Jim Carson

I was on a cross-country trip from Seattle to Chicago. Starting somewhere east of Twin Falls, the late morning air heated enough to make the ride extremely turbulent. Though I went all the way up to 17.5 (with oxygen), I was still getting the snot shaken out of me and needed a break. Rawlins was the closest airfield.

After refueling and taking my good old time, I tried taking off eastbound. Density altitude was over 10,000 (the airport itself is at 6813 ft.). Even with the turbo, I was having problems getting more than 200’ fpm climb while maintaining adequate cooling. I turned around and parked, figuring on spending the night. THe fixed base operator lent me their Chevy Suburban and gave some pointers on local eateries and cowboy poetry readings that were going on that night. I had a great time, and very much appreciate the western hospitality.

DuPage was a great stopping point for my cross-country trip, and is about as close to the Chicago area as you’ll get in a single engine, private aircraft. I had some minor maintenance done while I visited family. The Flight Center is extremely comfortable, with showers, a weather station and even a TV playing movies (which was useful as I waited … and waited … for a friend to arrive).

They have a few outlets sprinkled around the concourse – plus Southwest has these laptop tables with several outlets. No free wireless, though you can access the T-mobile hotspot via Boingo ($7.95/month versus T-Mobile’s $9.95/month)

There were huge lines for food (Dunkin’ Donuts, TGI Fridays). Very, very busy today.

Overall, it’s worth visiting. In addition to cars, there are exhibits for assembly lines, furniture(!), plastic mold-injected trinkets (like: a Ford figurine, Lincoln’s head, and the coveted Oscar Meyer Wienermobile), trains and roadside arcana. I was particularly surprised how much the Holiday Inn display rekindled memories of family vacations.

The admission fee for the museum tacks on an additional $5 for parking. (Thus, it’s $19, not $14.)

Before you go, check if the factory is idle (as it was for my visit). They shut down periodically to transition to a new model year.

I had some connecting flights through here on my (current) trip. It’s an okay airport, but I have had bad luck with nearly every connection being late due to storms in the midwest or inbound flight delay. The hub and spoke system truly sucks.

Tip: if you’re going to Cincinnati, it is often far cheaper to fly into Indianapolis, Louisville or Dayton and drive a rental car.

Bonus tip: In Concourse A is a fine tribute to porcine aviation:

I was unable to get an earlier flight out and had a long wait under the Cone of Announcements. When I sauntered back over closer to the gate, I found a lot of the rocks in this garden area have been adorned with little notes about people’s travels. These were kind of fun to read.

and they were greatly exceeded. The horror stories had conjured up an image of free-roving mutants in search of cheap fuel. No, wait, that was Mad Max. Anyway, it’s clean, bright, quiet and bereft of stupid security tapes blaring warnings to the clueless. It’s also huuuge. The hike to baggage claim felt like it would be measured in miles, but distracting me from this is the undergound passageway – it rocks.

The book store is about ten blocks from the Amtrak station, useful for planning a way to haul your stash back. Go south to Burnside, right on Burnside until you reach Powell’s. Return the same way, so you’ll not need to take the stairs down from the Broadway Bridge.

Despite having worked in this area for nearly three years, I had never been to this Shanghai Cafe, having probably tuned out its existence among the many dull strip-mall facades of Factoria. Claire suggested it for lunch last week, and I enjoyed a unexpectedly yummy crispy beef with orange flavor.

Special tip: you can bring a salad past airport security as long you have fewer than three ounces of dressing.

Reno’s airport offers (free) wireless , (free) hotel shuttles running every half hour or so; and a (not free, but good) Mexican restaurant.

The airport’s small and there aren’t many flights in or out. If your airline’s having a bad (United) day, you’re boned. Expect turbulence in the winter.