Presenting at AirVenture OshKosh

I did it.  I flew over 3,000 miles roundtrip to Oshkosh Wisconsin and back for the AirVenture event.  I was a speaker there presenting on flying adventures, and people seemed to laugh at all the appropriate moments so I think it went well.  Hopefully I inspired some people to get out with their airplanes on some adventures.  It was a little anti-climatic because I had worked pretty hard in putting together a lot of video and photos for the one hour and fifteen minute presentation, but it felt like it was over in about 10 minutes.

I decided to work during the trip, so I brought our big family tent and sent up office with a marine deep cycle 12 volt battery powering my computer and internet.  It worked well and I was able to get work done, but also experience AirVenture and see some pilot friends at the same time.

Betsy and Ney-J came out for the weekend to listen to my presentation, and Ney-J flew back with me.  It was long (headwinds going back), but we flew low over country we’ve never seen.  We flew up the Mississippi for a while, lingered over the Badlands of South Dakota, cruised by Mt. Rushmore, and finally were forced down for the night by relentless turbulence in Wyoming.  We saw a movie and had dinner in an Indian casino because it was Sunday night and everything else was closed.  The next day we flew the rest of the way, the highlight being the largest darn hole in the ground I’ve ever seen – a large gold mine near Battle Mountain Nevada.