Arty's Ultimate Ultralight Adventure

Saturday, May 2, 2009

? Dead armadillos on the side of the road.
? Water towers with town names in huge letters?Paris; McKinney; North Collins; Plano.
? Green, green grass, spreading like a carpet on both sides of the two-lane highway.
? Cattle, cattle and more cattle.
? Undulating low ?hills? not more than 30 feet high.
? Lots of trees, most also not more than 30 feet high.
? Black sky, pouring rain, slowing to 45 mph to avoid waterskiing the rental car.
? Thor, Norse god of Thunder, making his voice heard as he throws lightning bolt after lightning bolt across the sky.

These are my impressions of northwest Texas. I woke up to grey sky and negative-for-flying weather predictions. Thunderstorms and tornado watches. So Randy and I decided to rent a car and head for Plano, Texas, accepting Brad Rose?s invitation to stay with him if the weather turned sour. Remember Brad? He flew his Drifter from Texas, meeting us in False River, LA and flying the rest of the way to Sun n Fun with us.

Before we left Paris for Plano, I wanted to see the famous Paris Eiffel tower, the second highest in the world, I was told. My informant also told me that to her knowledge, there are only two Eiffel towers in the world ? one in Paris, France and one in Paris, Texas. (I haven?t Googled to see if she?s right.) Only in Texas would they add a ten-gallon Stetson to the top of such an icon!

The drive to Plano in the stormy weather was delightful. I love the drama of a good thunder-and-lightning storm, especially when I?m cozy in a car or house or tent. And now I?m sitting comfortably at Brad?s, hearing the thunder roar. It?s supposed to continue blustery all day tomorrow, with a day of sunshine on Monday before another huge storm moves in. We?ll see what the weather predictions are tomorrow night before we make any decisions about flying.