Weekend In MSP

I am back to the daily drudge of Grand Forks today. The trip to Minneapolis was fantastic. It was just what I needed to relax and get away from this tiny town. I guess this picture really just sums up the entire weekend. Man the B757 is a beautiful plane. I especially like it in the new colors. So... lets break the weekend down....

Friday: I had to get up at 6am after working from midnight til 4am, so needless to say Friday was going to be a long day. We left Grand Forks around 6.05am. Speeding out of town south on I-29 was something I have dreamed up since moving here. I am definitely not a small town kind of person. I need to see buildings that are over 4 stories high once in a while. I ended up sleeping half the trip to Minneapolis but, really, what is there to look at in the middle of Minnesota? I guess they have hills going for them. We got to the hotel around 11am, checked in, put our stuff down and raced off to do some plane spotting outside the fences.

I thought I was a nerd, but these guys are double the nerd I am. Just from seeing the registration numbers on the tail, they can tell you the model of aircraft, the destination, and the scheduled departure and arrival times. I am pretty sure some of them even knew the accidents that had been reported with that aircraft.

But it was very nice to hang out with guys that talked nothing but aviation. Inside aviation jokes; turning everyday events into something aviation related.

Just stuff that anyone with any aviation hormones in their blood would find interesting or funny or pathetic.

Friday continued with a tour through the Tracon and the Tower at Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport. We spent a good 30+ mins out on the cat-walk taking pictures of planes departing, landing and taxiing. We are such nerds.

Later, we had were able to take a tour of Sun Country's brand new hanger. Just a bit of trvia for you, just in case it ever comes up on Trival Persuit; Did you know that Sun Country's Hanger at MSP can fit 4 Boeing 737-800's and has been measured and built to fit 4 Boeing 737-900's if they ever build them? While we were out on the tramac driving around, MSP had an Evergreen International Cargo plane come in because it had lost a door flap on the wheel well of a 747-100. The plane was massive. I have never been able to get that close up to one. The thing is massive.

Saturday: We were able to get a tour of the airport grounds. We got to head out onto the active runways and taxi-ways and snap a few pictures. Well when I say a few, enough pictures to fill a 256 megabyte card. I got a few mini movies too. Some nice, yet, bouncy pictures of a NWA 747 coming in to land from Japan. That was an awesome sight. Standing less than 100 meters from a landing jumbo.

Sunday: We ended up getting up having a bit of brekkie at Ikea (best 99 cent breakfast I've ever had), and then a bit more plane spotting. And then the long drive back to Grand Forks.

So that was my weekend, and now it's time to get back to school and surviving Grand Forks. Just two more months until Winter Holidays, and I cannot wait.