Jay Honeck wrote:
With Mary as PIC, we flew to our old hometown of Racine, WI today, for my
son's 13th birthday. Because of an unusually tall layer of scattered
clouds, we ended up at 9500 feet to get above 'em.

Jay, please take this as friendly advice from someone who wants to
continue partying with you at OSH.
With the type of weather we have been experiencing of late, it is best
to stay below the bases than to climb on top.
When the Cu's start poppin', they can rapidly exceed your aircraft's
rate of climb and fill in underneath you, leaving you some unpleasant
opions.
I have been watching the skies for the past week. Along about 11 AM, the
Cu's start poppin'. These are air mass developments, not associated with
any fronts or troughs. They move slowly in the horizontal direction, if
at all. They can fill in alot of square miles beneath you, though.
Regards, Eric