Travelogue: Day 4 - Mexico City, Mexico to Houston, Texas, U.S.A.

(Author's note: ironically, when I conducted this flight in FSX, I was actually suffering from a raging case of Montezuma's revenge. Too much info, perhaps? Maybe, but I thought it was kind of a humorous coincidence.)

Today we leave Latin America behind for the good ol' U.S.A., or "El Norte" as our friends south of the border often refer to it. Including some visits north of the border to Canada, we will be jetting around these parts for the next 34 days or so. Given that the U.S. and Canada represent a major chunk of the world's aviation traffic, many of the world's busiest airports are located here. We will come back to South America once again at the very end of our world tour, so yes, I am well aware that there are a few more airports down there worth seeing. We'll get to 'em, don't worry.

We will begin our visit to the U.S. in Houston. This is fitting for yours truly, as I grew up in a small town about an hour from Houston. So, this will be something of a homecoming for me! We depart bright and early from Benito Juarez in Mexico City, bound for George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

Once again, it looks like things are buzzing at Benito Juarez. Being relatively centrally located within Mexico, it serves as a natural choice for a domestic hub for several Mexican carriers, including Aeromexico and Mexicana. As the premier international gateway to Mexico, many flag carriers are also well-represented here, too. Here we see a Mexicana Airbus A318 pulling out onto the taxiway in front of us, along with several widebodies from JAL, Lufthansa, and Iberia:



Fortunately, things are not terribly stacked up this time of day, and we manage to depart on Runway 5L within a just few minutes. We quickly rise above the notorious smog of Mexico City, with one more view of the Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl volcanoes in the background:



We are headed northeast, toward the city of Tampico on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It doesn't take long at all before we begin to see the vast blue expanse of the Gulf on the horizon:



Our route takes us just slightly over the water between Tampico, Mexico and Palacios, Texas. The Gulf Coast beaches of Mexico and Texas are never out of our sight the entire time:



Before long, we are back over land near Palacios, Texas. We start our descent into Houston very soon! Looking down, we see the Colorado River emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. Note that the Colorado River in Texas is distinct from the river of the same name that flows through several southwestern U.S. states, also forming the border between California and Arizona. The Texas version of the river rises in eastern New Mexico and flows southeast toward the Gulf of Mexico. Parallel to the Gulf, you can also see the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway here, which is a major shipping canal for domestic shipping within the United States:



On our descent, things begin to turn cloudy. Turns out there is a cool front moving through the area, and things are a little cool and rainy. Nothing severe, but it will be a little bumpy on our way down. Turns out we are a little high for our approach onto Runway 9 at Bush, so we have to apply some drag to help us get down to where we need to be:



Here we are on final for Runway 9. Other than the haze and rain, things are looking just fine for our arrival:



After we touch down, we taxi to our designated spot. As you can see here, Bush is a major hub for Continental Airlines:



Welcome home! We are not planning on staying long, however. Next stop: Miami.

Total flight time: 1:22