We departed Danbury Wednesday July 21st heading for Oshkosh for our year 10 at the big show. The weather was forcast to be good with nothing in our way.
Starting off VFR at 3000 in 5 Miles visibility in mist and haze our route brought us up to Albany where we joined Victor 2. As we came through Utica we panned the XM NexRad westward only to see Buffalo getting engulfed by yellow and red returns. We monitored this as we flew and when Rochester started to fold we decided that we would land in Syracuse and call LMFSS to ask them what had changed from the briefing we had received only a few hours ago.
I ducked nto Syracuse and our call confirmed what we were seeing, air mass thunderstorms were blocking our way. The area forcast and the TAF's along the route made no mention of thunderstorms but here they were so we decided to hang out in SYR a few hours to see what was up. Well we waited from 10 in the morning until 5:30 and the stuff still hadnt dissapated so we called it a day after 1:30 of flying checked into the Candlewood Suites and walked to supper at Zeb's a local burger and wings joint we frequented the last time we visited SYR.
The forecast for the morning was for low IFR 400 overcast and 2 miles in Mist so we planned a late morning departure and ate and drank heartilly at Zeb's.
I woke up at 6AM to clear and unrestricted so I called LM FSS and asked them what was up. Once again I got a roses and sunshine briefing all the way thru to OSH. We departed at 8:30 into blinding sunshine filed for Saginaw MI. The plan at that point was to fuel up in MBS and then climb to 12000 to cross the lake at little sable point to FAH VOR. The winds aloft were light and variable so we made good time along V2 then V84 through Canada at 4000 feet. We landed MBS and enjoyed their complementary hot dogs soda's and a .25 a gallon oshkosh discount.
Jim from Denton TX called me on my cell asking about my progress. Jim always beats us into OSH so I was expecting him to ask me where the hell we were. He opened with have you looked at the OSH radar? I said I was looking at it now and saw the entire state of Wisconsin under a mosaic of red and yellow returns. Jim was calling for Mobly Mi. and we strategized on the possibility to diverting west to approach OSH. We departed MBS heading for Traverse City-TVC. Halfway there we saw the storm was crossing the lake and the darker green was encroaching on the western shore and TVC. It had not reached as far north so we decided to head up to Pellston MI the cross the lake up by Macinac Island. Once again not trusting what I was seeing in the cockpit I decided to confer with a LMFSS briefer. We landed at Pellston and then on taxiing in our right main tire went flat as we entered the ramp.
Pellston looks to be a great place but they don't have any mechanic's who work there. The FBO people called a mechanic from an airport an hours drive away, they confirmed they had a tire and tube and set about to drive down to replace the tire.
We left Pellston and headed north to Mackinac and crossed the lake at the very top. We followed the lake shore westward staying low at 2000 feet. We got to Schoolcraft County in Manistique MI and set down there. Seeing nothing promising we tried to blast off from Manistique but when we called Green Bay radio they informed me to stand by as I was number four. The clouds were rolling in, it was getting dark, so we called it a day and got a room at the Holiday Motel for $39 a night. Dinner and breakfast were had at the Indian Casino while we waited for the fog to burn.
We blasted off from there IFR and flew to OSHkosh at 6000 on top. We got the GPS 27 approach and broke out at minimums and almost clocked a baron on right base VFR
We landed on the green dot and saw Pete and Beth in their camp in row 506 of the north 40 (which was empty). They drove over to Orion and picked us and our gear up. We set up camp and relaxed a bit. Little did we know the adventure was just starting.
As the sun was setting and we were eating a delicious meal of Porterhouse, Cowboy Beans, and green Salad the Mosquitos decided to fill up on us. They had been slumbering in the mud and standing water and now the sun was going down they decided that the feast was on. We all lathered up with repellent but to no avail the damage was done.
In the morning I looked at my feet which looked like they were hit by buckshot from all the bites.
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