Day 18 -- Sunday, July 4, 2021 -- "We Are Home! Celebrations!"

 Day 18 - We think we can make it through weather in northern Florida.  We filed IFR and it was an easy 3.5 hour flight.  I was amazed that by 900 feet above ground at KCEW, we were able to reach ATC and activate our IFR clearance.

                                            We were between cloud layers most of the way home.

                                                     
                                                Looking familiar -- we are close to home.

                                Safely Home!!!  We have lots to celebrate on this 4th of July!!!

                                                    Jeri welcomed us with this sign and flowers.

                                                                Tom made the sign.

                                   Roger served champagne to everyone.  He is really glad I'm home.

                        

                                                            Jeri and Tom brought flowers.

Welcome home party!!  Thank you, Tom, Jeri, Jimmy, Nancy, Anastasia, Nicoli, and David for welcoming us home.  What a great surprise!!

After 50 hours of flying, the oil needed to be changed.  Thanks to my sweetie for keeping MOJO happy.

                                                           Ceremonial map pinning.  

Claudette and I feel very accomplished.  It was a great bucket list item to land in all 48 contiguous states.

Thank you to everyone who supported us in our epic flying adventure!!

    What do you know?  North Perry had entertainment and a fireworks celebration to welcome us home.

Statistics for our Eastern Flight in 2019 in N199MJ

33.4 Hours flown

3862 NM

31 Landings

1 Touch and Go

25 States 

19 Days

292 Gallons of Fuel

Statistics for our Western Flight in 2021 in N199MJ

50.4 Hours flown

6273 NM 

31 Landings

1 Touch and Go

23 States

18 Days

401 Gallons of Fuel

Statistics for our Total Mission in N199MJ

83.8 Hours flown

10,135 NM

62 Landings

2 Touch and Goes

48 States

37 Days

693 Gallons of Fuel

                                                                        Pins in the Map

                                                                    Travel and Be Inspired

Day 17 -- July 3, 2021 -- "Uh oh!!!!"

 Day 17 -- Weather turned today into a rest day -- well sort of.

We started the morning looking for treasures at the Fort Walton Beach Flea Market.  We didn't find anything to add to our payload but we searched.

When we don't fly, we question our decision but the downpour convinced us that we made the right decision.  Look at all of these beautiful boats.  This is like going to a fly-in with 300 airplanes.

                                        We drove in some pretty bad traffic with a heavy rain.

The boardwalk is set up to help children and families have fun -- a train, a  bungee jumping apparatus. a zip line, dolphin tours, snorkeling tours, and more.  There were soooooo many people (and none wearing masks) that we started feeling uncomfortable so we stopped for a cold iced tea and drove back to the hotel to make a decision about flying tomorrow.  We are both ready to be home.  Hopefully, the 4th of July celebration will be a huge celebration for us, too. 

Day 16 -- Friday, July 2, 2021 -- "Florida, Here We Come!"

  Day 16 -- A hurricane is coming!!!   We aborted our visits with friends and family in TX and LA because a hurricane is coming.  If we stopped as we had planned, we would've been with our friends for a week or more.  You know the saying about fish and guests -- throw them out after 3 days.

This is what we saw on radar as we left Natchitoches, LA (KIER).  The skies looked ominous but we knew we were going away from the storm so we took off hoping to get home. 

                                                    This was our view after take off from KIER.

We arrived at Crestview, FL (KCEW) hoping to check the weather and be on our way but......

This is not the first time we've stopped at KCEW.  During the first part of our flying adventure on the east side of the country, when we came home, we had to overnight at Crestview because of weather.  When Roger and I evacuated MOJO because of Hurricane Irma, we stopped at KCEW, too.

Beau and Jennifer are incredible.  They made us feel welcome.  Beau remembered us from the last trip.  He found a spot for MOJO in the hangar.  They got a rental car for us and helped us get a reasonable hotel rate at a local hotel.  THANK YOU!!!  Emerald Coast Aviation is a winner.  We highly recommend them.  They also have iced tea and lemonade for pilot crew and passengers.

We accidentally found Wild Olive Restaurant.  This restaurant has a menu packed with awesomeness.  It was the best food we have had since we left home.  Great job Wild Olive cooks!!!

Here is Al.  Al took care of us and is passionate about Wild Olive.  She is a sweetheart and made us love the restaurant.  The main food is delicious and so is the creme brule.

                                This is a mural of Where the Wild Things are in Wild Olive - a children's knook.

For the last day(s) of our trip, we have a new driver.  Myra got the "baby" car but not a diesel truck.

Day 15 -- Thursday, July 1, 2021 -- "We Did It"

 Day 15 -- Today we left Kansas, made a quick stop in OK, then proceeded to TX and LA.  This was a very eventful day.  Read more to find out why!

When we left Kansas, I thought one of the tires looked low.  Dennis, being the great guy he is, told us about his mechanic at KGUY.  Guymon was a short 20 minute flight from KEHA.  Dennis called Greg, the mechanic at KGUY, and told him to expect us.  It was serendipitous that we missed our OK stop yesterday.

