petehowell
Well Known Member
Weekend in Michigan - Part 1
Finished work a bit early on Friday, picked up Andi at home and headed to KANE to grab the plane - Destination the Wolverine State! Andi and I finally had a free weekend and wanted to visit Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It was National Cherry Festival up in that neck of the woods as well. Weather looked hot and windy, but nothing the RV-9A could not handle!
We headed South around the big cold lake, but cut the corner at 11.5k over the top of O'Hare and the Loop.
First stop Niles, MI to take my Mom to dinner. Mom and Andi caught up while I tended to the garage-built contraption. We spent the night with Mom and her cute little Snorkie, Smokie.
We got an early start on Saturday morning enroute to Frankfort, MI. The airport manager said if we got there by 8:30, we were just about guaranteed to get the airport car. The thick, warm air over the cold lake water made for some serious June Gloom, the 30kts off the lake was pushing it over the shore as well. Frankfort was reporting low scattered clouds, but we pushed on.....
When we got to Frankfort, things did not look good. Minne center could not hear me to cancel Flight Following, and the wind was a howling crosswind! To enhance he fun, the clouds were just off the approach end of the runway....... I made the ugliest approach of my very below average flying career and the -9A bailed me out with a smooth(lucky) landing. We tied her down tight, and I called Center to tell them to not send the troops out to look for us. We grabbed the old cop car to get some coffee and pastries in town, then off to the lakeshore!
We chose the recommended Pierce Stocking Drive with it's many curated stops to maximize our little time in the park. It did not disappoint!
The inland lakes were first - even with the haze they were beautiful :
The dunes are the real draw here, and we learned all about how they were created and how they continually shift, like a living thing.
Some hoomans for size - there is ranger on duty to tell you that if you can't make it back up, there is a $3000 rescue fee. We were in a hurry so we stayed on top.....
The blue water is always a treat.....
Finished work a bit early on Friday, picked up Andi at home and headed to KANE to grab the plane - Destination the Wolverine State! Andi and I finally had a free weekend and wanted to visit Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It was National Cherry Festival up in that neck of the woods as well. Weather looked hot and windy, but nothing the RV-9A could not handle!
We headed South around the big cold lake, but cut the corner at 11.5k over the top of O'Hare and the Loop.
First stop Niles, MI to take my Mom to dinner. Mom and Andi caught up while I tended to the garage-built contraption. We spent the night with Mom and her cute little Snorkie, Smokie.
We got an early start on Saturday morning enroute to Frankfort, MI. The airport manager said if we got there by 8:30, we were just about guaranteed to get the airport car. The thick, warm air over the cold lake water made for some serious June Gloom, the 30kts off the lake was pushing it over the shore as well. Frankfort was reporting low scattered clouds, but we pushed on.....
When we got to Frankfort, things did not look good. Minne center could not hear me to cancel Flight Following, and the wind was a howling crosswind! To enhance he fun, the clouds were just off the approach end of the runway....... I made the ugliest approach of my very below average flying career and the -9A bailed me out with a smooth(lucky) landing. We tied her down tight, and I called Center to tell them to not send the troops out to look for us. We grabbed the old cop car to get some coffee and pastries in town, then off to the lakeshore!
We chose the recommended Pierce Stocking Drive with it's many curated stops to maximize our little time in the park. It did not disappoint!
The inland lakes were first - even with the haze they were beautiful :
The dunes are the real draw here, and we learned all about how they were created and how they continually shift, like a living thing.
Some hoomans for size - there is ranger on duty to tell you that if you can't make it back up, there is a $3000 rescue fee. We were in a hurry so we stayed on top.....
The blue water is always a treat.....
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