Going Home
We knew from checking the weather before
leaving Oshkosh that it would get clearer and clearer as we
headed west, which it did. Soon there were holes in the
clouds above, so we headed through the opening to fly above the
clouds.
Shortly after leaving Oshkosh.
Although we got a late start, this was
one of most beautiful days of flying - fluffy clouds everywhere
and green fields below. We flew 2.3 hours to our first
refueling stop at Austin, Minnesota.
Flying just above the clouds
From Austin we went to Worthington, a
flight of 1.4 hours, where we spent the night. It had
been a rather bumpy day, so my wife was glad to be on the
ground again. Also, to get an actual shower in the motel
room, not the portable showers and porta-potties like at
Oshkosh, seemed like true luxury!
Although we had a wonderful time, we were
both glad to be headed home.
The weather again delayed us in
Worthington until after noon. Fortunately, the people at
the FBO there were very accomodating while we waited. They
had also loaned us their courtesy car to take to the motel and
back. Nice people!
We were at the airport at 6:
00 a.m., planning to get to our destination that day before the
heat-caused thermals off the desert. We knew the bad
weather only extended about 10-20 miles, and I probably should
have filed for special VFR to get beyond it, but I kept
expecting it to clear enough to leave. It just hung
around at about 900 ft. ceilings at the airport for hours.
It finally cleared enough to be legal,
and we were out of there like a shot! We headed for
Chamberlain, South Dakota for refueling, about a two hour
flight. The air was getting rough, and my wife was
getting sick. We stayed at Chamberlain for over an hour
to recuperate, and then went on to Hot Springs, Wyoming,
another 2.2 hours of more misery for my poor wife. It was
hot and windy and I made a landing I choose not to talk about.
(not really that bad, but not pretty) We talked about
staying there for the night, but we had reservations in Casper,
and optimistically headed there.
After another miserable 1.6 hours for
Diane, we were happy to land in Casper at around 6:00 p.m.
The guys at Aero Care Aviation were kind enought to loan us a
car to get to our motel. Then, would you believe,
after a shower and a rest we went to dinner and enjoyed
probably the best meal on the entire trip. Maybe it was because
there was absolutely nothing left in her stomach??? (and
hadn’t been for some time) We highly recommend the
Poorboy Steakhouse, affiliated with the Parkway Plaza Hotel
there in Casper, where we stayed.
More clouds and scenery. I
especially enjoy this kind of flying.
Back to the drabness of the wide open
spaces.
We actually left Casper as planned - very
early - to beat the thermals. We had a great day of
flying.
Note: I got an oxygen tank and
system while at Oshkosh, and used it a fair amount on the way
home, but especially this last day. We flew at 13,000 ft.
again to clear the southern Tetons, and stayed higher than we
would normally fly to find smoother air. The oxygen made
a phenomenal difference in how I felt at the end of the day.
I felt great and not tired, as I had been going.
We made a stop in Riverton after 1.1
hours and ate breakfast. They have a nice restaurant
there and is probably our second favorite airport this trip.
It has a western theme with trophy animals on display on the
walls, and is a fun place to stop.
This is us - with me using oxygen, which
I learned to appreciate.
We loved the country as we approached and
entered Idaho. It was fascinating to see the very high
mountains, with the high mountain lakes. It’s
rugged country, but unlike what we are used to seeing in the
Sawtooths, closer to home.
Near the Idaho-Wyoming border, flying at
13,000 to clear terrain.
This picture is taken shortly after the
one above, and we enjoyed watching the terrain change as we
flew over it.
Two hours after Riverton, we stopped and
refueled in Blackfoot, Idaho. Then we flew over the Idaho
desert before reaching the mountains which feed the reservoir
shown in the picture on the left.
We are getting close to home. This
is country we fly over frequently.
Reservoir that feeds water into canals to
irrigate our acreage, about 40 miles from home.
We are only about five miles from the
Nampa airport, as we fly over our place to be sure everything
looks as it should. It looks real good to us after being
gone twelve days with 32.8 hours of time spent in the airplane.
We arrived at the Nampa airport, where we
left our car and trailer, shortly after noon. We folded
up the plane, loaded it on the trailer and drove home.
What an adventure!
Our final stop.
