Summer Vacation Plans

It's been 5 years since I've been at the Oshokosh AirVenture in 2001, and I still have really great memories of the two days that I spent there. I drove up with my roommate at the time, Campbell Soup, and we had a really good time walking around the airshow, trying not to run into a rather strange co-worker that happened to be up at Oshkosh at the same time. Highlights for me that year was riding my bike over to the seaplane base, sitting on the shore of Lake Winnebago with my toes in the water, just watching the endless stream of seaplane takeoffs and landings. Some other great moments were the Hawker SeaFury demonstration, the dual-B1B low-level flyby with full afterburners (which basically shook everything in my frame - awesome demonstration of raw jet power). I've had to wait a few years since then, between other vacations, weddings, and the usual things that crop up in life, and so I'm really excited to go back, now that I'm not just an enthusiast, but a real-honest-to-goodness student pilot. This trip will also be special for me, because I will be accompanied by the wife of my youth, a beautiful woman that I hope to be able to explain some of the reasons behind this flying mania that I have been pursuing. I really want her to see the seas of cessnas, mooneys, texans, RV's, and to get a sense of the wonderful comraderie and history of this adventure we call flying. So, I'm really excited to be there AND to be there with my wife. (She will probably be a little concerned by the crazed little boy rapidly shooting pictures of obscure airplanes and making airplane noises all night in the tent) What will be a great weekend at Oshkosh will also be followed up with a trip to Isle Royale NP in the middle of Lake Superior. We'll take a ferry from Copper Harbor out to the Isle Royale, not a seaplane, unfortunately:-(, but we're trying to keep the costs lower. We will spend a couple of days of backpacking around the island, seeing what we can see and just enjoying the wilderness of Isle Royale. We aren't planning an epic backpacking tour of the island, just a glimpse of what the island can offer. Now, I've got to plan for trails and campgrounds to stay at. I will definitely be busy over the next month!