We left Monday, a packed full airplane, with me and Steve, Ethan's two guys Nick and Stephen, and Andy with his son Neal and a third guy. Ethan fell on the ice the day before and hurt his back and couldn't make it. Oh yeah, everything was coated in a sheet of ice the day before. And when I went to take off, there was sleet moving in, it was almost right on top of the airport as we were loading up. I texted everyone and said if we were going to get out of here, we needed to Get Out Of Here. Now. They loaded up, I fired up, taxied out, and took off, with it starting to spit precip on our windshield. Getting out was the first half of the battle. Strong headwinds, but we landed in Pueblo with nice weather for a stretch, gas, and a weather check. Meanwhile, Vegas was IFR and rain! Vegas NEVER gets rain and IFR-y! Vegas only has one approach into it, with 1400' minimums, because there are mountains all around it, which you can't see in the clouds, or the dark, and especially not in the dark in the clouds. I told them we would try the approach, but if we can't get in, we're going to another airport north of the field. Not as good of a place, but it would get us in. There was a gap in the rain, and we tried to time it once we saw it, and it looked promising. Sure enough, I hit that gap just right, and I had to shoot the approach, but I broke out and was able to visually see the runway. We were really, really close to a mountain, which I knew, but could not see, and it absolutely gave me the creeps. I also picked up some ice coming into Vegas, and popped the boots. The rain and the cold temps even out there produced a lot of moisture which turned into ice. So all in all, it was an eventful flight, not super relaxing on planning or executing, all the way to the ground, which was the first time I knew we'd actually make it in. I was tired after that trip, the constant weather checking and adjusting and uncertainty. I earned my money on that leg.
Once we landed in Vegas, at 10 pm our time, 7 pm their time, I felt like my end of the bargain was done. We checked into our rooms, and then walked over to Gordon Ramsey's burger joint on the strip. Excellent Parmesan truffle fries with their own special made ketchup and other white sauce that was delicious. I got a burger with mushrooms and stuff that was also really good. Walked back, and hit the bed, and by the time we got to bed it was after 2 am our time. Long day!
Our hotel room, Ethan last year put us in a suite on the second-from-the-top floor. This year, we were on the top floor. The total top floor. Not in the huge suite we were in, but still a super nice one. Three bathrooms, one with a shower, one with a hot tub, one with just stool and sink. Three bathrooms for two people, huge rounded floor to ceiling windows looking over all of Vegas, the city, the mountains, all of it. Just stunning. Ethan spoils us sometimes. :)
Steve and I ate at the breakfast buffet in the casino, and then we weren't hungry until dinner time. lol Ethan had made reservations for all of us at Prime, a fancy steakhouse in the Bellagio. We were on the ground floor, a table away from the window, which was right next to the fountain. So we got to watch the fountain show every 15 minutes while we ate our amazing food. Everyone got dessert except for me. I was so full I did not feel good, so even creme brulet couldn't tempt me. I was DONE done.
We didn't do any shows this year, we did some people watching, some walking, some sitting and eating, hung out in our room and enjoyed the views, sat up against the windows and watched the fountain show with the music on the TV matching, and just had a relaxing day. For the most part.
The unrelaxing part is me trying to figure out what to do the next day for our departure. I spent a large portion of the day looking at my options, and none of them were good. Low IFR, below minimums across pretty much the entire country from east Colorado on past Pennsylvania, up to Minnesota, down past Atlanta and N. Carolina. The TAF was calling for minimums, which would work. The MOS was calling for below minimums, which would not work. Who is right? Who knows. It went up and down and up and down and up and down on the forecast enough to drive me insane. And then finding an alternate was about impossible. You have to be able to have an alternate that is forecasting 600' for a precision or 800' for a non-precision approach the time you're supposed to arrive. Nothing within 2/3rds of the country was reporting above about 300'. Originally I was going to have to use Atlanta, and IT went low IFR. I ended up having to use Raleigh-Durham, NC as a legal alternate airport to land at for Frankfort!! Fortunately the Conquest has huge "legs", and I could actually make that if I had to. I almost had to.
I did, I spent all day off and on working on this problem, and problem it was. Enough of one that I had to tell the 7 people with me that there was only a 60% chance I could get them home tomorrow. They all got airline tickets out, and even those needed to be major, not regional, because Indy was forecast to be below normal minimums too. I made a final call that no, I didn't think we could get in, and off they went on Southwest Airlines. I do not feel good about that, because that did not get the job done. But it was the best option for them, or we could have ended up spending the night in Pueblo, Colorado and getting nowhere fast. That night, Frankfort was below minimums, and Indy was up and down below minimums too. It was the right decision.
Ethan had bought our hotel room for an extra night so we wouldn't have to check out early the next morning when we weren't supposed to leave until late afternoon, and have nowhere to go with our stuff. So we just stayed the night in the hotel room, while everyone else airlined home, and I stared at weather, for the next day, yesterday, which also did not look much better.
Everything was right at minimums, all across the country again. The ice we all got, then the temps warmed up just a little, and a little light rain, and instant country-wide fog machine. For a week straight and counting.
I got an Uber arranged for the next morning, and supposedly, if we arrived at home before 6 pm, we would beat it going below minimums on us again. We got out of there around 8:30 am, headed for the airport, hopped in and flew right to Pueblo, CO as an awesome stop and one of the last good weather places. I checked weather there again, and it seemed the same, I needed to beat 6 pm, and we should be arriving by 5:30. We flew along until we went over the layer of clouds below us, and knew that we were in no man's low IFR land for the duration.
