Finding our spot in the desert

Since we had seen the Alamo at night, we hung around the Travelers World RV park in the morning.  Caught up a couple loads of laundry, and Steve did some routine maintenance on the motorhome.  Things like checking oil and tranny fluid, radiator levels, water level in batteries.. ya know --- all the necessary stuff.  Just because we are on vacation doesn't mean the motorhome is!

I saw that Susan was out and about so we said our "See Ya Laters" and proceeded to get road worthy.  I mailed out some postcards to the grandtots and mentioned to the staff at the office that our site's sewer connection had a crack near the ground.  Before I even got back to the campsite, a worker was there fixing it!  What service, eh?   I would give that park a 10 on cleanliness and a 10 on being informative and helpful at the front desk when checking in.  The sites up near the front of the park are closer together, but near the rear they were wider apart with more grass and trees to each site.  They are making a nice fenced doggie area soon to be completed.  Plus it's on the bus route if you don't care to drive around town yourself. All in all, it was a good place to stay so close to the center of the city.  We would go back for sure.

Soon we were hooking up the Tracker and Steve tooted a couple "BLAATTTZZZZ" of our air horns as we departed!   Sassy boy!  I am sure they loved that!

We decided to head on west out of San Antonio and look more desert and dry and warm.....  I think the Big Bend area is next on our list, but we planned on a shorter travelling day.  As we hit highway 90 across the state, the winds weren't too bad.  A few gusts now and then, but not nearly as bad as expected.  So we kept on going....

The scenery changed into hilly fields and scattered trees... then into more desert terrain with scrubbier trees, sage brush, cactus and rocks....   at last -----  We found DESERT!   We managed to get our way through the town of Del Rio and up into the rustic camping at Amistad Reservoir in the National Park Recreation Area.  (We noticed some brake pad scraping sounds on our way through Del Rio, more on that later)   Our site we chose is in the desert, with great views out in every direction.  Rate is $4 a night.  There is a dump station and water available in one of the other four campgrounds in this large rec area.  There are a few other campers in this unit, and we feel comfortable and safe here with the ranger's presence from time to time through the park.

Miles driven today 163
Miles driven so far 1,847

Temps are in the mid 70's and we are in shorts and tshirts! 

I steamed up a bunch of Texas Gulf Shrimp, and we had some rice and wine and soft music for dinner... food always tastes better when we cook while out in our camper.  At home it never seems this good!

We pulled out the lawn chairs and watched the sun set... 

ahhhh the colors in the desert can not even be captured by a camera as hard as I try. 

The wispy clouds were highlighted by the setting sun... and the colors blended from blue to purple to pink to a glowing orange. Then the sun dropped quickly down behind the horizon.. and all was just deep bluish purple and fading pink.  Another day done in the desert!

(the powdered ring around the motorhome is borax... to keep ants out) 

We went to bed in the quiet desert, with full bellies and soft light from the almost full moon out there rising in the east.  With a full moon, and clear sky, that means cool desert temps in the 30's so we turned on the heat and were snug as bugs in a rug.  

The morning sun was streaming in brightly at 7:30 am and we perked up a pot of coffee to greet the day!  Ahhhhh then Steveio cooked up a BIG breakfast which was a nice treat for me.  Our task for today was to locate brake pads for our motorhome in this border town of not too many places for big truck parts.  Our good friends on our Safari list helped us with part numbers and places to try.  We even drove into town as many places had a hard time understanding what we needed over the phone.  Finally we went to good old NAPA auto parts... Yes!  They could order our brake pads from the warehouse and have them by 8 a.m. tomorrow morning!  

(Colleen, Susan and Eric.. .take note:  Steve also got a can of belt dressing so the Tracker isn't squealing anymore!) 

Now that we had that settled, we can explore more of the area.  We drove up to the park's visitor center and got an armful of maps, brochures and ideas of things we would like to see.  Then we started to tour around the whole recreational land, and scoped out the other four campgrounds in the system (in case any were nicer than the one where we were)  Nope... ours was the best!  We drove around some of the reservoir and saw how low the water levels were.   Markings on the bridge supports showed how high the water has been at various times, but now it is very low.  Many of the boat ramps were completely closed and the ramps had a steep drop off from the edge where the water should have been.  It would be like driving off a cliff into a bed of gravel... with the lake still many yards away. 

We got out and walked around the desert, and took care to notice

 all the prickly things just waiting to poke at us

We kept the dogs away from these... can't imagine them in their long fur getting tangled up in a few of these, much less a whole bunch!

