Coast-to-Coast in the Mooney M20J

Leg 2 - 9/19/2021 - Bardstown, KY (KBRY) to Ames, IA (KAMW)

Leg Stats

• Time Enroute: 3.5 hrs
• Distance (direct): 451nm
• Distance (actual): 459nm
• Fuel Used: 35.4 gal

We planned an early start in anticipation of a long day. The goal was to get to Deadwood, SD somehow. I thought we might land at either Rapid City, SD or Spearfish, SD, and I wanted to land well before sunset if possible. Prog charts showed a cold front approaching by the evening, and I wanted to get there well ahead of it. With around 6 hours of flying ahead of us, we split it into two legs. Originally I thought of possibly stopping in Des Moines, IA, but it was fairly expensive. I also considered trying to stop in Emmetsville, IA, near Graettinger, IA, and visiting my grandfather's home town and gravesite, but the FBOs in that area seemed quite small and I doubted the availability of a crew car. After a bit more searching, Ames, IA seemed like a decent halfway point with relatively cheap-ish gas, and a handful of interesting lunch places. The FBO people in Bardstown were wonderful and had stored my airplane in the hangar for free and had it all fueled and ready to go. Katherine's mom dropped us off early, and we got started and took off relatively quickly. Picked up IFR airborne, pretty clear weather (the bad weather was just 20 miles or so south of us) and lots of farmland and not much to look at on the way to Iowa, with the rolling hills of Kentucky gradually giving way to vast areas of flat farmland. Overall, nothing notable about the flight, although it was very windy upon landing in Ames. Grabbed the crew car (an old minivan) and had some excellent BBQ in town at a place called Cornbred, walked around for a bit looking for a state flag to take a photo with Magic. We found a local dog park to play toss with Magic, and then we went back to the FBO to plot our next stop. Deciding between Rapid City, SD (and trying to rent a car, which ended up being prohibitively expensive) and Spearfish, SD (and trying to get a taxi). Called around a bit, found out the taxis were cheap, and since Spearfish was closer to Deadwood, we aimed for that.

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