Wednesday morning came bright and early. The passengers arrived an hour late, but it gave me a chance to talk to the FAA guys who fly a Learjet 60 around the western states to test the Navaids. Pretty cool! I loaded their bags when my passengers finally arrived, and we were on our way to Fargo! We were originally heading to Boise, but he called just a few minutes before arriving that morning and changed his mind to North Dakota, eh?
We were in Fargo long enough to grab a quick bite to eat at Applebee's. They brought an extra passenger with them for our next flight to Minot, which was back-tracking about forty minutes. It allowed me to see some beautiful, flat country. It's way better in the non-winter months! I have never landed at Minot, though I've flown over it a time or two. The Air Force Base there flies B-52 Bombers...one of my favorite-of-all-time airplanes!
Side Story: my childhood dentist said they would draw up fake transfer papers for people they didn't like in the Air Force. The worst place they could think to send someone was always Minot! They have ropes tied between the hangars so people don't get lost in a blizzard and die. One can only withstand negative sixty degrees for so long, after all! I don't miss living in North Dakota, though I really enjoyed my time spent there. Looking back, I don't know how I did it!
After just an hour in Minot, and watching three Army Chinook Helicopters take off (too cool!), we were on our way back to Fargo to drop off our extra passenger. We only shut down one engine, opened the door, and sent him on his way. We were soon airborne again and on our way to Minneapolis.
We flew through some rainstorms and landed at Anoka Blaine County Airport on the north side of the city. It was pouring rain during our entire stay. We had a chance to run for a quick dinner and found a neat sandwich shop. Which Wich will certainly be visited by me again! Big Boss called and wanted to be picked up further south at the main Minneapolis airport. I have never been here in a private airplane. but this airline terminal has some of the best people-watching I've ever seen. Since I lived in Grand Forks, all layovers were spent in KMSP. What a neat place!
After getting our passengers, we were on our way for our last stop of the night. We arrived in Omaha shortly after 11:00 PM. The hotel had entered our reservations incorrectly, so it was frustrating waiting for them to fix their problem. Half an hour later, I was the last one checked in and off to my room.
What a day! Seven cities over 18 hours.
Spokane - Fargo - Minot - Fargo - Minneapolis/Anoka - Minneapolis - Omaha
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