No, Kokomo was not a scheduled fuel stop but I was going to fly right over top of it on my way to Huntington.  So I wanted to know my exact position and relationship to Kokomo traffic.  I heard a lot of radio calls in and around Kokomo.  Cruising at 2000 AGL would put me too close for comfort to pattern altitude with a field elevation of 830' so I started a gradual climb for 3000' AGL.  5600 RPMs only gave me about 200 FPM climb rate so I figured if I started 10 miles out I would have at least 1000' over pattern altitude by the time I was 5 miles out.