Weather wins!

I started for home yesterday, but the weather closed in at Paris Texas. I spent the night, then tried to fly back to Ft. Worth this morning. I had to wait for the frost to thaw off the wings, and the ceilings to raise. They said it was clear 30 miles south of me and would be clear all the way back. When I took off, I headed south toward Commerce. But, the ceilings kept getting lower, down to 600' above the ground! I was able to land at Commerce, in a terrible cross wind. There was no one at the airport, but there was a warm pilot's lounge. I enjoyed they're couch, and went out and started the plane about every 45" or so to keep the engine warm. It starts much better when it is warm, and I was alone so I didn' t have help. Finally the ceilings lifted to 800' agl and they said that it was 1400' gal about 20 miles northeast. I needed to go south, but I needed to get out of the clouds more. It turns out I had to fly around 40 miles at less than 800' gal before the ceilings lifted. Another 10 miles and the skies were clear! I landed in Gainesville for fuel, the winds were blowing 16 knots down the runway, gusting to 22. Very interesting. From there back to Sphinks, I was doing 45 mph over the ground because of a headwind. The last landing was particularly interesting!! The wind was blowing 16 knots with gusts to 21 knots at 40 degrees to the runway. A stiff cross wind! But, I got it on the ground, and tied down safe and sound.