Port Trip

Dear Family,
We've been back home in Tronquera since Sunday afternoon. When we are gone so long, we run our house out of supplies before leaving. We had no rice, flour, or any staples. We also were out of gas for the airplane, and needed other supplies. So soon after settling in, we decided to go to Port and get supplies, and that happened today, Wednesday. We were up at 4:45 AM, and driving by 5:30. We picked up 1/2 a dozen people from the village that wanted to go to Port, including a mother and baby that we took to the hospital. The rains for the last 2 months have made the road worse, and the trip took 4 hours. Hard to imagine that it is only 75 miles. We can drive half way across Montana in 4 hours. Anyway, Port is about the same, but things are slower there. The economy slowdown has finally hit here. Traffic was far less, stores not crowded, very little construction.
We rushed through 3 hours of buying supplies, and $800 went real quick. The 100 gallons of plane gas was a big chunk of that. Marilyn got groceries, and we headed back, trying to make the trip in one day. We have already talked to family and spent time on the Internet while in America, the main things that necessitate spending the night in Port. We left at 1:30 PM, record time to get almost everything done!
Going back home slogging our way through the mud holes we went through heavy rain and a lightening storm. I thought of our cargo: 125 lbs of propane, a 5 foot long 150 lb Oxygen bottle, and 2 drums of gasoline. I figured if lightening did strike us, we would light up the area around for quite a distance.
We got back just after dark at 6 PM, and had a good supper. The kids got to bed on time, and a batch of brownies (thanks Mom!) is cooking with one of our freshly purchased eggs. It is a long day when you go to town once a month, and we rarely get it done in one day.
Tomorrow I am going to try to figure out how to get a couple 300 lb drums of gas out of the truck with a come-a-long.
There has been more rain this last couple months than is normal.
I've been told 4 or 5 people have died in remote villages that needed transport while were were gone to America. We need to find another plane and pilot to come down eventually as a backup. It is good to know you are doing some good, but sorry people have to die for lack of transportation.
God Bless,
Clint and Marilyn

end of trip

Hi guys.
I just wanted to write and let you all know that we arrived safe back in Tronquera. Our house was in fine shape as far as safety, but very dirty with 2 months of dust, dirt and bugs. I am going to be spending quite a few days cleaning it. Since it is so dirty I will go ahead and do a "spring" cleaning. All the cobwebs and dust in all the corners. This time I will have the use of the air compressor and the small vacuum. That will hopefully make it faster.
We have a long list of projects to do so I know that we will stay busy for a long time.
Lots of love,
Marilyn

The first part of our trip back after departing from Managua was fine. We were at full gross weight and full of gas. It took us 1 hour to climb to 9500 feet. The last 1/2 of the 3 hour trip we hit some rain. I went to 11,500 (hit an updraft in a cloud) but still flew IFR in some heavy rain for awhile. I was fortunate to be able to call ahead to Waspam with the ham radio we have there and find the weather there was fine (that is only 13 miles by air from our runway). We came out of broken clouds 10 miles from our runway, and found it nice and clear.
After sitting for 2 months, our plane was in nice shape. It started right up, took off in 90+ degree heat with a full load, and flew us safely all the way over the jungle, across the country. One always wonders when you leave an airplane in a 3rd world country for that much time (2 months) alone, but the airport security did a good job.
Clint

www.wingsovernicaragua.org