[Note: First, been away for a couple of days, when I returned, the SU15 had hit my (humble) Xbox system. However, the first ~10G came and went in less than 15 minutes without any issues at all, but then for the later 16G World Update, I noticed the projected install time to be an hour or more, so, I went to the local park for a stroll, and when I returned, it was all completed...no hung (blue) status bar, no ever-spinning white circle...except for that lingering Sci-Fi DUNE thing...🙂...Oh well...I can live with it for a bit. To test the SU15 with something new, docile, and simple...🙂...I picked up an old love of mine...the Piper Seminole PA-44 Twin-prop (the Carenado version) for this post...]

There was a period of about a year in my life when I drove between Chicago (IL) and Columbus (OH), almost every weekend. I would leave Chicago at ~3pm Friday afternoon, so as to sneak through the downtown Chicago traffic which gets to a (nasty) snarl during late Friday afternoons, with folks eager to get an early start to their weekend. I would then return on Sunday, departing Columbus also around 3pm. At the start of each trip, before I pull away, I would re-set my trip odometer to "0", and then the (door-to-door) distance would show up to be 397 miles (+/- 1 mile)...depending on where exactly (i.e., at which exit off the freeway) I decided to take that one break for filling gas into the car, getting a snack, and stretching my limbs a bit...🙂...The driving time is about 6 hours, so, I would reach the Columbus city outskirts around 10:00pm local (please note, not 9:00pm, but 10:00pm). This is because I would lose one hour, somewhere in the middle of cornfields and farmlands of Indiana, as I moved from Central to Eastern time zones. Since I would know (a-priori) the mile marker where that momentous transition would occur, I would be glancing at my (smart) phone for that magical switch of time...🙂... (sometimes, I miss those younger days of carefree travel and abandon...) ...

I'm calculating now a bit (please excuse any math error...🙂...) ...assuming 52 weeks per year, and counting about 40 of those weekends, it would have been 80 trips of 400 miles each (since one roundtrip per weekend). That yields (80x400) or 32,000 miles total that got added to the mileage of that (trusty) Camry of mine. Eventually, when I parted with that car, with a touch of sadness, it had amassed ~230,000 miles (nearly equal to the distance of the Moon...from my home...or your home...🙂...as well...) ... 

For this post, here, I have flown from KORD to KCMH, not direct, but as I would have driven in the long past. So, first, I fly (see GPS shot), past Lake Michigan, from Chicago south to Indianapolis, see (overfly) shot #10 for KIND, then east from KIND to KCMH (Columbus, OH), past the city of Dayton, OH. It's worth noting that there are two Airports in Dayton: the main one (KDAY) and the more significant one (KMGY) which I've overflown here (see shot #12). For me, KMGY, Dayton–Wright Brothers Airport (named after the two famous aviation pioneers; MSFS should do a better job of this airport, I think), has a special place in my memory. On its grounds, there is the Wright B Flyer Museum, which houses a replica of the (legendary) Wright B Flyer. And, just 10 miles north of this airport, is located the (original) Wright Brothers Bicycle shop, now a museum, where the two brothers built (and sold) their own brand of bicycles, that had given them the mechanical experience and financial resource, to eventually become the first people to fly a heavier than air, power-controlled machine, known to us as the Wright Flyer. I've visited these 2 museums a couple of times each. Still, every time I would pass by that (Dayton) exit in Ohio, on the freeway, I would never forget to take a glance at that sign board for the Wright Bicycle Shop & Museum (Orville was born in Dayton and died at age 76, in Dayton, while Wilbur was born in Indiana but also died in Dayton, at age 45).

So, I got to know (and expect) every dip and every rise on those 400 miles of freeways connecting these two cities. For my Sunday returns, I would have to consider the Football Season games (mind you, this is American Football, not the "Football" that is known the world over...🙂...). Once, driving back on such a Sunday, around Indianapolis, I got swamped by the massive car-flow of 70,000 visitors all headed to the local team "Colts" stadium, and I was forced (must abide by the hand-signals of the traffic police...🙂...) to roads, totally opposite to my destination of Chicago. I learned my lesson the hard way.

Hope you enjoy this collection of pictures below, from my trip, captured from steady 3,000 ft. cruise. After my (recent) "Andorra" visit, these (familiar) lands of the flat Midwest appeared flatter than ever...with no worry of mountains or highlands to block my path...🙂...in fact, from 3,000 ft itself, I directly captured the ILS signals for landing on KCMH's Runway 16R... culminating the reminiscences of my most-travelled road trip ever...from many moons ago...

Thanks for viewing...! Happy Memorial Day to the folks in U.S....!

Another fine set of shots, and that SU15 was a huge update but went well for me too..

cheers 😉

Great shots! 😉 

Enjoyed your Midwest (word) ramble as much as the pictures!

On 5/25/2024 at 1:07 AM, pmplayer said:

Another fine set of shots, and that SU15 was a huge update but went well for me too..

cheers 😉

Thanks for the comment, pmplayer. Glad SU15 went well for you too. I am aware that some users have had issues...BTW, not sure if it's tied to SU15, but today my Southern France looked blurry and washed-out...surely not what I'd seen (previously) while visiting the region especially around Seine River Valley...it could be a server issue on my side...but was bit of a bummer...

 

22 hours ago, Alaska738 said:

Great shots! 😉 

Will: Much appreciated note. Thank you.

 

21 hours ago, John F said:

Enjoyed your Midwest (word) ramble as much as the pictures!

Thanks, John. Yes, Midwest ramble....🙂...I could go on with it...even if there are no mountains within eyesight or visible in the distant horizon...🙂...BTW, John, yesterday I'd a chance to go right next to the Willis Tower (was actually forced due to mis-entering the pick-up location of an electronic product on-line) ...I realized that looking straight up to the top of the building from the nearby ground requires some Yogic dexterity, which now eludes me...🙂...This one-time world's tallest tower, at 1450 ft., is actually the highest point of entire state of Illinois...

Edited May 26, 20242 yr by P_7878

Lovely shots and interesting backstory as ever, P_7878. My kind of set. And thanks for using that plane and livery - firstly because it reminded me of them (I have both but haven't used them for a while) and secondly because those colours were a thing in a short SF story I was just reading and it all had a strange air of synchronicity.

5 hours ago, andy1252 said:

Lovely shots and interesting backstory as ever, P_7878. My kind of set. And thanks for using that plane and livery - firstly because it reminded me of them (I have both but haven't used them for a while) and secondly because those colours were a thing in a short SF story I was just reading and it all had a strange air of synchronicity.

Thanks for the comments, Andy. Yes, regarding that observation..."My kind of set..."....🙂...I don't see any pointy things (such as mountains) on this route of mine...🙂... either...the only thing around was that manmade thing in Downtown Chicago, I mentioned...Seriously, it was great fun to repeat this very familiar RW route in the SIM with one of my favorite twins ... (all from my distant memory...) ...

Appreciated the additional recollections and musings...! Cheers ...!