Day 4 - Culberson (VHN) to Junction Texas (Kimble Cnty AP (JCT))

 At the beginning of this journey my original plan had been to get up early fly 4 to 5 hours in the morning and then have the afternoons to relax and enjoy the location I ended up in. The concept sounded good but the reality has been quite different. I failed to factor in the fuel and food stops which have been inconsistent and time consuming.

 What has been happening is that I have been getting up early in the morning but not getting off the ground till about 8:00 a.m.. By the time I make 1 or 2 food and fuel stops a large part of the day has gone.

 Yesterday I flew for 4 hours but it took me until 5:00 p.m.. The result of this is that I am flying in the windy and turbulent periods in the late afternoons.

 My progress is not what I had hoped, and the long hours in the plane is not helping my physical state.  By the time I get dinner and get back to my hotel room I barely have time to write my blog, take a shower, and do the flight planning for the next day. There is nothing relaxing about the way this is going.  It's beginning to feel like a struggle.

 Today I tried to change the process. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and was in the air at sunrise.   I took off from Culberson airport into a strong and cold wind. 

As I climbed for altitude the turbulence was light, but annoying. It started to feel like a repeat of the day before. However, once I got up to 7500' the air smoothed out .

 I was flying directly into the sun and there was a haze that almost obscured the horizon.  After a while not being able to see the horizon started to affect me. I was not comfortable flying like this so I descended down to 5500'. This put me back into the bumpy stuff, but at least I could have a better view of the horizon.

 Unless you're flying on instruments, not being able to see the horizon can be dangerous. It is surprisingly easy to become disoriented and potentially lose control of the aircraft.

 My plan for today had been to make it to Sonora, Texas a distance of about 400 miles.  However, the last half of the route was showing low clouds and potential rain. I decided I could fly part way and then land and see if the weather improved. 

 I landed at Fort Stockton airport (FST) and waited in the pilot's lounge constantly checking the weather ahead. It was forecast to clear up around noon.

 In the pilot's lounge I met a couple of Texas state trooper helicopter pilots who were flying their helicopter up to Fort Worth. It was interesting talking with them.

An hour or so later I figured I could make it at least to Ozona Airport. Once there, I would decide whether to continue or not. 

The weather past Ozona was 1300 foot overcast. Not knowing the terrain and local conditions, I was not comfortable trying to fly under this. Also, I don't fly VFR-on-top (flying over a solid layer of clouds). 

I landed at Ozona (OZA) and walked 3/4 of a mile to the truck stop. I was hungry and really needed something to eat. The were all out of breakfast tacos and the counter guy tells me all they have is pig skin tacos. 

Ok, it's pork, how bad can it be? What they served me looked like barely cooked pig fat with some greasy sauce in a taco shell. It was quite possibly the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten (and I have eaten balut!). I was so hungry I choked down half of it.

Don't ever eat here:

I have flown adjacent to major highways for almost all of my adventure. I never forget that I am in a single engine airplane.

I decided to push on to at least Sonora, having confirmed by phone that the sky was clear there. 

The turbulence was just enough to not be able to relax. Again, I couldn't take my hand off the stick for more a second or two. This kind of flying is stressful and exhausting for me.

As I reached Sonora, the overcast layer was turning to broken and the visibility was good. I made the decision to press on to Kimble county. I landed about 1:30 and began trying to figure out where to stay.

I got a reservation at a hotel about a mile and a half away. I grabbed my over-night backpack and my electric scooter and was about to leave. Just then a guy came up and introduced himself as "Dallas" (yes, Dallas from Texas, and I'm not making this up!). 

"You want to borrow a vehicle instead of riding that itty bitty thing?", asks Dallas. 

Uh, ok! 

"Well then let me get you the keys".

Dallas, from Texas, went on to tell about the good and bad restaurants in town. He also warned me about locking stuff up and not leaving anything in the vehicle. 

You don't have to spend very much time in southern Texas to realize illegal immigration is a real problem. I don't know what the right thing is politically, but the residents down here are seriously affected by it. Border patrol agents and national guard seem to be everywhere. It's weird, and disturbing. 

It turns out the vehicle Dallas has for me is a former border patrol unit. Still has the "exempt" license plates. 

Dallas had mentioned a place to go swimming. After hours in a hot cockpit, I took his suggestion. I went for a swim in the Llano River. It felt great!

On the way back to the hotel I am acutely aware that I am riding in a blacked out Suburban with a bullbar and "Exempt" license plates. I also have my aviator sunglasses on. 

As I'm rolling down main street a highway patrol, parked on the side of the road, mistakes me for a fellow officer and goes out of his way to wave at me. I waved back. That doesn't happen when I'm rolling in my Kia...

Todays flight. Note the weather came in later in  the day.