After spending a few days as tourists in St. Louis, My wife went to her conference and I flew north towards Oshkosh. The flight up there was very easy. I made one stop for refuel on the way up.
Link to the Route on Skyvector

Monmouth Airport C66

I chose an airport a bit out of the way because airnav.com told me they had the least expensive fuel in the area and as usual they were correct.  I saved around 20 cents a gallon stopping here.  What a great little airport.  They had a homey FBO office on the end of the main hanger and a large agricultural spraying operation going on.  I had to negotiate my landing with a
couple of air tractors coming in and out as I was landing.  Nice folks at the FBO and they even helped me pump the gas.
Video of landing at Monmouth C66
I was experimenting with different positions for the camera on the airplane so you will notice the camera is on the right side and mounted a bit lower. My plan for Airventure was to stay at a hotel located next to a small municipal airport located in Portage Wisconsin.   Again I was influenced by the fuel prices on airnav and the ease of access to Oshkosh. I would fly in and out of Oshkosh each day and sleep in a bed at the hotel.  I must say it all worked out great.

Ridge Motor Inn, Portage

The Ridge hotel, located about 3/4 of a mile and a short walk from the airport, was nothing fancy but it was inexpensive, had a bed, a good working shower and a restaurant that served simple comfort food and ice cold local beers.  My favorite beer for this trip was a local brew made by New Glarus Brewing called Spotted Cow and it was really tasty with a cheeseburger with an over easy egg on top.

New Glarus Spotted Cow Beer

Video of Landing at Portage C47

Portage Municipal Airport

The Portage municipal airport was a great spot. The manager was a character!  He cussed like a sailor, yet went out of his way to be hospitable to all guests. The airport is located about 48 nautical miles southwest of Oshkosh, the flight would take me less that 20 minutes and  provided me with access to low price fuel.   I really enjoyed gabbing with all the pilots coming from and going to Oshkosh.  I will probably use this same place again as it was a gem.

Portage Municipal Airport FBO

After an uneventful yet enjoyable flight to Portage I put my knapsack over my shoulder and made the short walk over to the hotel for the night.  I needed to get plenty of rest and be ready for my first flight into Oshkosh.  After a good dinner and a couple of cold beers I kicked my feet up and relaxed and got prepared for the flight to Oshkosh the next day. Stay tuned… part
3 coming soon!