10/15/2021 –
Stop me if you’ve heard this one; Two Cozies and a Long-EZ walk into bar…
OK, it didn’t exactly start that way. How it really started is that while at the Rough River 2021 Fly In, a few of us were commenting at how great it was to finally be taking fun trips in our canards again after the pandemic had kept most of us constrained to local flights only.
As is usually the case with Rough River, it always seems too short, and sadly it often marks the end of the summer flying months (especially for us in the northern US). Insistent on trying to squeak a little more summer (and summer like flying) out the season, Four of us MN and WI canard drivers decided to take a long weekend and find some sun. We set our sites on Osage Beach, Missouri in Lake of the Ozarks Park.
We decided that we’d all meet up in Rochester, Minnesota to start, as both Matt and Jake were based there, and I would fly right over enroute anyway. Bob, based near Milwaukee, would have a bit of diversion but it would be worth it to all fly down together. Matt decided he’d ride with Bob on the way down instead of fly his Long-EZ, but Jake was eager to get more time flying his yet that season. So we had 2 Cozy 4s, and 1 Long-EZ in loose formation from Rochester to Osage.
We didn’t really have much of a plan. We had a hotel and a rental car booked, beyond that we’d wing it. The hotel definitely wasn’t the nicest place any of us had stayed, but we spent most of time finding good food, boating, or hiking. The hotel bar was sufficient enough for a nightcap, so overall it served it’s purpose.
When we left, Matt elected to ride with me back to Rochester, as my course line took me there anyway.
We only had a couple of days there, but it was more. More flying. More laughing. More getting back to normal after the pandemic robbed us of time together.
