I took a look at my schedule and it would appear that this is the last time I will ever be in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It's just as well because I can't work out why anyone would want to live there. This was my second trip to the land up north and my second time staying at the . . . Canad Inn? It's confusing. They have that mountain at the end of Canad like you're supposed to say, "Canada," but then they insist on only being called Canad. It makes no sense I tell ya! Anyway, The Canad--a Inn has an indoor waterpark which apparently has become something of a legend amongst those who haven't been to Grand Forks. Both the captain and the flight attendant said it sounded fun, but the desk clerk informed them that it was one of the two days of the year that they close the waterpark down for maintenance. We all met up in one of the hotel's numerous restaurants a bit later.
If you recall from my last visit, I ordered a southwestern wrap which was mediocre at best. This time I tried a pasta place. In this venue, there was a group of 20 or so elderly women painting landscapes of trees while drinking wine. I am convinced that the Canad--a Inn functions like a community center. There are always tons of people inside, but I can't figure out why anyone would be staying at a hotel in Grand Forks. Anyway, I ordered New Orleans-style shrimp linguini with peppers. It was much better than the wrap. I explained to my flight crew that I enjoy eating locally inappropriate meals based on my location, but I think they were confused.
The following morning I fought off frostbite to do my walk-around which basically consisted of walking very rapidly around the plane after I quickly determined that we needed deicing based on the 8 inch icicles hanging from the nose and the snow and ice that covered our windscreen. Once the windows were cleared, we got this fine vista of . . . nothing as far as the eye could see. It's just so . . . barren. The captain I was flying with had just been transferred to Minneapolis from Salt Lake. He was taken aback by some of the places we landed. Untowered airports, short runways, landing on snow or ice, calculating weight & balance by hand...these are all things I have developed a skill for over the last couple months. They are also things I don't think I will miss next month when I'm in Houston.
