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Getting to Oshkosh didn't really seem like much of a reality today. They had received an enormous about of rain and it looked like storms were persisting in the area for the day and night. My plan was to meet my friend Captain John from Plymouth, MA at 3TR (Niles, MI - just north of South Bend, IN). From there we would pick up some cheap fuel and make a plan for the night.  It was a nice day in the Midwest while flying over Toledo. Off to the distance it was easy to make out the Detroit skyline.  CJ, Markham and I were in the FBO at 3TR when I received this text message from Osh. It seemed clear we weren't going to make it.  Our friends who rushed to make it to Osh sent us this picture of what the grounds looked like. Yikes, no thanks! We started to come up with some gameplans. One was to stay in Niles, MI and find a hotel. Problem was there was nothing around and not much to the town. We then thought about Schaumburg, IL (06C), but all of the hotels seemed to be booked. Looking further north, we decided the town of Crystal Lake sounded nice and started calling hotels. We found a Super 8 which had availability and held a room.  Our flight was relatively uneventful. We stayed low and flew over Gary, IN (KGYY) and around the west side of Chicago.  Just as we got close to Crystal Lake a pop-up storm appeared in front of us. The Tower at Dupage (KDPA) was great about giving us vectors to get through the storm. We were easily able to sneak into Lake In The Hills airport (3CK) between the cells and grab the last two tie-down spots!  We were equally lucky the Super 8 had a pet friendly policy for Markham and me!  I have never been a fan of Super 8's - most of them have a unique aroma of multiple decades of cigarette smoke baked into every surface. This hotel however was quite pleasant.  It didn't take us very long to find the local brewery - Crystal Lake Brewing. They had a plethora of tasty beverages!  Our bartenders were simply amazing. They let us sample every beer with nice portion sizes. They even recommended a good authentic Chicago pizza shop that delivered.  We ended the night at The Cottage and had a nightcap or two. My elixir of choice was Chicago's Own Old Style. Much wiser friends of mine picked the tastier Daisy Cutter Pale Ale by Half Acre featured in the background. Good day of flying. And a much nicer experience with sleeping in a hotel room instead of a very wet tent at Osh! 
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Last Modified: August 13, 2023 |