From Buffalo to Alaska. Day 4 - 8/20/96

Today, finally, we flew in clear skies. But took us a while to get there. We drove back from Davenport, Iowa in the morning, to our plane in Aurora, Ill. The direct route northwest to Minneapolis was blocked by IFR weather, so we flew due west, back toward Davenport. Finally, at Dixon (remember -- Reagan's boyhood home) the haze lifted enough for us to turn northwest. Within 30 minutes we had the Mississippi in sight.

By far the best part of the trip so far was the flight up the Mississippi, from Dubuque to Minneapolis. Just north of Dubuque, we broke through the front, and the skies became blue for the first time in the trip. We were finally able to try some aerial photos.


This is a shot of the western Wisconsin countryside from 2000 feet above the ground. The Mississippi river is just out of camera range at the top of the picture.

We landed for fuel at LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Notice, for the first time, the blue skies.


The Chief Pilot had been nursing a cup of coffee for the past two hours, and managed to spill it on his shirt at LaCrosse while getting out of the plane. Carol, the friendly manager of the Colgan FBO (fixed base operator), witnessed the spill, and before we had a chance to get inside, she had put a new pot of coffee on to brew, and dug up the LaCrosse special coffee mug to present to the Chief Pilot.


We landed at 5 pm in Minneapolis, at Lake Elmo airport, but not before circling over my brother's house near the St. Croix River. We spent the evening with family, and those so inclined are welcome to peek at the Minneapolis family album.


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