We saw big jackrabbits almost the size of dogs, with their tall ears upright and bounding away like mad.   We saw lots of birds and heard calls of hawks as they shrieked and dipped down to get something from the desert floor.

Once we got back to the campsite, Steve proceeded to get things ready for tomorrow's brake job.  He was pre-loosening the lug nuts on both front tires.  Luckily he carries a big air compressor along and all his air tools, plus a big breaker bar and torque wrench.

He got all but a few of the big lug nuts loosened, and sprayed the last sticking ones now with penetrating fluid.  If they don't loosen up by morning, we made arrangements with a tire place in town to break the last few nuts free for us.  It isn't too far from the NAPA store where he is picking up the brake pads.  Plus, the tire place said there is a vacant lot behind them where Steve can do our brake work without "technically" being on their lot .... Insurance regulations, ya know. grin grin

We finally sat down to RELAX... can you believe it?  We sat back in our lawn chairs, and gazed at the desert with our binoculars (Hey Allegra and Mason--- Pop Pop is using your binoculars you gave him!)   and we just enjoyed the scenery.  Two campers parked down the way had left the park, but another one came in on the other end.  We are still far away from anyone and we don't hear a thing over here in our site.

As supper time rolled around, I tossed some ears of corn into a pot to boil, and added some broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini to steam at the end.  Steve put some good ole Wisconsin Bratwurst (from Melotte's Meats in Oconto)  on the grill.  We didn't have any buns, but we didn't care, so we cut them up like eating sausage.   Add in a bottle of wine for me, and a bottle of Abita beer from New Orleans for Steve.  Dinner was served.  What a scenic dining room, eh?

We watched the sun set again tonight... as we were talking on the phone to our daughter from Wisconsin.  Seems the state got blasted again with snow--- and she was driving home from a long meeting down in Madison as the snow was falling again.  More snow???

For some reason,

 I think that 

we are glad 

we are 

HERE! 

.

San Antonio, The Missions, Riverwalk and the Alamo

Oh my my.... two of my fellow blogging buddies rallied around our arrival at Travelers World Carefree RV park.  Here is the link to their site.  http://www.travelersworldrvresort.com/   We had reserved a full hookup back in site for $40 a night.

When  we were registering at the desk, I mentioned my friend Susan was on site D... the lady said: "Lucky You!  you will be on site E right next to her!"   Out of 150+ sites, what were the odds of that happening?

We pulled in and there she was!  Hello Susan!   (of blog http://travelbug-susan.blogspot.com )  We got backed into our campsite and ready to start our whirlwind tour of San Antonio.  Steve had our power hooked up to the post, and we set the dogs inside the bedroom/bathroom area with a radio on playing loud enough to drown out any outside noises they might hear.  Then they don't bark, they just SLEEP!

Soon our other fellow blogger, Colleen arrived (of blog http://travelinglongdogs.blogspot.com ) with hugs to go around too!  Those two have met each other, but neither me or Steve.  So it was "best friends who never met yet" time.  We gabbed and laughed and headed over to a little mexican restaurant for lunch.  Poor Steve had the role of the Rooster in the Henhouse with us cackling biddies... tee heee but he didn't seem to mind.

There are five historical missions in San Antonio, though most only hear about The Alamo.  The gals took us over to the San Jose mission near the park.  You can read more about the five missions here at this link:  http://www.lsjunction.com/facts/missions.htm     We were able to join up with a tour group and got a very animated and knowledgeable Ranger named Anna to explain all about the ancient tribes, and then the missions and how things developed to the point of reconstruction today.  She made history come alive.  So much so, that I wrote an email to her bosses, complimenting her and telling her bosses to appreciate her!   Hope she gets a raise?

We toured around the grounds, and looked at the granary, the grist mill, the quarters were the monks stayed and also the quarters where the native inhabitants came to stay for protection and learning.

The mission itself was in various stages of restoration, but is used to this day for Catholic masses and events.  I knelt for a while and said a prayer for Grandma Kafehl and my mother-in-law Maryanne who recently passed away.... it felt like the right thing to do. 

Afterwards, in the smaller alter room near the sacristy, there were candles that could be lit for a small donation, in memory for a person.  I lit one for Grandma and one for Maryanne.  I think they would both be pleased. 

