Jun 2018 It’s a Good Life in Texas!
Tonight, incredibly, Boyd and I find ourselves at the halfway point of our journey around the perimeter of America. Since arriving in Texas, the realization of how enormous it is has set in. We’ve flown from Beaumont in the far eastern Gulf of Texas to Houston, to Brownsville, to Laredo, to Del Rio – and that’s where we’ve settled for the night. 
We’ve flown low and we’ve flown high, staying under cloud layers at times and climbing to escape the bumps and the ridiculously high temperatures other times. We’ve had wonderful views down low and some teeth jarring bumps that convinced us it was time to climb higher. All along, we continue to meet interesting people and the taildraggers they love, and we feel very fortunate to be flying this incredible journey.
For a midwesterner like me, Galveston’s airport was incredibly scenic to fly into. Our view was spectacular as we approached, as it’s surrounded by water on all sides. Wind was gusting to plus 25 mph at the time and it was Mr. Boyd’s turn at the stick. He did his usual superb job of landing for which I am always in awe.
WooHoo, we’re here!
In the Houston area, I REALLY hated to not stop at Flyin Tiger Field and visit the legendary Bruce Bohannan and Freya Schiller but too hot and we were too heavy. A big bummer!
Another south Houston area view from atop. This airport was crazy confusing from the air. I think it was T54 but we’ve landed at so many new airports I’m losing track. So which is the airport and which is … well, I don’t know what it is?!
Our Tuesday overnight stop was X09, Covey Trails, a residential flyin community on Houston’s west side, guests of Lisa and Mark Haag.
Lisa and Mark’s Murphy Moose on amphib floats. It’s powered by a Russian 400 hp radial MP14 engine. N number 1 “007”!
You gotta see this paint scheme! Lisa’s C140A.
OMG, this couple lives-and-breathes-aviation. Their front door is hands down, the coolest door ever!
And there’s more. Directly behind their airport community home, they’ve built an enormous hangar/breezeway/4-story party space/apartment/antique auto storage facility – to the tune of 300′ long x 60′ deep. It’s still under construction but nearing completion.
Can it get any better than a golf-cart tour of the fly-in community, bumping around, vino in hand?
Oh yes it can! They astounded us by whisking us off to dinner in a Maserati sedan!
All good things must end. Departing X09 Wednesday morning we dealt with a layer of low clouds inland as we flew towards the Texas coastline. As soon as we reached it, the clouds disappeared and, although the visibility wasn’t perfect, it was plenty good for a very enjoyable flight over the Padre Island National Seashore. The seashore seems to go on endlessly, unaffected by civilization with no roads, no people, nothing but nature for miles and miles.
There are spectacular sights along the coastline of Texas, much you will never see if you don’t get in an airplane and fly there.
We managed to make a quick stop at Laredo, TX and arrived just before two T45s landed and taxied up beside us. Our fine Marines were training a Navy pilot!
Late this afternoon we made our way to Del Rio, Texas. We’re overnight and would LOVE to get onto Laughlin Air Force Base on Thursday before we head further S.W. Several of our LadiesLoveTaildraggers’ members have spent time and trained here. If you know a way for civilians to get a peek of what goes on inside, please let me know – ASAP!!!
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