No Oshkosh for me.......

[Scott Hersha]

Jon,
Great pictures.... send more. KOSH was a washout for me, went to Lansing instead. Charlevoix Saturday. Hope your daughters are having a great time. What a perfect way to see our country.

[jthocker]

The adventure continues...........



Jon and Haley over the Cascades?




Jon and Haley in the San Juan Islands




Jon and Haley at Friday Harbor San Juan Islands




The Snake River after leaving Lewiston, Idaho




Larry and Kayley Cruising into Friday Harbor





Larry at Anacortes, Washington in the San Juan's

more to come........

[jthocker]

Due to crappy internet coverage for the last few days, I submit some pics of what became "The Great Coast to Coast RV8 Adventure"!
When we left off with our intrepid foursome, we had just arrived in the San Juan Islands! After landing at Friday Harbor, and walking into town to have ice cream, we then returned to the airport and flew to Anacortes, Wa a few miles away. A friend graciously left me the keys to his airport car and house!
Next morning we boarded the "Mystic Sea" to go "Whale Watching".



We were successful!




After returning from the "whale watch" we headed to the airport to leave for Portland. We needed to leave ASAP to beat the afternoon and early AM fog.
Delta Airlines Captain Larry Wolf skillfully led us around the tricky airspace getting out of Anacortes, then past Mt. Ranier, and Mt. St. Helens and on into Aurora State airport in Oregon!





Arrival in Portland at UAO(Aurora State), we sadly leave Kayley behind here, as she is working at a special basketball camp for kids with Diabetes.



more to come........

[jthocker]

I decided to split the update as I was horrified that I almost lost my previous long update to "Internet Explorer has stopped working" message.

After being met at the airport in Aurora by good friend and former RV "guru" Dave Lewis Jr., we were off to the hotel and a nice dinner with and old friend in Lake Oswego.

The next morning we had a leisurely start on our return trip home waiting for an overcast to lift.



We said good by to Kayley and Dave and headed up the Columbia River Gorge to the clearer skies at Hood River.





Finally, able to climb to some welcome tailwinds we made serious tracks for Fargo, ND with a fuel stop in Lewistown, Mt.



It was a long day of flying, some of us got some sleep!

We tied down at West Fargo Airport after 1100 mile and 6.1 hrs. block to block!



More to come.....

[jthocker]

An early start Sunday morning saw us leaving Fargo for a stopover at Larry's brother Mitch's beautiful lafefront log cabin on an unspellable lake near Eagle River in northern Wisconsin.


The fun part of this leg besides the 25 knot tailwind, was a surprise call up on our "Rat Trap" frequency, by fellow RV8 owner and Cincy River Rat, Captain Greg "Greese" Reese. He was flying a Delta 757 from Seattle to JFK!
We were able to talk for over an hour while he very gradually overtook us!

We cruised into KARV while flying over the gazillion lakes of Northern Wisconsin.



After a nice stay at Mitch Wolf's cabin where we fished, biked, and kayaked, we got up in the morning to find rain showers blocking our planned stop at Mackinaw Island. Instead we headed to Grand Ledge, Mi., the airport down the street from my mother and sister, and also the place I learned to fly. We crossed Lake Michigan at 11,500 ft, while position reporting on the special frequency set aside for those brave souls.



We landed at Grand Ledge, fueled up, and had lunch with my mom and sister.
It was at this point that Haley and I informed my mom that she would have to "pray" for us for a few more legs rather than the original plan to go home from Grand Ledge. On the leg from Fargo to Eagle River, I asked Haley if she could stand flying a bit further and make it a "coast to coast and back adventure". She thought that it was a great idea! So instead of splitting up with Larry at this point, we took off together and headed across Michigan, Ontario, and Lake Erie and on into Lake Chautauqua, New York., where Larry and his wife have a summer condo.
Larry's wife Mara picked us up at a really cool private airstrip, where we tied down for the night.








We watched the sunset over the lake, had a nice home cooked dinner thanks to Mara, and went to bed.
The next morning we headed out for the east coast, our destination decided by which friend answered the phone. Fellow RV4 builder Rusty Gossard was not at home in Bar Harbor, Me., but fellow DHL pilot and 727 Captain Pat Walsh was! He lives on Cape Cod in Hyannis, Massachusets. He graciously picked us up at KHYA and toured us around his beautiful "Cape". On the flight over Haley passed the time "coloring"!



We stopped at the beach near Hyannisport, and got our feet wet in the Atlantic!



We had a "lobster roll" at a beachside stand for lunch, then dinner at "The Black Cat" restaurant, with Pat and his wife Jackie.



Pat picked us up the next morning and took us to airport to embark on our final 2 legs.





Pat and Jon at Hyannis.



We left Pat, and his beloved "Cape" behind and bucked 25 knot headwinds home, stopping in Bedford County, Pa. for gas.



more to come......

[jthocker]

We arrived home at HAO on 8-4-2010



after traveling 5405.9 nautical miles, in 35.4 block hours, spanning 12 days and the entire breadth of our beautiful country. We burned 293.6 gals of Avgas while achieving 18.4 NM/gal. Our normal cruise speed of 169 knots TAS, was attained with Larry and his 8.5 to 1 piston Lyc. 180 running full throttle and me in my 9 to 1 Titan able to run about .5 inches less manifold pressure. We ran at peak EGT or slightly LOP between 52 to 60 % pwr.
I thus averaged 8.3 gallons per hour and burned only 3 quarts of oil for the trip!

This was the trip of a lifetime, made with my beautiful 17 year old daughter, and a very good friend and his 20 year old daughter. Haley and Kayley met at the airport and quickly became friends on the trip.

Larry and I, I believe already know that this was something special, our daughters as they grow older will also look back at this, as an amazing trip.
Larry will complete his coast to coast and back trip with his son Zach(a Coast Guard officer), when he joins his dad in Lake Chautauqua on Friday. They will fly to South Carolina and then back to Cincinnati.

I hope this chronology of our trip is enjoyable and inspiring to everyone out there pounding rivets! Keep it up!

And Dad's, don't forget your daughters!!!!!!

[Fearless]

Jon,

This trip makes me wish my RV was already done so my daughter and I could do something special like what you two did as well. My daughter did go to Osh with me this year for the fourth time. In two weeks she starts college.

Just south of you outside of Lou E Vil off I-71.

[Greg Reese]

Well documented

[airwolf1980]

jon,

that was a fantastic recap. i read it and i felt like i was there. wait, i was there!

thanks for all the effort to post the trip.

larry

[The Wizzard]

Jon, What a great trip! I got a chance to read thru the tread in it's entirety tonight. I really enjoyed it and hope that I can do the same some day!

Dave Cicciari