Well, in the last update we told you that we were leaving the next day for El Paso!!! We've got to stop making such statements, because it seems everytime we do the weather bites back and we get stuck!

After our lovely dinner on the riverwalk in San Antonio, we went home got some sleep and woke up to a very overcast, windy and generally bloody cold San Antonio! After much deliberation we realised we had to stay put! We asked the manager of the hotel if he could recommend some places to go visit while we were there and much to our surprise San Antonio is a very beautiful and historically rich City.

First off we went to see the Spanish missions San Jose. It was freezing cold, but it was well worth braving the cold to see the fantastic church and the associated housing for the converted Indians! From there it was in to the city to see The Alamo! The Alamo itself isn't all that impressive and you can't take pictures inside, but it was very interesting to find out that 9 Irishmen died in the battle of the Alamo, and that all are named inside! Touring the Alamo didn't take all that long and from there we were off to the Tower of the Americas!

The Tower of the Americas is basically a viewing balcony where you can get some great panoramic view of the city...... though not as impressive as the ones we got leaving on our own plane;-) After this it was time to eat and head off to bed! The next day the cold front still hadn't passed so it was another day of driving around exploring greater S A, and just generally taking in the area.

Finally day 3 we got to get out!!! I was up first for the day and we went to the airport and departed! This leg of our trip was the first leg that we started encountering the higher ground of the western USA with the first stop of the day, Odessa, at 2600 ft above sea level. From Odessa it was on to El Paso, Pete was flying and there was some really impressive mountains to fly around rather than over as they were so high, but none were quite as impressive as the mountains right beside El Paso!

El Paso itself is at 4000 above sea level which creates its own issues and things to be considered before landing! Anyway Pete handled it well and we were down for the day! The mountains tower over the city and are clearly visible from anywhere in the city! So we got to the hotel and i reached for my wallet to pay for the hotel.......
No Credit Card!!!! It turns out that I left it one the counter in Odessa when I paid for the fuel! Many different solutions were proposed with me driving back to Odessa that night to collect it being the favourite for a while, but after a call to the boss and financial advisor we figured out that there was very little money on the card and FedEx are shipping it to San Diego as we speak! During the deliberations about if I should go for eh 6-7 hour drive back for my card we went down to see the border crossing into Mexico! The Rio Grande is now a heavily fortified canal with high concrete walls and a 15ft wire fence to stop anyone trying to make a break for it! Its a very weird place which was good to see but I don't think either of us will go out of our way to visit again!

So this morning we work up to a fantastic clear blue skies! We got out to the airport and packed up the plane! We were cleared to take off on the runway pointing straight at the mountains! We were both quite apprehensive on take off but we were cleared straight over the top of them!! So off we went and good old Mike Charlie made it straight across the top (ok ok of the smallest one!!) without a bother! The next leg brought us from Texas, over New Mexico and into Tucson Arizona. We flew quiet a part of the leg along the Mexican border which funnily enough doesn't look even marked let alone guarded! Makes you wonder why bother with El Paso!! Flying over the desert of New Mexico and the arid and rocky mountains of Arizona really did make for some amazing scenery! So into Tucson we came with a 737 landing ahead of us, and one then beside us on a parallel runway was a pretty cool introduction to a busy international airport!

So here comes the next twist! We had a lovely lunch in Tucson and made our way back and settled our bills. Pete was handling this leg so we went out, climbed aboard and went through our checks. Time came to start the engine and .....nothing! Not a sausage!! Both of our initial thoughts were the battery was dead. It turns out that best case scenario is that a relay in the starter motor system has burnt out! We should be back up and running tomorrow, but hey I'll believe it when I see it!!!

So for now we're in a hotel in Tucson enjoying the warm weather and the HD TV in our hotel room! We'll update you all further when we reach the Pacific!!

San Antonio Pics


San Antonio to El Paso Pics


El Paso to Tucson Pics