When I called weather brief on Friday morning before leaving for work, I was told that a large storm front was moving in from the West, which would result in storms, wind and rain from mid-afternoon Friday through the entire weekend. Worse, it would be progressing eastward, blocking our route of flight from Pennsylvania for several days.
I told Nancy to get ready to leave in 90 minutes. Thankfully, we had already laid things out. She went above and beyond to get herself and the kids ready, drop off the dog at the kennel, etc. I took the bags to the airport to fuel and load the plane.
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Probably because we rushed, our baggage for the trip was heavy. We ended up with 925 pounds of fuel, baggage and passengers.
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The plane is loaded and pulled out.
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The sky here is perfect with only one tiny cloud in the sky. Hard to believe that weather is an issue. That's what happens when you travel as fast and as far as a Velocity can take you.
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All loaded up and we are wheels up at 10:30.
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Conditions are great as we head northwest across Pennsylvania.
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Crossing the Susquehanna River over Harrisburg, PA.
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We climb to cruise over a cloud layer. The scenery is beautiful.
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Skirting the shore line near Cleveland.
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High cirrus above us.
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Sure enough, the ceiling gets much lower with clouds, mist and drizzle as we get within 40 miles of Allegan, Andy's airport. We are just beating the front here.
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And there it is - Allegan, 2 hours and 50 minutes after leaving Philadelphia. We have been doing over 200 knots in a cruise descent for the last 10 minutes, so we swing wide, lose speed and enter the pattern.
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As we pull up to the hangar, Andy is there videotaping our arrival.
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Andy is eager to show us his interior and newly finished wheel pants. His installer is inside the plane finishing up.
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As with the rest of his plane, they are flawless.
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| Paul and Ron , Carlos and Andy |
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| The Panozzos |
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Andy's beloved tiny car next to my plane.
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Andy has arranged with the FBO to hangar my plane. I really appreciate this, given the forecast for wind and hail.
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| Andy's dog. Wine glass added only to give scale. |
Andy and Theresa took us to a terrific restaurant, The Four Roses, for dinner.
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On Saturday we drove to South Haven, a beautiful tourist town on the lake. It was scenic,with lots of interesting shops to check out.
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| It took two Millin sized cars for our trip |
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| Theresa finds a motivational sign for Andy |
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| Andy's shopping mode |
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| Classy drinking gear |
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| Nancy finds real beer goggles so that she can put up with me |
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| League of Distinguished Gentlemen |
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| The kids find a candy store |
Theresa has packed a picnic lunch, so we head down to the lake.
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We are all remarking on how cold it is. Remember, this is July 27. Theresa finds a temperature display that shows the temperature at 60 degrees with a wind chill of 48.
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All bundled up on the beach. I don't mind the cold and the clouds make a great background for photos.
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The most famous local landmark is a lighthouse at the end of a very long and beautiful pier. We had to walk out there.
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The pier was beautiful (and very windy).
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Sunday was very rainy, so we went to a car museum. It was very interesting, but I think the kids enjoyed the diner at the museum the most.
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| Andy with pie - surprise. |
Sunday night, they made us a terrific dinner. After dinner, we took a long walk through Plainwell, to walk off the dinner and see the sights.
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| Theresa has Cookie's full attention |
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| Sean shows us a Youtube video |
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| Andy and I obsess over the live Oshkosh webcams |
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It was a great visit with good food, good friends and fun places to see.
Tomorrow, it's off to Oshkosh over the lake. Check it out in the next post.
Thanks again Andy and Theresa for a wonderful stay!
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