Fortunately, Humberto, now a hurricane, didn't move too much overnight. Even so, we'd have to stick to our "up and over" plan to avoid the rain bands heading northeast. What we didn't anticipate was how much
IMC (in the clouds) time there would be. Of the four hours of flight time for the first leg from
Fort Worth to
Dyersburg, TN (
DYR), we were
IMC for about two of them. I finally had enough about 80 miles west of
Dyersburg, and after listening to some
ASOS reports in the area, realized if we descended down to the next lower
IFR altitude (7000 ft), we'd be out of the clouds.
Ahhhh... much better. Soon the Mississippi River came
into view and landed shortly thereafter. Every little airport I have visited has a unique feature and
DYR was no different, as the restroom there sported a toilet tissue-dispensing gnome. The weather eastward was great... 9000-11000 broken to overcast, until the mountains on the west side of
Asheville. Then it went downhill, as
Asheville was reporting three different cloud layers below 8000 ft, and after all that
IMC time, I wasn't up for an approach in the mountains as it was getting dark.
Knoxville became our destination after realizing that after taking into account the difference in flying distance and driving time to Mom and Dad's place from each city. The overall 25 minute penalty was worth it. We were treated to an easy
VFR flight, including the opportunity to fly over
Crossville, TN, where I purchased N3SK almost five years ago.
After landing in Knoxville, we packed up the rental car and quickly headed for Ruby Tuesday for dinner, followed by the drive to Mom and Dad's 40 miles west of
Asheville. We'll be staying there for a few days, so it will be nice to spend some time with them and also take a well-deserved break from the Weather Channel,
ADDS, and
DUATS. Today's flight totals: 6.4 hours, 758 miles, five more states. Trip totals: 16.9 hours, 1902 miles, nine states.
Fortunately, Humberto, now a hurricane, didn't move too much overnight. Even so, we'd have to stick to our "up and over" plan to avoid the rain bands heading northeast. What we didn't anticipate was how much IMC (in the clouds) time there would be. Of the four hours of flight time for the first leg from
Fort Worth to Dyersburg, TN (DYR), we were IMC for about two of them. I finally had enough about 80 miles west of Dyersburg, and after listening to some ASOS reports in the area, realized if we descended down to the next lower IFR altitude (7000 ft), we'd be out of the clouds. Ahhhh... much better. Soon the Mississippi River came 
into view and landed shortly thereafter. Every little airport I have visited has a unique feature and DYR was no different, as the restroom there sported a toilet tissue-dispensing gnome. The weather eastward was great... 9000-11000 broken to overcast, until the mountains on the west side of Asheville. Then it went downhill, as Asheville was reporting three different cloud layers below 8000 ft, and after all that IMC time, I wasn't up for an approach in the mountains as it was getting dark. 
Knoxville became our destination after realizing that after taking into account the difference in flying distance and driving time to Mom and Dad's place from each city. The overall 25 minute penalty was worth it. We were treated to an easy VFR flight, including the opportunity to fly over Crossville, TN, where I purchased N3SK almost five years ago. 
After landing in Knoxville, we packed up the rental car and quickly headed for Ruby Tuesday for dinner, followed by the drive to Mom and Dad's 40 miles west of Asheville. We'll be staying there for a few days, so it will be nice to spend some time with them and also take a well-deserved break from the Weather Channel, ADDS, and DUATS. Today's flight totals: 6.4 hours, 758 miles, five more states. Trip totals: 16.9 hours, 1902 miles, nine states.
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