Flying Across America - Double Header

Today was catch-up day. We wanted to try to get in two full legs today so we could comfortably arrive in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon, before the thunderstorms rise up. To accomplish this goal, we set the alarm for 5:30 am, ate breakfast at 6:30, caught the 7:00 shuttle to the airport, planned our first flight, fueled the plane, and departed Gillette a little after 8:00.

The route today was different than previous routes - we planned direct from Gillette to Kirksville, Missouri. Since there are no more mountains to avoid along this part of the country, we no longer needed to plan through the valleys and passes. The direct flight plan distance is 631 nautical miles. We made the flight in a little over 4 hours. At several times during the flight, our ground speed was over 200 miles per hour! Great tailwinds all the way so far, and expected for tomorrow, too.

The biggest highlight of the trip was seeing Mt. Rushmore. It was easier to find than I had expected. When traveling east, the Black Hills suddenly erupt with rock outcroppings above the tree line. At one particular outcropping, there's a large parking lot. Right up from it is Mt. Rushmore. We flew a left 360 in front of it and hopefully got some nice pictures.

Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

Mt. Rushmore close-up from Todd

The Badlands were also interesting to see from the air. It seemed that we flew for a hundred miles without seeing any sign of civilization.

The Badlands of South Dakota

The landscape started getting green again as we flew across Nebraska and into Iowa and Missouri. Iowa, as expected, had lots of wind farms.

Wind farms of Iowa

We stopped in Kirksville, Missouri for a quick visit with some of Todd's relatives. We were met at the airport by Uncle Lee and Grandma Enid. Lee drove us to Eric and Stacey's beautiful house for lunch. Eric and Stacey's very cute 18-month old daughter Jane Ann also joined us for lunch. During lunch, Eric told us a great story about a man called Griz Adams and his dead relative in an urn and a flight to spread his ashes.

After lunch, Eric drove us back to the airport. Todd and I quickly planned the next leg of the trip because it was nearly 4:00 and the sun sets around 6:30. We came up with three choices that were 2 hours away: Bowling Green, Kentucky, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and Jackson, Tennessee. We chose Bowling Green.

The flight to Bowling Green was a short walk in the park, relatively speaking. We quickly intercepted the Mississippi River and passed St. Louis - we could just barely make out the Arch - then entered Illinois. Then we crossed over the corner of Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky, crossing the Ohio River. I started feeling like I was home as I saw a few barges navigating the river. We entered the traffic pattern in Bowling Green as the sun was settting in the west.

Bowling Green, Kentucky

Flightaware track from Gillette to Kirksville

Flightaware track from Kirksville to Bowling Green

 After we parked, the line guy at Co-Mar Aviation topped our tanks, arranged a hotel, pulled the van up next to the plane, helped us load our luggage, and drove us to the hotel. When we arrived, he opened the back door of the van and one of my bags fell out onto the ground. It was fine, but I told him that he just blew his $100 tip. :-)