Flight 535 Boeing 727 Seat 7C Jan 2, 1975 19 minutes Level flight: 9 minutes
When I was 13 years old my grandparents gave my brother Paul, my cousin Scott, and me the gift of a lifetime. Plane tickets on Northwest Airlines for a round-trip to the Twin Cities. Since Scott lived in Bloomington, he had to come down to Rochester so that we could all fly together.
Apparently, this was a well-guarded Christmas secret in anticipation of seeing our reactions as we opened “the” presents. It took a few minutes for us to connect the dots that all three of us got tickets and that we would be travelling together…alone.
The secret sauce in this gift is what it was not. This was not a family trip. My Grandparents knew that it was more than just our first ride on a plane – it was an adventure without any adults. Like the Three Musketeers we would be doing this adventure all on our own! We had no clue that the pleasure in giving a gift like this is to hear all about our great journey.
This was an amazing gift.
I discovered that we were allowed to bring baggage, so to the chagrin of everyone I felt obliged to pack a suitcase and check it at the gate. The flight from Rochester to the Twin Cities went well, but 5″ of snow caused the cancellation of our return flight. Paul called home to break the news that our awesome return flight would be on a Greyhound bus.
Fortunately, arrangements were made to rebook the flight for the next day, so we stayed overnight at Scott’s house in Bloomington. While waiting for a ride I sent myself a postcard.
Well, somebody has to say it. Good thing I packed a suitcase!