Before we hopped on I-10, I got a Diet Coke at McDonald's. There was no need for the GPS - I knew the way back to the farm. On route, we ate blueberry bagels and talked about our plans.

When I turned down Jim's driveway, I was happy to see an open gate! I passed through, parked near the side door of his barn, and knocked a few times before I gave up. As we walked around looking for Jim, we called out his name - there was no response. Now what?

We didn't want to spend too much time looking for him because we wanted to be back to the hotel by noon. Plus, I didn't want to startle him - he might be sleeping with his shotgun. The day was not starting out as I had hoped. We left the farm without meeting Jim leaving behind the possibility of getting permission to land in his fields. 

Texas Landing Area

After we were on Westside, I turned into the vacant lot across the street from Mr. Jim's huge green fields. If we landed in the field next to Westside, we could run across the street to the car. It's possible, we'd be gone before anyone noticed us.

From where we were standing, Mr. Jim's green field looked little rough - it was hard to tell what was growing. As we were talking over our options, we walked around the parking lot looking for wind indicators. There weren't any nearby. Matt released some grass into the air - no wind. Our landings were going to be fast!

I looked down at the dirt and then back up at Matt, "We could just land here." There was a long stretch of dirt right next to Westside. We'd need to watch out for the power lines, but we'd have a long stretch just in case we over shot. It wasn't ideal, but it was relatively free of obstacles. It would be like landing on the shore at Bridge Day. 

There were no signs posted. So, we probably wouldn't get in trouble for trespassing. Putting up signs would have been a waste of money - there wasn't anything to damage, harm or take.

The search was over - this would be our Texas landing area.