While touring the grounds, I was most interested to hear about the church's ranch nearby where they raised the churro sheep for wool for weaving, and also the cotton that was spun to make summer time clothing.  A few mentions were made about the teaching of weaving to the residents of the mission, so they could learn a trade and become farmers instead of hunter/gatherers.  During the movie segment, they showed how sheep were used for running over round and round on flax to help break down the fibers for making linen.  The did have one segment during the movie of weaving, which I snapped a picture of right off the movie screen!  LOL

( this is for my fiber friends who are blog readers) 

Once we were finished with the tours, it was much too late to catch a tour of The Alamo before it closed at 5pm.  Instead we lollygagged at the campground for awhile before saying our "See You Later's" to Colleen as she had to head on back home.  Also Susan was nearing the end of her touring energy and went back to her RV to feed the kitties and get dinner going.   They gave Steve and I good hints of what to see and do downtown that evening.

Both gals wrote a blog about our day... with many more photos and good explanations about the things we had seen up to this point.  Both can be viewed by clicking on the links below:

Colleen's blog:

http://travelinglongdogs.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-day-with-karen-in-woods-and-stevio.html

Susan's blog:

http://travelbug-susan.blogspot.com/2013/02/when-bloggers-meet-tues-feb-26.html

Steve and I hopped in the Tracker and headed downtown San Antonio.  We found a parking spot right away within a block of the Riverwalk.  We made double and triple sure of the location of the intersection we parked at, because once we got down below street level, it would be hard to figure out where we started.

Oh my----  it was a whole other world down there!  It's a sub-level walkway that winds alongside a channel that cuts through the city.  Many restaurants and hotels open up from their basement levels out into the Riverwalk... and other businesses are just only on the riverwalk level below ground.  Tour boats float up and down the river, and we heard so many of their announcers voices giving information, we didn't even need to take the ride.

It was almost surreal and otherworldly.  The sounds were muffled by the plantings on the sides and the water flowing past.  Colored lighting and various plantings added to the winding trails and pathways through the dark sections.  You could cross over and back from section to section if you wished, and most areas were lit in some muted way.

We wandered through quiet areas and darkened corners, and then into brightly lit areas with music, dining, laughter and people.   Of course I took fifty bazillion photos, but am only going to post six of them of the riverwalk.   We found this little duck hanging out near a dining area... one can only guess what his diet consists of with all the human food nearby.

We wandered along, and sometimes stopped here and there to take it all in.  The soft lights, the music, the people and most of all, the twinkling water with dancing lights over the surface made it all seem so magical.  I suppose during the daylight it would have looked different, dirty, or cluttered.  But at night, it was a new world to step into.   This area was where the movie Miss Congeniality was filmed (with Sandra Bullock)   It is an outdoor amphitheater  and had rising bleachers to the left, not in the photo.

Many areas were empty of any people at all.... 

so we did a little smooching in our own private 

"Tunnel of Love"

As we got back near where we started, we didn't find any of the restaurants especially appealing to us. Maybe that huge lunch we had was keeping us from being too hungry?  We found these cool cement benches shaped like a livingroom couch to sit on for a while.. and just savored the peaceful night air in the quiet darkness.  This was someplace we were not going to forget for a long time.

When we got up on top at the street level, we wandered over to where some lit up horses and carriages were waiting.

They were so cool and we were thinking of taking a ride as I snapped a few photos, but then I realized we were very near The Alamo!    Well, that topped that, and off we went over to The Alamo.   

I bet not too many folks get a clear unobstructed shot of the Alamo during the daytime hours without lines and lines of people waiting to be rushed through it!   We had all the time in the world and not many people around at all! 

There were brochures available, and a 24 hour guard on duty who answered some questions and pointed out a few things to see.  We got time to read all of the plaques and check out the views through each window all around the fortress area.  I even shined my flash of my camera on focus to see the darkened areas.  So we did our daytime tour in the evening. 

We snapped a pic for a father and son with their camera, and they reciprocated and snapped one for us.  Such tourists, eh?

Although you couldn't get inside, the grounds were lit up and far less crowded at night.  We got to see and touch the building outside, the doors, the walls of the fort, and peek through the bars into the open area beyond.  I think with our understanding of all the five missions from the great talk earlier in the day, we got a much better picture of what we were seeing once we reached The Alamo.  And even if we didn't get inside, I think we got a much more personal and up close experience by being there in the peaceful night time hours.

Now... we were getting hungry!   On the way downtown, I had seen this sign:

It was a little outdoor patio street place with a little shack that served beer or wine.  Around the edges were parked various little vendor trucks and trailers selling food.  In the middle were picnic tables and people and lights and dogs and fun and laughter.  And set up on one end was live music!  Now how could it get any better than this???

