Lucy, my sister Hannah, and I all went out west to visit family for Thanksgiving. Brandi opted to have a staycation and skip this trip since she was a little bit over all the traveling we have done lately.
We had a great flight out to Austin, TX to visit my friend Lee. We hung out, ate good BBQ, and caught up on what's been going on. We stayed the night and got an early start the next day. We headed to Show Low, AZ, where my Granny lives. We enjoyed a nice visit with her, some good meals, and as usual some challenging scrabble matches. Lucy especially loved playing with the two cats and dog.
We then departed to Guaymas, Mexico, which was the third time we have flown there now. It was a nice smooth ride down there and the 2 hour flight sure does beat the 6 hour drive! When we arrived it was a nice warm 80 degrees and Lucy even played in the ocean a bit. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset, hung out with family and were having a great time. Poor Hannah was sick to her stomach but she hung in there like a trooper. The next day the whole family went out on my Grandpa's boat and we enjoyed the entire day out on the ocean. The fishing wasnt good that day but we had a great time anyways. Lucy played with her cousin Levi, who is about a year older than her. We went out fishing again the next day but again, not much luck, which is unusual but it happens from time to time. We had planned on staying another day but weather dictated that if we didnt leave immediately then a storm front would block us from getting home for several more days. We loaded up quick and headed for South Texas. We cleared customs in Brownsville with a little trouble because they couldnt find my EAPIS, despite the fact that I had definitely filled it out earlier that day and even had a confirmation email. After that the plan was to get fuel and get ahead of the weather that was in central Texas.
Upon landing at Port Aransas for fuel, we had developed a flat tire on the left main! What a nightmare. The tire was in great shape and no sign of puncture. I didnt know what was going on until later inspection showed the stem had sheered off the tube!! What the hell! How does that even happen? Since it was Friday night when that happened and no maintenance on the field, plus everyone around the area seemed to be gone for Thanksgiving, we had a really hard time finding a tube. I finally got one from a really nice old mechanic out at Corpus Cristi Intl. The weather was IFR anyways so we were stuck. We ended up getting a rescue flight from my good friend Bill Thomason (Thank you times a million, Bill!!!). He brought a jack and was going to fly us all home. Bill arrived and rescued us and reported VFR on top the whole way back to GA. We made it out through a small break in the clouds and finally got home after an exhausting journey around the country. Everyone loved seeing Lucy so it was worth it. Hannah was a big help with Lucy and I couldnt have done it without her. Thanks Hannah!
