Got up, got outa bed, dragged a comb across my head. . . Out of the blocks early this morning headed for Rock Falls, Ill to spend two days at the first big gathering in years of DC-3s/C-47s. The details are spelled out in detail on The Last Time Last Time . I hopped on a CRJ 900 at KPRB. An hour and 10 minutes of flight time later the captain got the day off right with a smooth touchdown at KPHX.
I smuggled my Garmin 696 handheld GPS aboard for speed research. Six minutes after lift off the CRJ was screaming skyward at 292 knots. The fastest speed across the ground was 498 knots.
The next leg, from KPHX to KORD (Chicago O'Hare) was in a 150 passenger Airbus A320. The highest speed seen during the 3 hour leg was 475 knots over the ground.
As we sped across Kansas I noticed a little arrow pointing at the Garmin HQ in Olathe.  I've inserted user waypoints but didn't expect to see a manufacturer inserted waypoint. Got a laugh out of that bit of branding.
Rented a Dodge Nitro from Budget and headed west on (toll road) highway 88. Cost me $5 in tolls to go 110 miles to Rock Falls. Huge thunderstorms filled the sky to my left for most of the drive. Heavy rain slammed down during one short stretch but most of the storm's fury hit south of the highway. The local radio issued a Thunderstorm warning for a fast moving storm with winds up to 60 miles per hour.  Lightning struck on both sides of the highway
Heard that the Milwaukee airport was closed on Thursday due to heavy rains. It was reported that 7 inches of rain fell in two hours. The airport  finally opened at 1 pm on Friday.
I stopped off for a few minutes at the Rock Springs/Sterling airport (KSQI) to look over the early arrivals. 6 DC-3/C-47s were on the ground. The ramp will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 8 to 6. One of the airplanes will be giving rides (I heard someone say the price was $195 for a 45 minute ride.