Our first leg was short, just 90 miles to the U.S. / Canada border, where we would clear customs. Enroute we admired the handiwork of the Manitoba farmers bringing in the harvest. I wonder how many of them have ever seen their work from the air.
Pinecreek, Minnesota, and Piney, Manitoba, share the same airport. Half the north/south runway is in each country. The road runs past the airport, and the U.S. and Canadian customs offices sit a few hundred yards apart from each other.
We decided this looked like the best job in U.S. customs, until the agent told us of the -40 degree temperatures in the winter.
We stopped just outside Duluth for fuel, at Superior airport in Wisconsin, also known as the Richard Bong airport. During lunch at the airport restaurant, we watched some student parachute jumpers take their jumps for the day. For the first time in the trip, Co-pilot left his camera in the airplane, so imagine pretty red and blue and green parachutes against a cloudless blue sky.
Chief Pilot insisted on having his picture taken. Today's quiz -- who was Richard Bong, and why is this airport named after him (and why does Chief Pilot know)?
We almost made it to Cheboygan, over the Mackinac bridge. But as we came south toward the bridge at 5:30 p.m., the haze over the lakes became much thicker. We were forced to land in Mackinac County airport on the north side of the bridge, in the town of St. Ignace.
This airport is a throwback to the golden days of general aviation. It has a great location, just north of the town, and directly opposite Mackinac Island. We spent the night in a small motel near the ferry landings.
Tomorrow it's down to Saginaw, Michigan, then over to Buffalo.
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