Yes, we bought our food from a guy cooking it in an Airstream Travel Trailer!!!   What fun!   He was so nice and we had our choice of five or six menu items.  

When your food was done, he hollared out the door your name and to come and get it!   We sipped our drinks, and took in the local flavor of the place.  We spoke to a few folks, who lived nearby.  This was the place to come and unwind in their neighborhood.  We petted doggies and smiled at folks living it up and having a good time.  Soon our order was called out, and we dug in.  We had the Burger du Noir (bacon cheeseburger with jalapenos and melty provolone cheese)   The fries were dipped in some kind of breadcrumb batter and were delicious.   I could not even finish half that thing, but Steve managed to eat all of his.   What a perfect way for two RVers to have dinner?  Cooked in an RV ?????

From there, we toddled on home with full bellies and our minds whirling with all we had seen and done in one day!  

Whew.....  

I know this blog was long, 

but it was a LONG DAY! 

Meeting with TWO fellow bloggers!

Okay... I am a bit crunched on time this morning.  We have been catching up on laundry, vacuuming and cleaning before we hit the road.  So until I can write a blog about yesterday, please read Susan's:

http://travelbug-susan.blogspot.com/2013/02/when-bloggers-meet-tues-feb-26.html

And I will try to get the pics outta my camera and do a blog post once we hit the road.  

We have to be out of the RV park in an hour....

Leaving our host and heading to a Wild Wild Windy West

(I am behind again.. this post is about Sunday and Monday) 

After our wonderful plane ride, we gathered back at Eric's patio to have a little lunch.   Then both guys donned their work overalls (so cute---they were matching!)   and they went to work on the rigs.  Eric's rig needed a brake fluid change, and Steve happened to have along his air power brake line bleeder.

They scrambled around and did a bit of this and that... while I got the rig road-worthy to take off.  Even though we had only seen a bit of the area, we didn't want to moochdock too long or wear out our welcome.  We invited Eric and Cathy to come up to Wisconsin anytime, and if they were going to attend the EAA in Oshkosh, it was within 40 miles of our home and they could moochdock or stay in our guest bedroom if they flew in.  The EAA is the largest gathering of Experimental Airplanes in the USA... maybe the world?   Anyhow, our home and extra vehicle are available, Eric, any time!

Eric loaded us up with a sack full of ruby red grapefruit from his tree, and a jar of fresh squeezed lemon juice... what wonderful travelling gifts.   We said our goodbyes to Eric and the puppies and hit the road .... looping up around through the bayou towards Lafayette.

The road was REALLY bumpy in spots (Eric had warned us)  but we made it up and across to Crowley.   I GPS'd the Walmart at Crowley... and it was getting dark.  Of course, the ONE time for the GPS to steer us wrong is in the DARK!   It told us to go north at the exit and the Walmart would be on the left.  Nope.. nothing but a field-----  and nowhere to turn around.  We managed to head up the road another mile or two, and around on a single lane residential road in the dark, to make a big loop and back down again.  As we got back to the exit ramp, we could see the partially lit sign "WA"  and nothing else.. on the SOUTH side of the highway!   There it was... whew~!

We pulled in and got settled and got permission to park, just as the rain started with TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS!   Eric called to make sure we made it alright before the storms hit....

As we slept, the rig rocked with the winds, and the rain hammered on the roof.  East of us over New Orleans were tornado warnings and bad winds.  Glad we made it off the road when we did!

On Monday morning we woke up to kinda dreary weather and some splatterings of rain.  Just as we got to the Texas border, the rain started coming down HARD ... we pulled into the Welcome Center on I-10 and sat while it just came down in sheets....

What was that sound?  ON MY.... HAIL!!!!   It splattered on us, our solar panels, the pavement and the windows.  We held our breath and hoped that nothing would be damaged.  It ended as soon as it started.  We were able to get out and walk around and get some brochures from inside the visitor center.  Behind the center was a long walkway through the swamp.

We ambled along and snapped a few pics.  They had a big statue and informative plaque about the Alligator Turtle, but we only saw this little guy....

Lunch on the fly, and off we headed towards Houston.  It was 3 p.m, right before rush hour.  Whew... we slid right through the center of the city on I-10 and didn't have any problems.  The East bound traffic was backed up for miles and miles, but we were clear to go West.

As you can see.. the skies were clear, and it was warm warm warm!  It was high 70's and we were enjoying it to the fullest!  We had the windows open, and the dogs were sniffing any good smell that came in the screens.  Ahhhh this is what we were looking for!