                                                        Approaching Guymon, OK (KGUY)

                                            RV at KGUY --- We are told that "real pilots" fly taildraggers.

                                                                Guymon, OK (KGUY)

Greg checked the tire and it was fine -- peace of mind.  Greg was wonderful.  He didn't even charge us for looking at the tire.  We met the most wonderful people at small airports along our journey.

                                                                        On to Texas

                                                        Approaching F05 -- Vernon, TX

                                                                       F05 - Runway 20

The crew at F05 quickly met us and made us feel welcome.  Here are Jose and David.  This was David's first day on the job, as Assistant Manager.  Jose, a middle school teacher, has an interesting background.  He worked for a state congressman in Washington.  He moved to Vernon, TX from California where he worked in manufacturing.  He has skills in budget planning and anticipates using his skills to help the school district.

                                                                Guys in the pilot's lounge.

                                Mary Latimar runs the GIFT Program (Girls in Flight Training) at F05.

Mary is highly recognized.  Here is one article about her.  

We are sorry that we missed seeing Mary.  She was in Oregon doing good work by transporting fire fighters

               Texas to Louisiana  ---  Greenery and bugs -- MOJO's windscreen was covered with dead bugs.

                                                            Natchitoches FBO, LA (KIER)

                                                                Windsock at KIER

                                                 WE DID IT!!!!  Louisiana was our 48th state.

                               

                                Congratulations to us.  We learned a lot and feel very accomplished.

        Dariean was very careful with MOJO.  Thank you, Dariean.  This is only the second FBO of 48 states who had the special pins to work in MOJO's wheelpants.

Mama's Oyster house was highly recommended for dinner.  Papa's Bar and Grill was next door.

                                    Gabrielle took good care of us and the food was good.

Day 14 -- Wednesday, June 30, 2021 -- "Desert Mountains and Plains"

 Day 14 -- The plan for today was to fly across NM and then land in NM, OK, and KS.  One thing we learned on this trip was to have a plan but be flexible when needed.  We were fortunate that the flight across NM was smooth.  The day before, a friend of ours flew east to west across NM and encountered severe mountain waves.  We landed at Double Eagle, NM, near Albuquerque, then filed IFR for the second leg to Kansas and skipped OK until the next day.

Leaving the hotel early in the morning (i.e., 6:00 am).  Do you think we travel with lots of bags???  These are our bags plus Ellen and Terry's luggage.  We carry clothes and food.  You never know when you will end up at an airport with no food available and pilots need to fuel themselves, as well as the airplane.

                                              Leaving Lake Havasu.  We are beating the heat.  

                                          

                                                                    KHII to KAEG

                                                                    KHII to KAEG

KAEG Sign

                                                                        KEHA FBO

We met Patrick at Double Eagle.  He is a designer for Amazon and Tesla.  He also teaches martial arts to "bad ass" women.  He seemed like an interesting person.  I'm so sorry that we could not stay and chat but weather was coming and we needed to vamoose.  

We purchased some of the best turkey sandwiches that we've eaten from the KAEG Cafe.  We didn't take pictures.

                                                                Women's restroom at KAEG

                                                        Wall decorations at KAEG

                                            Helicopters at Double Eagle, New Mexico (KAEG)

This trip was planned as a VFR trip but we were prepared to file IFR, if necessary.  For us to move on, it was necessary to file on our leg from KAEG (NM) to KEHA (KS).  Since we weren't sure about the weather, we skipped our planned stop in Oklahoma (17K).  We plan to stop at OK tomorrow.

ATC put us at 13,000 feet.  THANK YOU, Eddy for the O2 bottle.  We needed it.

                I got about 2 hours of actual IFR.  I'm a baby IFR pilot and this was a smooth flight.

We found another gem.  Elkhart-Morton Airport, KS (KEHA) is nestled between a rodeo fairgrounds and a well manicured golf course.  Dennis, the Airport Manager, is awesome.  He is kind, helpful, and welcoming.  He even gave us an overnight hangar and helped put MOJO in it.  Dennis also made a call to a local Bed and Breakfast to make sure that we could find a bed for the night.

Bob and Markey (sp??) Arhart (pronounced like the original Amelia Earhart but not spelled the same) with grand niece, Amelia, came to the airport to watch us land.  Thankfully, it was a good landing.  LOL

Dennis told us that there are only five pilots in the town.  

                                                                Amelia -- future pilot.

                                                                        KEHA (KS)

                                                            Mowing tractor at KEHA

                        We got a room in the Cottage Inn.  Elkart, KS is a real mid-American town.  

Susie and her husband, Dennis, own the Cottage Inn.  They thrive during hunting season when hunters stay with them.  Elhart residents love to have guests from other places.  They were so excited to see us that Susie contacted the local paper for them to write a story about our epic flying adventure.

                                                                    Inside the Cottage Inn.

                            Big C's was the restaurant that was highly recommended.  We tried it.

Everywhere we went, restaurants offered Chicken Fried Steak.  Claudette had never tasted it so she gave Chicken Fried Steak a try at Big C's (not her fav kind of food).