This whole time, Frankfort, Kokomo and Indy were all at to just above minimums according to on board weather. When I got close enough, I listened to the AWOSs. 1 mile and 400', minimums for Frankfort are 3/4 mile and 300'. Kokomo's are 200 and 1/2 mile. We get FIFTEEN MINUTES OUT, getting ready to shoot the approach at Frankfort, and AWOS says "less than 1/4 mile, fog, light rain". Well, that's bad. I dial up Kokomo and instead of a mile and 400', it was reporting 1/2 mile and 300', or almost minimums. I abandon Frankfort and keep my power up and I Race to shoot the approach at Kokomo before it tanks too. I listen to Indy and they are at minimums and going down too. I really might need that Raleigh Durham alternate! I get to Kokomo, and as I'm outbound on the approach, AWOS now says "1/4 mile, 300'." Grissom comes on and says "Do you have the latest weather?" I said yes, and he asked what I had heard it was. I said "1/2 mile and 300'." He said "The last I got was winds 060 at 7 (it was a tailwind for my runway but that's the only runway whose approach goes that low), 3/4 mile and 300'." I said thanks. He obviously didn't have the latest, but that's good for me. The Kokomo ILS had the glideslope out of service, so we are fortunate to have an RNAV approach that also goes down to 200 and 1/2. So I shot that. I saw ground right below me, but nothing in front of me. At 300' or so I saw the first rabbit light, came on down, at 200' I saw all the rabbit lights, so I came on down to 100', and there I saw the end of the runway. I made the landing, a little fast thanks to the tailwind and me only having two notches of flaps in in case I had to go missed, but I was glad to be down and done.
As soon as we landed, Steve's phone went off. Spencer had been tracking us, and he saw the weather, and he texted something about "Using those secondary minimums, eh?" lol Chuck texted and asked if we needed a ride. Ethan said "Nice job!" An online pilot friend from Washington DC posted "Nice, Laura." I had no idea so many people were watching us on FlightAware! Too funny.
My car was at Frankfort, but we have a beater Mercury SUV we keep at Kokomo, so we just took that home, and left the Conquest outside of Nathan's hangar with chocks on. Went to bed and slept like dead people. Long day, not easy day.
Vegas is three hours behind us so I made myself get up at 8:30 am this morning, which is only 5:30 am Vegas time. Trying to get back on schedule. My main job today was to get the Conquest back to Frankfort and pick up my car. And ship off my camera to the lady who bought it on eBay for $95. The weather was the same. At minimums, below minimums, above minimums, below minimums. I just waited, ate lunch with friends, and hey! The weather was actually NICE IFR. Like 400' and 7 miles visibility! I finished lunch, it was the same. I got out to Kokomo, it was good. I got in the plane and called, it was still fine. I have a TWELVE MINUTE FLIGHT from Kokomo to Frankfort. I take off, get up, head to the initial approach fix for the Frankfort airport, listen, and it's going downhill. My alternate for today had to be Virginia, as nothing else was good enough to be a legal alternate again. Wouldn't that be ironic? Kokomo to Frankfort and end up in Virginia?! Minimums at Frankfort were 1,111'. I broke out of the clouds at 1,180'. Not much room to spare, there. Driving away the tops of cell towers were disappearing again. I get back to Kokomo an hour later? 8 miles visibility and 600' ceilings. I hate this week. Stupid Mother Nature.
I have another trip Sunday, and the weather looks exactly the same tomorrow, and Sunday. I'm supposed to go to Leon, Iowa (where?) and Bolivar, Missouri. I had to send this guy home on an airline already. I had to cancel today's flight there already because we couldn't get in over there at all and may not over here. Now I'm looking at Sunday going.... JUST FRICKING WORK OUT.
Now, it's already 9 pm over here. I got the plane home, I got my car back, and I got my camera shipped. That felt like a pretty productive day.
Then I spent a few hours texting back and forth with the one boss on the trip for Sunday, with three changes in locations, looking up weather, airports close to addresses, calling about courtesy cars because no rentals are available, switching and doing it again for a different two airports, etc. Then I spent some time talking and texting with other boss about our upcoming trip to Grand Cayman Island, and about maintenance issues on the Conquest. So I spent most of today working on stuff too.
Tomorrow I was supposed to fly with two students, but guess what? It's going to be low IFR again anyway. So I will try to do laundry, and work on this Cayman trip, which I have to figure out quickly. It is set for February, and I have to figure out how to do all of this. The overflight of Cuba permit, the airport of entry, customs, the paperwork, the EAPIS filings, all the things I have no idea what to do on. Those. But I get to go to Grand Cayman and spend several days there, and not pay for it, and Steve gets to come along for some of it too, and that is all exciting as long as I figure it out. :)
Okay, photo dump, and finally the end of this giant catch-up post that will interest nobody but me. :D If I think of any good Vegas stories I'll share them later.
On the way in to Vegas
Our room
Room Views
The sleet, snow and rain we flew out of coming out of Frankfort
What fog looks like in Vegas! Never seen that before! That's the Sphere behind the "ferris wheel"
Paris behind out curtain
Such a pretty, peaceful room
Prime Steakhouse with the fountain going off outside the window
A terrible picture of the two of us I sent to Kaylee
This was the French restaurant in "Paris". Delicious authentic French food.
Paris from just below
Our room is the third set of windows to the right of the center tower. The ones with the lit windows in teh top of the round windows there. We turned on every light so we could see it from below, and you STILL can't see it very well. Good to know you can see out super clearly, but people can't really see in. lol
The Eifel Tower
Steve enjoying the views out the window. Me too when I'm sitting there.
The oil dump the Conquest took on the ramp in Vegas. Long story. It's fine. Well, it will be. It's good enough.
The line of demarcation, where Colorado is snowy but clear, and then that white line is the start of fog in Kansas and for the rest of the country
Some "views" of the cloudy ground, better today than the other night!
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