We got a few emails from concerned friends... seems up in the panhandle it was snowing.. and not just snowing, but a great big freakin blizzard!!!  It was up into Kansas, Missouri and on it's way to Illinois.  We called up our father-in-law who is traveling west through that way.  Seems he just skirted around south of it and was okay in Springfield, MO.

We headed on over towards San Antonio... but the winds started to pick up. I am sure the bottom edge of that big storm north of us.  When they reached about 25-30mph and gusts in the 40mph range, it was time to pull off.  We found a Wal-mart/ Jack in the Box/ HEB store by Columbus TX and got permission to hunker down there for the night.  Did our first shopping at an HEB store and got fresh/frozen Texas Gulf Shrimp to cook up. Yummmmm

About 9 pm the winds were really gusting.  We were rocking even in the protected area between the Jack in the Box and the strip mall.  Some semi trucks pulled in next to us and I peeked out the windows.... (a la Agnes Cravitz style)  and there was a big smiling Nascar racer face looking at me from the side of a truck!

I don't follow Nascar (it puts me to sleep when it's on tv)  but I know this was interesting.  It was called a "souvenir truck"  that carried five or six different driver's names and numbers.  Cool.

The truck got settled in, and along came a second black truck... this time it was Dale Earnhart JR's truck.    Now THAT was something!   Now  I had to go out and snap some pics!

I told my friend Dee (who follows Nascar religiously) that I was gonna go over and knock on their door and tell them to move because they were blocking my TV signal!   LOL   (I didn't) The guys from in the trucks gathered inside the Jack in the Box... but we didn't go talk to them.  It was late and we went to sleep.

We drove 271 miles today.


We had a good night's sleep and are now headed in towards San Antonio.  We have reservations at the Travelers World RV resort and are going to meet up with a couple fellow bloggers!

Stopped for fuel just out of San Antonio....  73 gallons at $4.02  $295.00.  Ouch!

Up, Up and Awayyyy over NNNWAWOOORRRLLLEEENNNZZZ

Did I happen to mention our Driveway Moochdocking Host is also a pilot?  With a plane?

Well, that kind soul, Eric, offered to take us for a plane ride over the city!   The weather cleared up enough to take a spin on Sunday...  so off we went to the little grass strip airport near his home, just west of New Orleans.

How exciting!!!!!    I have flown in big planes and jets, but have not been in a little prop plane like this since I was a kid flying with Bob Lou over Iron County, Michigan for a Penny A Pound ride fundraiser.

Steve's dad is a pilot and flew planes, so it was not so new to Steve.  But for me it was a whole new world again.  We pulled in to the little airport at Ama, 6 ft above sea level.  Eric had it all fueled up and ready to roll.  errrr fly!

Steve rode up in the copilot seat and I got in the back.  

Lucky it was a four seater plane, 

or else they probably would have strapped me to the tail 

or made me walk the wings or something....

He gave us instructions and managed to find a third pair of headphones so I could hear the tower and their conversations too.  Eric did all the pre-flight checking and radio'd ahead to get permission to take off and logged his flight plan.  We taxied out onto the runway..... and took off!!!!!


OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!  It was exhilarating!   My heart was pounding but I knew Eric has flown many many hours and hasn't crashed so we are good hands.  (but he did show me where the door lever was reachable from the back seat if we did... ack!)   We cleared the trees and went up up up to about 1,000 feet.   The clouds were coming in from the west a bit, so we went east... along the Mississippi River towards New Orleans.

Watching the tiny barges and boats along the river was interesting, and seeing all the homes, swimming pools, and rooftops that were spanning for miles and miles on end.

Steveio was watching intently all of the gauges, dials, and readouts.  Eric was explaining a lot of the systems and showing how it all operated.  Durikng the lapses of conversation, he has FM radio playing through the headsets and it was strangely eerie to be cruising along through the air to tunes?

As we got closer to the city, the houses were closer together, the highways were getting filled with cars and it was so interesting to look down over the Sunday doings of people in their yards and on the streets.  Kinda like a peeper into their yards and lives!

We followed along the winding Mississippi River and saw more boats and barges... but the clouds were coming in and blurring some of the vision, so Eric dropped down a bit lower to see better.

Of course while looking out the windows on either side, I had my video camera running all the while.. plus snapping pics with the digital camera.  Here we are circling around over New Orleans, and you can see the Super Dome (now called the Mercedes Benz Superdome)  over my shoulder.

