July 23, 2010: The night before my departure to Oshkosh, I went to the Sacramento International Airport (SMF) around 5pm. I prefer to spend the night before my flight at the airport, just because I want to and I can. I had no plan for what to do to entertain myself, except to tweet and read tweets, and visit the ever changing faces at the Southwest Airlines Baggage Services Office. While at the SWA BSO, an idea struck. I asked the ladies behind the counter if they might happen to have some left over string and cardboard so I could make "Oshkosh or Bust" signs. One of the agents produced paper luggage tags with elastic straps, some logo envelopes, and some markers. I began to get to work. This was the final result: Not only did I increase my level of excitement, I gave the Baggage Services ladies a special experience! In other words, I made a difference... and so did they! :-)
July 24, 2010: The night flew by fast, and as usual, I breezed through the TSA line at 4am, proudly wearing my banner. The TSA guys commented positively about it. It was an easy conversation piece. Once on the gate side, I carried on taking pictures. Here is a glimpse of the early morning airport activity. The highlight was certainly seeing Southwest Airlines Lone Star One. I willed it to be my aircraft, but it wasn't to be so. It was also enjoyable to see the consistent presence of Hawaiian Airlines 767-300, Akohekohe.
Finally, it was time to board my flight. my aircraft was N915WN for flight WN3118 SMF - DEN. My flight attendants were Tina, Mark and Michael. Every once in a while, I like to participate in an activity called "Laviating" which was introduced to the "twitterverse" aviation community by flight attendant Heather Poole, @heather_poole on twitter. She is an avid blogger about her life as a flight attendant in the sky and on the ground, Another Flight Attendant Writing . All it is is simply taking a picture of yourself in the aircraft lavatory.
Here is a picture of me "laviating" in full "Oshkosh or Bust" regalia-
During the course of the flight, I took a few pictures outside of the aircraft. I like getting the winglets and flap track fairings in the picture. Here are a couple-
If you look hard you can see the Reno-Tahoe Airport on the lower edge of Lake Tahoe.
Some Eastern Utah/Western Colorado scenery
My layover in DEN wasn't long enough, and soon I was aboard N720WN and MDW bound.
Upon landing at MDW, I collected my luggage and called my twitter friend Robin to let her know I was in town. We arranged to meet at a Subway Sandwich shop on the 6400 block of South Pulaski Road. Thinking it wasn't very far, I chose to walk. Carrying all my luggage slowed me down. It took nearly an hour, but that was alright because both Robin and I arrived there within minutes of each other. It was a nice visit. Robin offered to take me to the Southwest Airlines Customer Reservations Center where she worked. Just as we pulled into the parking lot, who decides to taxi by but Southwest Airlines' Shamu One-
That was pretty exciting seeing Shamu One! I also had a nice meeting of some of Robin's co-workers. Unfortunately, I became very shy and didn't mingle properly. That happens. One of Robin's co-workers was willing to take a picture of the two of us. Here it is. :-)
Too soon it was time to say good bye to Robin. She drove me to the airport where I planned to take the light rail to the Greyhound station. No sooner did I get on the train then I was overcome with tiredness. I slept all the way to the end of the Orange Line, and back to MDW. Once again I took the train into downtown and managed to exit at the right stop. It was time for me to charge my phone, so I walked to the Subway sandwiches shop on Dearborn and Van Buren. There I ate the other half of my roast beef sandwich and bought a drink. It was getting late when my phone was charged sufficiently, but I bravely walked the 3/4 miles to the Greyhound station, passing by the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) and crossing what I think was the Chicago River.
Just before I arrived at the Greyhound station, a man approached me, pleading for financial assistance to get to Louisville because his mother was very sick. In the course of his petition, he said he was a veteran. I asked him what branch he was a veteran, to which he answered Army. I asked then asked him whether he worked with aircraft. He said he did marshall a couple helicopters. This conversation satisfied my sacrifice of $6.50 which I gave to him to do what he needed. Whether I was scammed or not didn't matter. I got my money's worth of "entertainment".
I knew I didn't want to remain in Chicago overnight, so I requested a ticket to Milwaukee. It was a mere $16. The ride was nice. I slept the two hours there, after waiting less than 20 minutes in the line. I knew I was cutting it close. As planned I overnighted at the Milwaukee Intermodal which housed the Greyhound Bus station.
July 25, 2010: In the morning, I set out to explore the city, as my bus wasn't due to leave for Oshkosh until after noon. My main desire was to see the lake. as I walked in the direction of the Waterfront, I passed the Pfister Hotel. I became aware of that hotel when I participated in the Southwest Airlines station opening at MKE back in November. My Southwest Airlines twitter friends that also participated in the event were staying there. I decided that if they had a restaurant that I would have breakfast there. They did indeed. I felt out of place, carrying my luggage in with me, some of which made me look homeless. I tried to ignore it and enjoyed an expensive breakfast of biscuits and gravy. That is my favorite thing to eat at a new restaurant because the recipes differ sufficiently enough to discern a difference. In the end, I didn't like the Pfister's recipe. It was too dry. I continued on my "walking tour" of downtown Milwaukee. The streets were filled with people doing a walk for a convention they were in town for. I found my way to the Waterfront.
Upon returning to the Milwaukee Intermodal, I met a couple guys from New Zealand, Kevin and Sandy, who were also taking the bus to Oshkosh. I carried on a conversation with them, learning one worked for Cathay Pacific and the other owned a Sonex. (I get really excited about Sonex's!!!) When we got on the bus, we went our separate ways. They told suggested meeting up at the Sonex Owners' party later on. I fell asleep most of the ride, but when I was awake, I was looking for air traffic headed to Oshkosh. I didn't see any, but I happened to see the airport at Fond du Lac was filled with airplanes and tents.
I learned this was because the grounds at Oshkosh had become so saturated from the recent rainstorm, aircraft parking was all messed up. I learned also that EAA Airventure had reserved the good parking for show planes and antiques. Most of the mass arrivals of Cessna's, Pipers, et al, were diverted to other airports. I think the Cessnas2Oshkosh group were diverted to Juneau.
When I unloaded at Oshkosh, I waited for Bob and Sharon while Kevin and Sandy waited for their host. Just before he arrived, I learned their host was none other than Wayne Daniels. I had met him back in October at the Chili Bash for the local EAA chapter at his hangar. I greeted him when he arrived, and soon after that, Bob and Sharon arrived to pick me up. I accompanied them as they ran some errands on the Oshkosh grounds. Meanwhile, I saw Duggy the DC-3 land.
Bob and Sharon were looking for a friend who was flying his Stearman in. I had to stay close to them because at any moment they were going to be ready to take me to the farmhouse that was to be our living quarters for the week. Finally it became that time. We drove to the farmhouse where I was given my wristband and credentials. I put the wristband on, next to my aging Sun 'n Fun wristband. Everyone was amused that I made it this long with the old one. It was a personal goal of mine to see them together on my wrist. I met Jim and Kathy McManus and called it an early night. Tomorrow was going to be busy!
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