2013 Cross-Country Trip Day 12: Austin to Santa Fe

The night before in Austin, we decided to fly the next day to Farmington, NM and drive out to see four corners. By the time we left Austin, it was already getting hot. Heading out, I realized that despite being from Houston, this was my first time in northwest Texas. There’s not much to see aside from oil wells and the occasional town.

Our first stop was just across the New Mexico border, in Portales. It’s a quiet little airport with a decent pilot lounge and fairly cheap gas. Cooper decided to do some reading during the stop.

After a rest, we kept going. It was incredibly hot and bumpy, to the point that I started to not feel well, which was a first for me in this airplane. A headwind and the bumps made for slow progress, too. The scenery was nice, though.

With all the bumps and neither of us feeling great, we decided to cut the day short. We chose Santa Fe over Albuquerque, thinking that there was less chance we’d have another opportunity to visit the smaller of the two cities. Fires near Santa Fe made the airport incredibly busy.

We parked, tied down, unloaded, and got a ride to a hotel. Amazing luck: there was a brewery (Blue Corn Cafe) right next to our hotel! Cooper enjoyed the food, his first time eating off a kids’ menu.