The thing that prompted me to get my rating was flying to Ithaca in
glorious VMC, and then getting stuck there for several days. I
eventually tried to go out VFR under a low ceiling, but halfway back I
had to divert and spend the night in the airline terminal at Wilkes-Barre.

It only takes once.

See, that's where flying as a family is totally different.

We had a similar experience, trying to get to Sun N Fun '04. Low
ceilings, low visibility, rain over Tennessee. We landed just south of
Nashville, when we couldn't safely go on -- and were stuck there for
three days, when it turned into freezing rain.

We had the time of our lives! Our time spent in Nashville has receded
into "Honeck Family Lore" as one of our best vacations, ever -- and we
had no intention of ever going there.

Could we have proceeded IFR, with the rating? Certainly, before the
temperatures dropped. But then we would have missed out on one of our
very favorite accidental vacation memories.

It's not the destination, it's the journey.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"