After the rebuilt engine cluster was installed, we saw continuous moderate chop all the way between Lancaster and Tucson. I don't mind turbulence that much because I'm used to it, but my wife was not. She is now. But truth be told, we were both worn out from a 3:30pm departure, the loss of an hour crossing time zones, and a late arrival into El Paso.
The El Paso Airport Holiday Inn is a nice, clean, affordable place to stay. The staff is friendly and they will take you most anywhere in their shuttle if you don't have a car. We didn't and we really appreciated their service. The interior design of this hotel is reminiscent of early 1960's Southwestern motif, before Southwestern became really chic. The decor reminded me of the grand house in Hitchcock's North by Northwest. In fact, I wouldn't have been at all surprised to have answered a knock at our hotel room door and found a thin, 30 year old Martin Landau standing there with slicked back, black hair, a dark suit, and a thin black tie, his hands held behind his back, leaning forward expectantly: "Come with me, quietly, Mr. Kaplin and there won't be any trouble ..."
Now that we've flown over the deserts of California, Arizona, and Texas, we're halfway across the U.S. and about a third of the way through our journey. The amazing thing is that just crossing the width of Texas accounted for about one quarter of the total distance across the continental U.S.
Texas is so large that it's boring to talk about. Big stretches of Texas contain ... nothing, but there is a seemingly endless supply of small airports, some public, some private. Without much to look at and plenty of continuous moderate chop, even at 9,500 feet, flying across Texas can wear you out. Especially when you stop for fuel during the summer months.
Beyond El Paso, we chose Kimble County (near the Junction VOR) mainly because it offered a shorter, more humane time limit on the next leg. We had gotten to bed so late, we arose late, and ... Kimble County has a nice runway, cheap fuel, peaceful surroundings, but not much else. Well there was the humidity and the 34 degree C temperatures. And there was this funky, vaguely air conditioned shack. An older gentleman showed up and told us (sans false teeth) about the work he'd done to fix up the place. He rewired the runway lights and cut the grass, then arranged to get matching funds. They built a taxiway and a realFBO building is in the works. The fuel prices were some of the best I'd seen. The shack consists of logs, laid up with concrete as if they were bricks in a fascinating, Guadi-esque fashion.
Climbing back to 9,500 feet, the temperature cooled and the humidity dropped, too. The ride smoothed out over Austin and soon we were creeping through the north edge of Houston Class Bravo on our way to Lake Charles Regional. I chose this airport more because it was midway between Kimble County and Tallahassee than any other reason. This turned out to be somewhat poor planning on my part. We had intended to continue to Tallahassee, but the late hour and a large convective build-up over Lafayette meant we needed to stay overnight.
The folks at Vision Aviation were efficient and helpful, but the rental car agencies close at 4pm in Lake Charles. And it's hard to get a hotel room because there are several nearby casinos and everyone comes there to gamble on the weekends. With the help of the young man at Vision, we found a room, but it was in the nearby town of Sulphur. Vision arranged a taxi ride for us and we enjoyed a leisurely, 20 minute ride provided by Harry Caesar's cab service. On the way, I jokingly explained to my better half that the town of Sulphur is right next to the towns of Fire and Brimstone, forming a kind of a tri-cities area.
The air in Louisiana is thick and sweet. At dusk, you can hear the soothing lullaby of crickets and frogs. It's a lush, moist landscape and everything around reminds you that the earth is alive. Pretty much the opposite of the desert landscape from which we had arrived. Oh, and my seasonal allergies were nowhere to be found. We slept soundly, which prepared us for the early start the next morning. Early launches would become the standard tactic for the rest of the trip as a way to avoid thunderstorms.
You see, last Sunday marked the official beginning of Hurricane Season.
