Over the Top

Today's flight started just north of Chicago where we saw some remarkable mansions, then turned south along the lakeshore to look down and wave at the people who live in the manses. Before small planes, we used to always go to the tops of such buildings to look around. Now even the Sears tower near this one, seems quaint somehow.

Even from our sanctimonious cheap seats, this skyline is breathtaking. ;)

We decided to skip going into Chicago so we could avoid a cold snap and ride fresh tailwinds taking us toward what we hope will be good weather in Maine by the time we get there. It's delightful to watch the fall colors getting brighter on each day of our trip, and today some brilliant reds appeared occasionally. To feed our state hopping obsession we had to land in Indiana, but Gary didn't look appealing even though we still have that song from Music Man stuck in our heads. Instead we chose tiny Hobart airport, and it had enough character to merit a few minutes' stroll around the grounds. Then onward for a detour into Michigan (obsession) for a quick stop at Benton Harbor for fuel and a stroll through an informal gallery of aviation photos adorning the terminal walls. Hopping back in the plane we passed over Toledo and got distant glimpses of Detroit and Cleveland. Just east of Toledo there were several suburban tracts with ponds much bigger than the big houses, and we wondered what the story is. Nearly all seemed to have some indication of swimming facilities, but they're much bigger than Santa Barbarian swimming pools even next to mansions. Maybe they're also for irrigation?

Approaching Akron for the night, we were intrigued by this shape. Looking at the original photo my hunch was confirmed: these are baseball diamonds. Little League perhaps?

Tonight we are in an inexpensive room that's larger than many SB homes, at a new Akron hotel. It has two large flat screen TVs, and amenities better than many luxury hotels. We had planned to camp, and brought an old bike to ride, but so far all we've done is fly and stay in hotels! Time was, tenting at 35F was fun. Now our limits seem to have shifted a bit. Maybe if the warm weather materializes in Maine we'll finally get to live rough. Right now we're not complaining, unless we think about how our budget is affected.

Tomorrow we hope to visit my ancestral lands in Clarion County just north of Pittsburgh and then carry on east until sunset approaches over our shoulders as our heads are brimming with another day of spectacular sights.