10/12/2003 | K0PG & K9ILT When will we ever learn? A carefully considered schedule is always laid out ahead of time and communicated to the VHF contest community. Fooey! Our first stop in north central Iowa was so good we trashed our planned leaving time and stayed as long as the Qs kept coming.

We headed off to Minnesota and ran into some rain and construction near Rochester. We wound up taking the wrong road and found ourselves almost to Iowa, instead of almost to Wisconsin. We always try to make lemonade out of lemons, and we wound up overnighting in Decorah, Iowa where we stayed in the VIP suite at the Motel 8 (living large on the road). Sunday morning found us on a great hilltop putting out EN43. As we moved on, we found a new favorite spot for EN42, so the Iowa detour worked out well. It kept us from making a couple of planned stops later Sunday, but our QSO rate was fine, and we were enjoying the trip.

A real highlight was having Mark, N8KWX surprise us at our EN62 spot. He brought along his Laser gear, allowing us to make a light QSO.

It's great to travel along with the regulars, and get to meet some new friends too. Overall, 972 miles, 13 grids, and about 450 Qs each.
We made our best score to date, with about 78K each. We're already working on our January plans, hope to see you then! 73, Tim K0PG and Pat K9ILT the "Rovairs Extraordinaires" -- K0PG