Flight Home From New Orleans

We got up Monday morning and took our time getting ready.  We had breakfast again at IHOP and after went back to the hotel to check-out.  We were able to get everyone and everything in Papa's car so Papa & Granny took us to the airport to see us off.  I called Flightline First when we were on the way and they had our plane ready for us on the ramp when we arrived.

We were able to drive right up to the plane which made loading really convenient.  The fuel and tie-down fees were very reasonable, especially considering the great service we received and the use of their wonderful facilities.  Asking for the "Airnav" discount got us 50 cents/gal off the full serve price and the tie-down fee was $10 per night.   With the pre-flight complete and everything stowed, we said our goodbyes.  I filed for the reverse route from our trip out and was approved "as filed" at an altitude of 7000 feet.  As usual the headwinds we fought on the way out no longer existed to give us some tailwinds home.  The winds were about 15-20 knots off our right wing.

Shortly after leveling off above an overcast layer, Mary quickly went to sleep and Kristi finally got to relax and play on her iPad for a bit.  Abby played on her DSi and I flew the plane jumping back and forth between various XM radio stations.  The new audio panel works great!  I had to turn the music down a few times since I had the mute function off and I didn't want to miss an ATC call.

The clouds finally cleared and I found a few interesting things to look at below.  The sun was in a perfect spot to see Glory in the clouds every now and then.

Mary had a nice long nap.  When she woke up, Mom was ready with movies and treats.  At least she wore her headset again for a little bit.

Abby and I just discovered Mary got the only chocolate chip cookie in the plane!

NOT FAIR!!!!!!!

At least we weren't in charge of the cleanup!

Before GPS, most IFR cross country flying was done via Airways or "Highways in the Sky" that are mostly connected via radio navigation aids know as VORs.

The Taylor VOR

Finally a nice and smooth descent into Jacksonville.  I was able to keep the speed up nicely which of course earned me a request to slow for spacing.  Ugh!

Here are a few shots of the ships on the St Johns River where I work.  Just before we reached the Dames Point Bridge in the second picture we turned right for a stright in landing on Ruway 14 at KCRG.

We had a great trip. We flew over 1000 miles total. It took about 3h 30m to get to New Orleans and about 3 h 15m to get home.  Not bad at all!  We are truely blessed.