Now I can check North Dakota off from the list of states I have never been to. The only remaining states on my list are Oregon, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Arkansas. Exciting! I had four legs today and each of them required an instrument approach to land. Our second leg from Minneapolis to Brainerd is not even a long distance. The flight itself is little more than 25 minutes, but in that short span, the rain in Minneapolis morphed to snow in Brainerd. It was an alien-like landscape as we broke out of the clouds and saw white as far as the eye could see. The Unicom frequency called us and in a heavy Minnesota accent said, "You'll have to exit the runway down there at the end, that's the only one we've got plowed."
On the leg back to Minneapolis, Air Traffic Control stuck us in the middle of a massive cloud during our descent to the airport. The moisture built up very quickly. In a matter of minutes, there was a three inch layer of ice on the windshield wipers. The captain said he's never seen anything like it. I feel as though captains keep telling me things like this. Am I that lucky that I get to experience all these ridiculous weather phenomena in my first month on the line? It would seem that way...
The final leg of our journey took us to Grand Forks, North Dakota. After yet another instrument approach in one mile visibility, I landed with gusty winds onto a slick runway and we waited for the plows to clear a spot for us to approach the jetway. The captain remarked on the scene in front of us. "Why would anyone live here? Why would they put a flight school here?" The University of North Dakota has one of the largest aviation colleges in the country right here in Grand Forks. The other major colleges
are in California, Arizona, and Florida. . .you know, places one can routinely fly without having to wait for a plow. It has been an experience. During my walk-around, I almost slipped and fell on three different occasions. My hand nearly froze off and I have never felt so relieved to return to the jetbridge. Our hotel is some sort of Canadian chain with a waterpark inside along with about 6 restaurants. I placed an order for a cajun chicken wrap. I don't recommend it. Maybe I should have stuck with the poutine or some other Canadian-inspired fare. When I went to pick up my food, I almost wished I had just sat down in the restaurant to people watch. The male/female ratio was a bit skewed. If you are lonely and feel you desperately need a boyfriend, forget eHarmony. I mean, 10:1 odds are only slightly generous. I think I counted five females in the entire hotel. Three of them were working at the restaurant, one of them is our flight attendant, and the other one might have been a boy with long hair. I'm learning a lot about the United States, and how a large portion of the country is a lot tougher than I am. I simply cannot look out my window and be excited by any of this. It is a good reminder of why I live in California.
