Cool flight

I have had my private ticket for just over three years. I still get a
thrill out of taking off and landing. I have owned a Cessna 172rg for
around two years now. I recently had a great flight that to many of you
experienced pilots may not be a big deal. To me it was a very unique
experience.

A friend (seasoned pilot with thousands of hours, compared to my 270+)
used to live in L.A. and had a home in Baja, Mexico that he had not seen
in three years. His grandson was graduating from the Navy Seals in San
Diego. So we planned a trip from Atlanta to his house in Baja for a few
days then north to SD.

A few high points.

The first day we hoped to make it to El Paso, Texas the first day but a
stiff 25+ kt headwind put us in Odessa, Tx around dark including flying
thru a rain storm around Waco that nearly put us into the restricted zone
over President Bushs house. Met a wonderful lady at the FBO that could not
have been nicer. We merely bought $125 worth of fuel but were treated
like million dollar customers (she even offered her personal car to drive
to a store for goods if needed).

Second day we flew across the Mexican border. It's a different world.
When I could not find my airworthy cert. my friend slid a $5 bill across
the table to the guy. He stuck it in his pocket and determined we didnt
need the certificate after all.
Flying to his house in Baja we flew 100+ miles over the ocean. That was
interesting. We had some life vests I use with my jetskis just in case.

Flying over the mountains in Arizona was very interesting. We were 2k+
over the highest mt with my nose pointed up yet the winds were pushing us
down at 500ft per minute. Then when I crossed the peak I would shoot back
up.

Flying home from SD was interesting also. Flying into El Paso after dark
with three airports within ten miles. We were headed to the one in Mexico
before I noticed the line on the GPS and turned north. Beautiful sight
coming in from nowhere to see all the city lights.

Had to spend the next night in Shreveport, La due to bad weather in ATL.
The next day we barely got off to fly 4.5 hours at 9500 above the clouds
with no sight of land. Luckily as we got within a few miles of ATL it
became broken and we were able to drop down between the clouds. Glad to
see home again.

Great flight.