But someone was watching out for us. We landed at a small town near Columbus, Ohio, and after one phone call we learned every hotel room around was booked due to a local music festival. A local B&B owner had phoned one of the chain hotels for referrals. And we were the ones referred. The owner not only picked us up at the little airport but also fed us dinner. We enjoyed a nice after-dinner walk around the grounds and pond, then a restful, quiet night in our room. After a delicious breakfast, the owner drove us back to the airport.
At the airport luck was with us again. One of the guys hanging around took us on a tour of the local aviation museum then drove us to a restaurant for lunch. After lunch the weather had cleared enough for us to leave. The flight to St Louis was amazing - ATC (air traffic control) routed us right over Lambert Field on our way to the west side of the city. The air was too hazy to spot the famous arch, but that was okay because we were ready to finish our flight.
We enjoyed a few days visiting with friend in St Louis and enjoying the city itself. Then it was time to fly off to Oklahoma to spend a few days with family. Sandy's parents were so proud of their daughter that they wrote an article for the local newspaper, and Sandy gave rides to several family members. We even connected with our cousin Suzanne (her job is radio marketing; she writes the funniest radio ads!!!)
We left Oklahoma a day earlier than expected due to thunderstorms projected to swing through the northeast over the weekend. After stopping in Indiana at our halfway point where we stayed overnight with the CUTEST NEPHEW IN THE WHOLE WORLD, we had a nice flight back home, except for a rather challenging crosswind landing at one of our fuel stops.
Hubby did a great job helping with the crosscountry flying. We both had our GPS units plugged in, plus we had cellphones as backup. We spent our time trying to spot all the little airports in our path. All in all, we put a total of 25 hours on the airplane. Wow! No maintenance issues cropped up on my antique baby, either. Just a continuous habit of spewing a bit of oil across the underbelly, drip-marking her territory at each stop.
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| Flying just above the clouds over Pennsylvania |
Quilting Update - I have been posting additional pics to the annual gallery pages and updating the UFO page. Check 'em out! Also, I just received word that Royal Flush and Bright Bali quilts are ready for pickup. Two more UFOs finished [almost]!
