8/2/03 A Great Day in Oshkosh - I spent the whole day at AirVenture today. I went to Rod Machado's morning forum and had him autograph my logbook. Then I was lucky enough to fly in a helicopter thanks to a friend at the Ultralight area. I went up in a Safari Baby Belle homebuilt helicopter and went around the ultralight pattern twice. I flew it myself for a while! Later a friend invited me to the watermelon social at the seaplane base, where I had a good meal and a nice visit with pilot friends!

8/4/03 Leg 1: Clintonville to Lakeland - Two days later than planned, after waiting for bad weather to pass, I left for vacation in northern Wisconsin. I flew the 150 from Clintonville (CLI) to Lakeland Airport (ARV) in Minocqua. I stopped at Merrill on the way to take a break and check the weather. My timing was just right because I dodged a lot of showers! I parked the plane next to one of the many business jets at Lakeland: a Cessna Citation X. I logged 1.9 hours.

The 150 and all my bags in front of a Cessna Citation X at Lakeland (Minocqua WI)

8/8/03 Leg 2: Lakeland to Sky Harbor - I had spent four nights in Minocqua and now it was time to visit my friend in Duluth. I thought I wouldn't make it out of Minocqua, but after patient napping (practicing for being a professional pilot I guess), the clouds rose and broke up. I left late but it was still only 12:30. I found a nice hole in the clouds and climbed to VFR on top, feasting my eyes on beautiful clouds almost all the way to Duluth. Thirty miles out, like magic, the clouds disappeared and it was amazingly clear and smooth all the way to Duluth Sky Harbor Airport (DYT). That place is like the Meigs Field of the North. I shared the sky and ground with all kinds of seaplanes. The flight was 1.5 hours and it was only the beginning of my fun.

8/9/03 Leg 3: Sky Harbor to Clintonville - It's always hard to go home after vacation. I had a sad ride across the state on a nonstop 2.4-hour flight in the 150. Alone and in the dark half the time, with seemingly endless wilderness below, I listened to the same CD twice and didn't stop thinking about the place I left behind. It was hard to fly away from heaven on earth at a hundred miles per hour, but I had no choice. At least the night was beautiful. I turned off the inside lights for a while and followed the moon home. It was like a dream. This flight put me over the 200-hour mark for total flight time.

8/19/03 Big News Brewing - It's not official yet, but it looks like I am going to have my own airplane here in Dubuque. Don't want to say too much yet... but I'll keep you posted! 

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