It was even a few degrees hotter than yesterday. The lemonade in the airport’s pilot room was once again very refreshing. A few minutes after take-off, I had to stop my climb to fly level and increase the airflow over the engine to cool down the oil. 15 minutes later, I could climb a few thousand feet again. This process was repeated 3 times to reach my final cruising altitude.

Oh boy, it was extremely hot. Although, time wise I could make it to Santa Teresa this evening, the heat quickly drained my enthusiasm and made me decide to spend the night at my refueling stop: Midland, Texas. On final approach, I was warned for dust devils: little tornado’s that create quite a bit of turbulence yet cause the sand to dance beautifully.

Finding a hotel room was a bit troublesome, since there was some kind of famous race going on that week-end. After calling about 10 hotels, I found a free room at an affordable rate. It was in a family hotel with an indoor playground and small pool. Fun ! I enjoyed a quick round of indoor mini golf, and decided to skip the pool.