Texas is a big state, and we like to remind people outside the state of that fact often. And while that's a great thing, everything has a downside, and one of the sometimes-not-so-great things is how long you can travel and still be in the state.
Those of us at the beginning of the chain were trying to figure out how to go all the way from Houston to the border without getting bogged down too long in Texas. Seeing as I have a part-time gig as the airport manager in Dublin, TX, I know a few pilots. So I volunteered one (without asking) to take me around the state in an effort to move The Suitcase. Originally, I was going to fly down to outside of Austin to meet Will Mercer. But he had been at home since forever and wanted to get out. So he drove up to meet me as seen here, reducing the need for a lot of flying (good - less fuel costs and time; bad - less flying).
We turned our attention to coordinating me and Susan and the Mooney M20J, and deciding how to shift the plot from character-based to anyone-can-do-this-based. I happened to have a client visit in Fort Worth on Monday, October 19th, so Sunday evening would be the drop off time. After shooting the necessary scenes, Craig & Susan treated me to a FANTASTIC steak dinner, to which I responded with some Dublin-made sodas from Dublin Bottling Works.
After a lovely dinner, my sister picked me up and I stayed overnight at her place which was in Fort Worth just 10 minutes from my client's office.
Everything worked to plan, and a great time was had by all. As far as the plot line shift, that can be seen here: