Checking weather and the condition of our feet and legs, we agreed Wednesday was the time to leave. A front passed through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning that we knew we could follow in the clearer air behind. After treating ourselves to the great breakfast buffet at the Hilton Hotel (where the next table over was occupied by Sully Sulllenberger and Jeff Skiles, the heroes of the Hudson water landing) we packed up Wednesday morning, got our gear to Jim Bildilli to haul back for us, said goodbye to Steve Korta (also leaving) and took off east at 1230.
The plan worked well, though the tail wind we had caught us up to the front at the Michigan-Ontario border. Discretion being the better part of flying. we landed at Port Huron, MI for the night. The FBO there loaned us a car to get to the motel and a good restaurant on the St. Clair River that flows out of the south end of Lake Huron.
If anyone wants to see the effect of the loss of manufacturing in the "Rust Belt", Port Huron, MI would be a good place to start! An "outlet mall" near our motel was about half empty with about 10 cars in the parking lot and downtown near the restaurant was a large Mopar (Chrysler) plant standing idle. Pretty depressing! And yet there was a two-man, free, evening concert being presented in the City Park of Marysville that, as Evan said, was pure Americana - older folks on lawn chairs scattered through the park listening to the music, young parents pushing their kids on the park swings, and a big American flag as a back-drop to the stage. We stopped for a moment to capture it all.
Thursday morning dawned with beautiful weather which we followed all the way to the Finger Lakes (Seneca County Airport) to refuel. From there, with the same, healthy tail wind, we were in Manchester in two hours - 2 pm!
So the Excellent AirVenture of 2010 has ended and is now a very satisfying part of our memory banks. Time to start planning for the next adventure.... Thanks for reading!
The plan worked well, though the tail wind we had caught us up to the front at the Michigan-Ontario border. Discretion being the better part of flying. we landed at Port Huron, MI for the night. The FBO there loaned us a car to get to the motel and a good restaurant on the St. Clair River that flows out of the south end of Lake Huron.
If anyone wants to see the effect of the loss of manufacturing in the "Rust Belt", Port Huron, MI would be a good place to start! An "outlet mall" near our motel was about half empty with about 10 cars in the parking lot and downtown near the restaurant was a large Mopar (Chrysler) plant standing idle. Pretty depressing! And yet there was a two-man, free, evening concert being presented in the City Park of Marysville that, as Evan said, was pure Americana - older folks on lawn chairs scattered through the park listening to the music, young parents pushing their kids on the park swings, and a big American flag as a back-drop to the stage. We stopped for a moment to capture it all.
Thursday morning dawned with beautiful weather which we followed all the way to the Finger Lakes (Seneca County Airport) to refuel. From there, with the same, healthy tail wind, we were in Manchester in two hours - 2 pm!
So the Excellent AirVenture of 2010 has ended and is now a very satisfying part of our memory banks. Time to start planning for the next adventure.... Thanks for reading!
Great adventure, Dick. Thanks for sharing your trip!
ReplyDeleteThanks again Dick for all the posts. Glad you all had a safe flight back to MHT.
ReplyDeleteWelcome home!
ReplyDeleteGreat fun to share your trip - what a wonderful adventure! We look forward to hearing even more in person... Glad you are home safe.
ReplyDelete