Scottsdale Rally to the Rally Reconnasance.
Gentlemen,
It order to make final preparations for our overnight stay and dinner in Fort Stockton, Texas on our run from Scottsdale, Arizona to Austin, Texas, I made a 1300 mile round trip reconnaissance run to check out the facilities there yesterday. Fort Stockton is a 650 mile drive from Scottsdale and comfortable accommodations along with a quality dinner and cocktails will be necessary after such a long one day haul. Texas weather has been wet and miserable as of late but I decided to give it a go yesterday. I dodged thunderstorms all the way from El Paso to Fort Stockton in my Glasair III and landed just before a torrential downpour. The airport manager was kind enough to loan me his Jeep Cherokee so I could drive to the available hotels to review accommodations and scout the two decent restaurants in Fort Stockton. Of those two restaurants, only one had a full service bar but the owner informed me that they were closed on Monday nights! What day are we going to be there…..Monday night of course. After a brief conversation with the owner, Johnny Salinas, he agreed to open his wonderful restaurant just for us, on Monday night October 12. Both he and his son are sports car enthusiasts and they are really looking forward to seeing all of our GTs in their parking lot. Dinner will be at 7 p.m. on October 12, at John Chihuahua’s Mexican Restaurant and Cantina, just north if I-10 on exit #259, Fort Stockton. For members who aren’t wild about Mexican food (like me), they offer great steaks and seafood! All Texas members within driving distance of Fort Stockton are welcome to join us for dinner, Makers Mark Manhattens, and good fellowship.
I made hotel arrangements at the Hampton Inn, Fort Stockton on I-10 exit 257. The rooms are very nice. Call them ASAP at (432) 336-9600 and ask for the “Ford GT Forum” group rate of $119 for the night of October 12 (Monday).
If you have any problems I can be reached on my cell phone at (602) 430-4877.
I-Phone photos below are of my solo Rally IV Recon Run. 282 MPH on my GPS is pretty good cross country speed for a single engine aircraft!
All the best.
Chip