to make a decision and and decide, we did.  Jacksonville would wait, Monday would be a new adventure.