Dave's Dayton Trip 1994

by Dave Schultheis WB6KHP

Excerpted from How I Spent My April Holiday, or How To Burn Off 168 Hours Of Vacation Time.


On Thursday, April 28, I got up early and flew TWA via St. Louis (MO) to Dayton (OH). The first segment of the trip was very turbulent and we were delayed by rain in the St. Louis area. It was drizzly in Dayton, too. I rented a 1994 Tempo with automatic seat belts, which almost strangled me twice. I lucked into a room at the Hampton Inn ($65/night!), just 4 miles from the airport.

On Friday, April 29, I went to The Dayton Hamvention® and its 10-acre outdoor Flea Market. It rained. They started to call the "swapfest" the "swampfest." The hotel bathroom's exhaust fan didn't work and they didn't do anything to fix it, in spite of their "100% Satisfaction" guarantee. Although it was pay day, I didn't worry because I have automatic deposit and I had enough money in the bank.

On Saturday, April 30, I attended the HamVention. It rained. It was awful. [I don't want to play this game any more.] I visited many of the indoor vendors (picking up lots of new product literature) and attended some interesting forums.

On Sunday, May 1, I attended the HamVention. It was cold, windy and unpleasant.

On Monday, May 2, I slept in. I returned to San Jose on an afternoon flight. While waiting at the Dayton International Airport, I met an apprehensive woman and her teenage son who were flying "alone" for the first time, to San Jose. I was able to reassure them with information about what was going on at the airport and how things would work at the St. Louis layover. Fortunately, both flights were on time and except for the length of flight (4+ hours), all was well. Upon arrival in San Jose, I contacted a ham friend by radio to give me a ride home. Barney was glad to see me [!] and there were 8 messages on my answering machine.


I understand that this short report does not show Dayton in a very good light, for which I apologize. Certainly it's not the fault of anybody involved that the weather was bad. Bad weather in April is the reason that the Dayton Amateur Radio Association chose to move the HamVention back three weeks (into the month of May) for 1996 and future years. For a more pleasant (and affectionate) look at the HamVention and the area, please go to Dave's Dayton Area Info.
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Created on June 4, 1996. Last updated at 14:10 on May 25, 1998.
David W. Schultheis, San José, Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County, California, USA