Tucumcari NM to Santa Fe -- More than just landing

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We departed Tucumcari around 10:30 am local -- MDT. We'd planned Santa Fe as a fuel stop with an intended destination of Page AZ.

Things started off fairly well, flying-wise, but then the wind and turbulence kicked in with a vengeance. After only two hours in the air, Ruth wrote at just after 1 pm EDT: "We are down at Santa Fe, 26 knot winds down the runway...plan to wait a bit and see. Beautiful country...challenging flying for eastern greenhorns!"

The landing was indeed challenging -- once we found the airport at all. We discovered that some airports in the southwest can be very hard to find, even with the help of GPS, when you're used to scanning a green environment a nice strip of blacktop. The controller had to guide two out of three planes to within a couple miles of the airport before we could see runway 28, as the runway was nearly the same sandy color as the surrounding land. (We'd had the same problem in Tucumcari.)

By the time she emailed, conditions were deteriorating further. The winds kicked up above 30 knots, with gusts, at about 40 degrees off the runway -- an especially talented wind, as there were three runways from which to choose, and that was as good at it was going to get. You know how the GAI AWOS features "...Caution, deer and birds on and in the vicinity of runway"? Here, there were basketball-sized tumbleweeds scooting across the runway and taxiways.

By this point, we were beginning to wonder whether the rest of the trip was going to be like this. Almost immediately after landing, we called it a day. We knew we were stuck for at least the night. It was very windy, hot -- in the mid '80's -- and clear -- and VERY dry. While we were organizing rental cars and accommodation, a couple of airline pilots came through the lounge and, noticing our caps, inquired as to what we were up to. They were quite interested and more than a little envious of our C2C trip in small aircraft -- and this from the guys flying big iron! "I never thought I'd hear that from a professional pilot, with the four gold braids on the uniform sleeves and the whole nine yards," exclaimed Geoff. The grass always looks greener...or the runway longer...or the beer colder...

Say, there's an idea...

We drove to the local no-tell motel a few miles toward town. It being pretty much lunch hour, we drove into Santa Fe and located a highly-recommended Mexican bar and bistro that Larry Falls favored. It is a LOVELY city, styled entirely in adobe architecture in a very natural way. Despite the obvious efforts at zoning, the effect was most harmonious and fit the environment perfectly. After lunch, we walked around the city center and through many galleries and open-air market.

Bob Hawkins had already passed his birthday, on May 9th, in Weatherford, but a more significant date was looming: his wedding anniversary with Anne. Now, the previous year he had already surpassed himself with a fine gift of first-class baubles. However, as Bob knows, there is almost never such a thing as non-evaporable Husband Points, and so he undertook to consult with the Women of CFC for their advice prior to a strategic purchase.

Donna and Janice decided to stay downtown for more shopping while the rest headed back to the motel to rest before dinner. We returned downtown to a railroad-themed restaurant. The staff was pretty good, and gave us a special section to ourselves (possibly out of consideration to their regular patrons as much as for their eight unreserved drop-ins). After dinner, back to the hotel for...more flight planning, and grim determination to get out before the wind could ground us again.

Yeah. Right. Hope springs eternal.

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Comments

[marion]

hi
nice to hear you are safe and happy. take care, fly well!