My First
Flight
My first-ever airplane ride came as a total surprise. In 1995
I was on vacation in Park Rapids, MN visiting relatives.
Using the excuse that they needed to pick up a package, my Uncle Tony and
cousin Mara got me to the airport. The weather had been overcast
and rainy all day, so while I waited in the car they went in to check with
a pilot friend of theirs to see if it had cleared enough to fly.
My cousin came out and motioned me to come over by the fence. When
I got there she said "SURPRISE! You're going for a ride!" I didn't
have time to get nervous -- in 5 minutes I was buckling the seatbelt.
She handed me her camera and away we went. The nerves kicked in as
we started our take off roll, but when we got a couple hundred feet up
and I saw how pretty everything was from the air I thought ~if we crash,
at least I get a scenic view!~ This remains the most scenic flying
I've done. Crossing the Rockie Mountains at 30,000 feet in a 757 is nice,
but seeing the lakes and trees of northern MN. from 1500 feet is much more
exciting! Thank you Aunt Maggi and Uncle Tony!
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Some of the 10,000 lakes..... |
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It's easy to see the sand bars from up here! |
A view of Park Rapids, MN. |
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Safely on the ground, but it took weeks to get my head out of the clouds! |
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