El Paso

We wandered around downtown Phoenix in the morning waiting for the weather to clear and the winds to settle further east, then flew at 9500 feet most of the way from Phoenix to El Paso. Here’s what was notable today:

  • Tim tried to taxi down a service road instead of a taxiway at Phoenix Sky Harbor, and the ground staff and controllers were extremely sympathetic in pointing us in the right direction.
  • Our three-hour-flight was without incident except that we discovered Julie climbs VERY SLOWLY in heat and high altitude. We are getting used to this now and are figuring out little tricks to help her up, as well as just being patient.
  • There is NOTHING OUT THERE. OMG. Arizona and west Texas – SO BARE! We did see some more solar farms and a few wind farms as well.
  • It was windy coming into El Paso and the controller was a bit concerned. Tim and I were both – what, 15 knots 10 degrees off the runway? That is a normal day at Perth in Scotland! (It was bumpy coming down but it was fine.)

We arrived pretty late in the evening and didn’t really have time or energy for anything except supper and bed. The FBO (“fixed-base operator”) we parked with in El Paso could not have been nicer. They drove us to the local Marriott and recommended we eat supper at Cattle Baron across the street. So we did, and I had catfish, which was delicious.

When I lie in bed at night and close my eyes, I feel like I am floating gently up and down.