Kent,
Oh no! If I'd known you were in Madison, I'd have dropped in on the way up yesterday. I flew right past Madison, although IIRC I was still above the clouds at that point. But I have the approach plates. Sigh. Another POA near miss (I had a near miss with Dr. B last year).
After De Kalb, I head NW.
Actually, I ended up going to both CWA and AUW. I went to AUW, but as I was doing my postflight stuff, I realized I was overdue for an oil change. Since I had time, and since AUW doesn't have an A&P on the field, I popped down to CWA, where Les Blount of Coin Builders Aviation took great care of me. Incidentally, there was a United Express regional jet off the end of Rwy 35. Oops.
Then I popped back to AUW, and got to chatting with a guy who was hanging out in the lounge. Turns out he went to University of Idaho (my employer) for two years. Small world. He was also the tower controller at CWA who had cleared me to land; he had gotten off shift and came back. He gave me a ride to the hotel, which is within walking distance of my appointment this morning.
I had made the hotel reservation from the airport, and had asked about a shuttle to get back to the airport. The clerk at the hotel told me I had to arrange it ahead of time, so when I checked in, I arranged for a shuttle back to the airport later today. He asked me when my flight time is, and I told him, whenever I wanted it to be and that I was at AUW. He laughed because he'd been thinking I should never ride with that guy again since he had to have broken all kinds of speeding records to get me there that fast.
Last little funny story: I had to call my associate dean, who is originally from Wisconson. He asked if I saw Rib Mountain. "Rib Mountain?", asks I. "You mean that little hill? The one that is the only relief for as far as the eye can see (and it could see pretty far by the time I flew in yesterday)???" He just laughed and said that that's where people in the area come to ski. Sure enough, I can see it from my hotel room, and there are what appear to be ski runs on it. A run must last about 30 seconds.
Hate to break it to you, Kent, but that ain't no mountain.
Anyway, sorry to miss you.
Judy