50 miles from KORD to Lake Geneva (what I saw)...

[P_7878 6,626]

No, if I fly 50 miles from my home base (KORD), I will be nowhere near the famous Lake Geneva of Switzerland...🙂...But there is indeed another Lake Geneva (may not be that well-known outside U.S. or even outside the Midwest), located 50 miles north of Chicago, in the state of Wisconsin. I do recall a few pleasant visits there, when I used to live nearer to the Wisconsin border. This Lake Geneva came up in some recent discussions, and I wished to (virtually) travel there to see what I can recall from my RW visits. Lake Geneva, btw, was not named after the sister Lake in Switzerland, but the adjacent city (and the lake) was named after the town of "Geneva, New York", which the original surveyor thought it resembles.  

There is another motivation for this flight of mine i.e., to detour a bit, and see up and close the Chicago downtown and skyline from the (default) MSFS scenery (closely, for my first time) ...w/o any scenery add-ons. I am quite familiar with this downtown and most of the prominent skyscrapers in it. For several years, I used to visit the downtown almost every (summer) weekend (early Sundays were my favorite times). There would be unbelievably light traffic (on the expressway and in downtown) compared to weekdays, so, plenty of parking available there, then I would get a cup of coffee and, in a corner bookstore I loved, peruse some aviation magazines...🙂...PC Pilot comes to mind, or take a walk along the shoreline and just enjoy some quiet (crowd-free) time looking far into the (seemingly oceanlike, and peaceful) Lake Michigan...with multitude of birds landing and taking off nearby...🙂...

A few of the (high-rise) skyscrapers, in the Chicago downtown, that readily come to my mind, are the following (1) Willis Tower (I like to (fondly) remember this one always as the "Sears" Tower...prior to security measures, it was normal for me to visit the Skydeck whenever anyone used to visits me; they put a see-through glass-floor (observatory) extension at the time of my last 2 visits, a most un-nerving experience) (2) John Hancock Center (Besides its observatory which gives a uniquely different view from that in Willis Tower, there also used to be a restaurant on top of it, which I've visited) (3) NBC Tower (there used to be a Consular office in it, which I've had occasions to visit) (4) Boeing Building (Used to be the Boeing Headquarters (Boeing has now moved on), a tall and impressive looking glass building, close by which one would pass if one were to take a boat tour of the downtown along the Chicago River (See pictures of the river, below); unless it was cold and windy, this boat trip was a favorite of mine) (5) Tribune Tower (An architectural marvel by the side of which one will typically pass every time one gets into the downtown area) (6) InterContinental Hotel (stayed there once, on the ~30th floor, for a few memorable days between Christmas and New Year), and so on...

So, as I flew overhead of downtown (See my shot #s (3-9) below), I could locate most of these (above) buildings without difficulty. However, what bothered me, from what I recall in RW, is the undeniable feeling here of a place that is devoid of any life...a dreary perception of "Gothic" proportions...🙂...Oh well...it's no fault of MSFS. Most importantly, I found the melted and mis-shaped buildings of downtown Chicago visible from afar (a few looking like the Transamerica Pyramid of San Francisco, that I recently visited...) ...metamorphose just in time to something that I could identify as I got near enough...🙂...

Then, once past downtown, I headed straight out north to Lake Geneva of Wisconsin (there is a small (4,000 ft) airport (C02) there (See shot #14), 2 miles northeast of the Lake). From my past visits, I recall taking wonderful and scenic walks (evenings were special) around the lake along what's called the "Lake Geneva Shore Path", dotted with historic and stunning homes (remember them quite well) of the Rich and Famous... (homeowners politely request that visitors stay on the path and not venture into their intricately maintained lawns, gardens and piers...🙂...). In my pictures below, I have flown across this Lake from East to West, so you can spot these homes on the shorelines (shot #s 16-17). 

Finally, to call it a day, I've landed my DHC-2 on the waters of Lake Geneva (last 3 shots) ...At least I get to fly my (own) air transportation, though not owning any of those Lakeside (palatial) mansions...🙂...

Thanks for viewing this collection of images. Hope you enjoy.

[Alaska738 8,412]

Beautiful set! 😉 

[John F 2,425]

So nice that you have such an ample (I was almost going to say inexhaustible 🙂) supply of RW life experiences to draw on as backdrop for these sim excursions. Makes the pics all the better!

[darrenvox 135]

such a nice set

[pmplayer 9,479]

Very nice shots, thanks for showing !

cheers 😉

[P_7878 6,626]

On 3/26/2024 at 6:51 PM, Alaska738 said:

Beautiful set! 😉 

Thank you, Will...!

 

On 3/26/2024 at 7:13 PM, John F said:

So nice that you have such an ample (I was almost going to say inexhaustible 🙂) supply of RW life experiences to draw on as backdrop for these sim excursions. Makes the pics all the better!

Appreciated the note, John. Sometimes these experiences need a bit of jogging of memory ... from this SIM or other sources of help...🙂...

 

On 3/26/2024 at 8:33 PM, darrenvox said:

such a nice set

Thanks for the comment ...!

 

On 3/27/2024 at 1:19 AM, pmplayer said:

Very nice shots, thanks for showing !

cheers 😉

Glad you liked the pictures, pmplayer...Cheers ...!

 

[andiflyit 445]

Good idea to do the flight from KORD to Lake Geneva, just did it earlier, it's a very nice country all around. Very nice shots!

[bernd1151 5,857]

Great screenies, P_7878. Interesting to know that there is also a Lake Geneva in the US 😉

[P_7878 6,626]

19 hours ago, andiflyit said:

Good idea to do the flight from KORD to Lake Geneva, just did it earlier, it's a very nice country all around. Very nice shots!

Thanks, Andreas...Glad you've been venturing into my neighborhood...🙂...yes, no mountains, but nice backcountry...a bit cold in winter though...🙂...

 

16 hours ago, bernd1151 said:

Great screenies, P_7878. Interesting to know that there is also a Lake Geneva in the US 😉

Appreciated the comemnt, bernd...!

And surely, you're not alone in that familiarity (or lack thereof) about the (other) Lake Geneva...🙂...Cheers...!