This was a ride of a lifetime and I didn't want to miss a thing! We looped down along the freeway and over the main part of the city... tall buildings and roads were like a tiny maze beneath us.

Along the port by the convention center, two cruise ships were at dock.  There is even a putting green on top of the one to the right just out of the edge of the picture.  After hearing all the news about that one cruise ship stranded, plus the time Steve got shipwrecked and marooned on one en route to Alaska ---well....  no thanks.  I will travel instead in the motorhome and take our chances on the "terra firma"!   Even if we did get stuck for 5 days on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, it sure beats the experiences that those people had on the cruise ships.

Eric flew us over The French Quarter... right over where we had parked and walked around the day before.  It was really interesting to see if from up above today.  

I could see where we parked the Tracker... 

I could see where the mule carriages were lined up... 

I could see the rooftops of the quirky little houses we walked past... 

I was snapping pics as fast as I could, then looking around and snapping again.. all the while holding up the video camera with my other hand hoping it was filming something... anything... haha  (it did fine, we watched it back later last night)  I snapped 216 photos.. but don't worry, I am not going to post them all here.  It may seem like it, though!  hahaha

Eric looped over the city a few times making some tight turns that tickled the belly and made the whole plane tip a lot to the side... I was not scared because I felt comfortable with Eric's skill.... but see the ground ahead in the cockpit windshield?? Those were some tight turns!  Very exciting and we were loving every minute of it!~

Then we headed out over the 9th Ward where the most damage was done from Hurricane Katrina.   It was sobering to know many people lost their lives in this area because they could not or would not leave before the storm hit.  Also Eric mentioned the green sections of lawn all over were homes that were not rebuilt.  Either owners decided to not rebuild, or perhaps died and nobody has settled the estate, or nobody wants to buy the lot and build.  I don't think I would stay, nor would I rebuild.  I would want to move far far inland.  I guess I can not understand those who would stay....  

Now Eric did a wonderful sweep along the bayou lands far east of the city...  this was amazing and probably the most interesting part of the flight.  It was clearer to the east, so we could see down lower into the swamps and rugged bogs and marsh.  Every now and then was a little shack.  Someone's fishing or crawfish hutch to work from?  

It was like looking down on a whole new world... seeing the array of land and water and swampy trees like cypress poking up through the mud.  We could even see white egret birds flying below us.  I felt a strange kinship with them as they flapped their wings and soared along at a lower altitude than what we were flying at.

Seeing the depths of the water levels in shallow areas vs the deeper ones was interesting, and the whole terrain of the underwater was an extension of the upper dry lands.  Well, somewhat dry and somewhat muddy and marshy.  Seeing logs laying in the water and trees that fell over .. wondering how many of them fell from the hurricane or by naturally just getting old and falling over.  The damage the storms did to the eco systems was astounding and Mother Nature is doing her best to get things back on track.

Eric flew us back to the west again and radioed in to ask permission for a touch and go landing at the big airport in New Orleans.  We flew in to the area, and he explained the light systems to line up and head down the runway.  We landed soft and easy... and back up into the air again.... boy oh boy he was good!   Then we went past the tower and we waved to the controllers who had given him permission to do that.  Thanks guys!

Well, it was clouding up more now to the west, so it was time to fly back to Ama and land the plane.  He circled in and came down fast to the tree level.. it was amazing the plane fits so nice between the trees.  To a novice like me, it felt like they were wayyy too close and we would hit them!   But no .... Eric guided the plane in, and smoothly landed it on the grassy strip without a bounce or a jiggle... easy peasy for him!   He slowed down up at the end of the airstrip and taxi'd to a perfect stop by the fueling trucks.  WHEEEEE what a ride!

We got out of the plane and stood on firm ground again.  Although I am not nuts on heights when on a ladder or looking out from top stories of buildings, the airplane ride did not bother me.  It was exhilarating and fun and strangely serene and comforting to be up there among the clouds.  Maybe I was a bird in a past life?   Here I propped the camera up to take a shot of us, safe on the ground.

Steve helped Eric refuel and then he tows the plane back to his hanger with a golf cart!  All snug as a bug in a rug after our wonderful exploring over the skies of The Big Easy!

Here is the route we took from the airport on the lower left corner, 

across to the right and then up and back to the left ...  what a journey! 

Eric, 

(I know you are reading this)  

Thank you again 

for a well-informed 

and pleasant ride! 

It is truly the highlight 

of our trip to Louisiana!!!