Took my parents shopping in Traverse City, along with a friend
It’s either a 5 ish hour drive or a 1 ish hour flight.
We flew. I own a decently fast airplane, after all.
We chose to burn some avgas and save some time. The choice is 38-40 gal per hour at 210 knots or so or 28-32 at 185 knots. We chose faster.
The flight up was hazy,, technically VFR (but not really) for much of the way, and I did not get any decent photos of anything due to the haze at altitude……
This was on the way back, just above the clouds about 8 pm heading more or less south southwest


200 knots at 10K
Shortly after that, we descended and it was clouds and IMC pretty much down to 4000 ft. A little bumpy in the clouds but not too bad….
(Sorry it is sideways, I don’t know why and do not have the tools to rotate it…..exercise is good for your neck, or turn your monitor )
So 1.2 up and 1.3 back, with about 0.4 IMC on the way north and 0.5 on the way back. Both ways we had brutal (like 55 knots at one point) direct crosswinds at altitude.
The landing at KTVC was perfect: RWY 280 with 17kt gusting 26 at 320, and it was textbook perfect (I get lucky once in a while). Upwind wheel first (and I didn’t even chirp the tire), then the downwind one, then the nosewheel. If you had had a drink in your hand the ice wouldn’t have even clinked. For once there were witnesses. I wish I had video, but I was too busy to hold a phone….
The landing back home was good, but not as perfect as the one at Traverse City.
A great day with my parents too. Shopping and then dinner at Sorellina. The only downside was that, because I was flying, I couldn’t have a glass of wine with dinner.
It don’t get much better than that though. The real reason I own a plane and fly is for days like that.