After that, it’s a return to base… despite having pulled our airplanes apart, and me very progressively applying power, Vlad’s RV-9A gets somewhat dusty 
Ah, that crappy $300 fuel pump… changed mine a few times.
$300?
Good ol’ times… mine was more like $376.00. But the good news is that the old one held for close to 1’200hrs and 17 years 
Day 29
33U Dutch John – 3V0 Custer State Park – KOGA Searle Fld – KMCK Mc Cook Ben Nelson – KOUN University Of Oklahoma Westheimer
My stay at Dutch John has been a fantastic experience, thanks for all Vlad!
Very early rise and take-off today, as I want to arrive early at the next POI…
I first approach the Crazy Horse Memorial Monument which is still under construction…
Before heading towards Mount Rushmore National Memorial. It is still very early, and nobody is to be seen, the carpark is still empty…
Warning to all SkyDemon users, using SD in the US works pretty good, and all controlled airspace shows properly… but some restricted areas and important notes which are on the US sectionals are missing…
The wind is pretty strong and blustery, gusts up to 40kts, and I have to make a few passes before being satisfied with the framing, and now bow to presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
A very short flight now takes me to Custer State Park, which was showing as having fuel… battling my way in a strong crosswind to landing, I find no sign of a pump on the deserted apron, and take-off again.
View on Mc Conaughty Lake
1:15h later I land at Searle Fld, aka Ogallala Municipal, for a quick fuel/defuel stop, again wondering at why everything has to be sooo complicated in EU. Again, please no politics on this thread
Enroute
On the ramp at McCook Ben Nelson
It is then a short 0:34h hop to McCook, where I’m in the hope to get a decent bfast. There’s a coffe machine and some fresh donuts alright, but no restaurant.
Instead of that, a line boy hands me a yellow piece of paper and asks me to call the number written on it… oh-oh…
An FAA officer is on the other end of the line, firm and polite, and takes his time to explain the violations as performed. But he then also patiently listens to my explanations. I can now confirm that ADSB coverage is excellent in the Mt Rushmore area
We later exchange some emails, and a written report of the facts as seen from my side seems to have suspended the case…
The flight continues thru Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, all vast prairies of agricultural farmland
Approaching Oklahoma…
I have once more misjudged the distance, or rather the complexity involved in walking from the airport to the brand new “luxurious” Motel 6… the airport access road being quite frequently on the wrong side. Again I find help in the form of a very sympathetic FBO driving me there, and picking me up next morning
Makes one feel really safer… inside
Day 30
KOUN University Of Oklahoma Westheimer – KLFK Angelina County – KNEW Lakefront
2 POIs on the list today, overflying a part of the Gulf of Mexico, including the swamps, which I haven’t seen before. And New Orleans, the city as such. As mentioned at the beginning of the thread, I have travelled the US some, but never been in New Orleans, and am attracted by the music and food of what some call the “Big Easy”
Dawn on the University Of Oklahoma Westheimer airport
Leaving Oklahoma city behind
I turn on a southeasterly course, weather once more on my side
The flight only lasts 1:52h and I land at Angelina County for fuel and bfast
Next leg takes slightly more than 3 hours and I make the coast and the Gulf of Mexico South of Beaumont, Texas
I have for the first time since entering the US used flight following on this leg. Not sure if dedicated frequencies would help, but it is becoming difficult to make radio contact in the first place, and one doesn’t necessarly feel welcome, as the centers already have their hands full with commercial traffic…
Looking over towards… Méridan, Yucatan, Mexico
Swamps views
The sheer size of the swamps is impressive
