Mouth of the Amazon to the Heart of the Bayou

 

After 5 months of being on this  around the world adventure we’ve adopted the focusing abilities of a horse close to its barn …we’re headed home as quickly as we can regardless of the opportunities before (below) us.

Our trip home started at a little beach airfield in Valenca Brazil (SNVB). We made a short hop north into Salvador (SBSV) for fuel. Once we topped off our Little Bird we pointed her north towards Macapa (SBMQ) at the mouth of the Amazon River.

 

At SBMQ we squeezed in every drop of fuel we could for our flight across South America, Macapa to Caracas Venezuela (SVMI).  What we thought was a close flight in fuel/time proved to be only a preview of the hours and weather conditions before us.

 

From Venezuela we returned to our comfort zone …flying over water.

It just makes sense as this rock we’ve just flown around only has 29% of its surface above water.

 

 

We flew north over the line diving Haiti and the Dominican Republic into Grand Turk International (MBGT) at Cockburn Town.

 We had to stop for rest …and a Margarita at Jimmy’s place.

It’s a virtual trip, however, on our flight north from Grand Turk to Nassau (MYNN) we were handed off to Miami Control. After all the real time hours of flying this adventure the sense of accomplishment at that moment, by returning  back home to US airspace, was very real.

Slidell, LA

Our math calculations said we’d make it, fuel wise, from Nassau (MYNN) to Slidell Louisiana (KASD). We took into account the winds aloft variables …a nasty 45MPH headwind @ FL28 that seemed to have fallen in love with the nose of our aircraft. It rose in speed as our flight level increased but it stayed with its beloved …our nose.

We landed in Slidell to our grandchildren, children and friends with 100 gallons of Jet A on board, less than 10% …not cool or compliant. Horse, Barn …bad choice.

We’re back …we celebrate with dear friends who are indeed …family. Lena and Tim’s music is a great welcome home for us.

 Next up, our adventure continues home, but first …more grandbabies in Vegas Baby.