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The night before our departure showed a good chance of nasty weather arriving at OSH early afternoon so we decided on an early departure which for us meant off the ground at 8. The was a weak High over Michigan which resulted in neutral winds aloft for the first third, modest headwind for the second third and a modest tailwind for the last. We started with flight following out of Buffalo but Toronto was too busy to pick us up!. Before crossing Lake Michigan we contacted Flight Watch who advised us we would beat the bad weather to OSH though it was storming in SW Wisconsin. OSH was scattered to broken at 4500. After crossing the lake we descended under the clouds and set up for the Ripon Arrival. We must have timed it right as we had no trouble fitting into the flow landing on 18 right which resulted in a considerable taxi to our parking local. Touch down at 12 EST (11 local) using 37+ gals. The salty snack, minimal fluid routine worked very well, no sig bladder concerns.
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After unloading, tying down, inserting sun shields we were picked up by our hostess (Sandy) and got settled in at her place. After a snack we wandered back to the field to watch arrivals (alone worth the price of admission), watch the vendors set up (official opening was Monday). Jean worked a few hours at Homebuilt registration. The anticipated weather arrived mid- afternoon and we took shelter for a hour in an EAA gift shop. Lots of natural fireworks and rain. The mass arrivals of Bonanza’s and Mooneys were delayed until the evening. Walked home stopping for dinner on the way.
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 Sunday Jean worked registration the morning, I walked and gawked. Still not officially open but many arrivals, a lot going on, many of the display people were willing to talk.
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 Monday-Thursday was a blur of activity. We spent a lot of time at the forums often splitting up to attend such subjects as Flying the Lewis and Clark Trail, Getting the full benefit from your sectional charts, designing and testing SpaceShipOne (with Rutan, Melvill, Binnie), TIG welding, supporting the Iditarod Dog race, the folks in the pink shirts (OSH ATC), and on and on. Spent a half day at the seaplane base, did a lot of research (shopping) talked to builders, was able to avoid the air shows except the day of the W.W.II flybys, visited with some friends in the campground, visited with some other Cardinal arrivals, spent an evening listening to Marion Blakey, Steve Fosset, Richard Branson, Harrison Ford, lunched with some other friends, stumbled on an old guy near the P-51’s talking to five people
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 A great time with too much to absorb.
Friday, after doing the laundry we packed up and headed NE into a headwind! 2 hours to Mackinac Island. It’s a small island in the Mackinac Straights between Lakes Michigan and Huron. When you arrive you call the taxi to pick you up and 20 minutes later you hear clip clop clip clop as the horse drawn taxi arrives. Back in 1898 they decided to outlaw motorized vehicles on the roads and it stuck. It’s a small island, about 8 miles around. Most folks arrive by ferry. People get around by walking, renting a bike, renting a horse, or renting a horse and buggy. They have all kinds of bikes but I would suggest NOT taking the ungeared tandem, The hotels/B&B’s are all located around the harbor, the rest of the island is covered by trails, roads, paths,etc.
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 There are two forts for those into history, many good views, beautiful old houses, 2 1/2 golf courses and a compact downtown with many fudge shops for which they are famous. Friday afternoon we walked 4 miles on the east lake shore road to the far end of the island and returned by an inland trail.
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 Next morning we rented a couple horses and did some trails. The strange thing about renting horses is that Michigan has a law exempting equine business from liability. That must really bug the lawyers. All they do is match a horse to your abilities, give you directions, and send you off. Same thing with buggies, kinda neat. Later we rented the aforementioned tandem bike and headed down the west lake shore road returning by a different interior road. For flyers, it’s an easy 310 NM trip. For the ground bound it’s worth it to spend a couple days if in the area. For those of us used to Motel 6 it’s a bit pricey and requires reservations ahead during high season.
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 We’d planned an early departure but a thunderstorm came through so we just shut off the alarm. When we finally left the ceiling was at 3000 so we stayed at 2500 for awhile. As the clouds lifted we climbed to 3500. Strange thing happened, the air became completely smooth, our ground speed picked up 15 kts and the temp jumped 15 degrees immediately. It was a classic warm front passage which I’d never experienced that distinctly before. We stopped in Bad Axe, MI to be sure we had enough gas. It’s right in the center of the thumb of Michigan. The guy we paid lived there and didn’t seem to know how the town got it’s name?! Home early afternoon to pick up the dog and mow the lawn. It's hard to come down after a trip like that.
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 Anyhow, a great trip.
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