Flying Cross Country by Carrier Pigeon

OK, now that we are home safely I can dish all the dirt on our MN trip. As usual the only thing I can say in defense is..."it seemed like a good idea at the time!"

Living a bit more than "spitting distance" of my folks in MN I was looking for a way to get home for a visit before we move. A CHEAP way. A cheap way that didn't involve me driving alone for 24 hours in a not completely reliable car. After scouring every website I could find I was very depressed. The cheapest airline tickets I could find were about $400 a person. $1200 for three of us was hardly in the "cheap" category. I had pretty much given up hope when a very unlikely solution came up from my neighbor. I know I have mentioned before but I have darn near perfect neighbors. One side is a super friendly family with kids for my bossy rug rats to play with, they swap cat watching with us, keep an eye on the house when we're gone, and even kill snakes. Can't get much better than that! On the other side is a quiet single guy who minds his own business. Again, darn near perfect. Both sides ignore the shouts, occasional flaming science project gone awry, and other weird things that come from the goofy people in the middle. (Why do I think they are planning a huge block party the day after we close???)

So imagine my surprise when quiet dude presented the solution to my "can't get there from here" dilemma. Of course there were a few minor things to work out. Like what? Oh nothing really. Just that the mode of transportation was a bit, um, unorthodox. See, he is a pilot and happens to own a plane, and also happens to be from like 3 miles from where my parents have a summer cabin. So he offered to let us tag along when he flew home for the week. In a single prop 4 seat Cessna. But beggars can't be choosers right? Charles Lindbergh went across the Atlantic for heaven's sake! Amelia Earhart went...OK maybe that's a bad example. The point was...it was an adventure and it was cheap! One tiny little problem. I also had to find somebody to watch not only my two cats but his cat as well. Luckily my OTHER neighbor came to the rescue yet again. She agreed to feed all three cats. I took this as a divine green light and we packed for the trip.

I tend to be one of those obsessive over packers. And really in MN you MIGHT need a snowsuit, even in July. This was when Capt. Carrier Pigeon announced we were limited to a SMALL duffel each. Get out! How am I supposed to fit anything in that? So after limiting ourselves to a swimsuit, toothbrush, and change of underwear we went to board AirChad.

Flying a private plane is a bit different from a commercial airline. No drop off zones, no baggage checking, no x-rays (no security at all!) no cavity searches and no water confiscations. No 3oz limits on anything. (I could have stuffed my duffel with water bottles but decided to skip it in favor of clean underwear. I know, I'm funny that way.) You just park the car, walk a few feet, and get on the plane. Sounds simple right? And it is...sort of. Of course it's like trying to fit 4 people in to a corvette. It can be done...but it ain't pretty. Also turns out that the "no electronic devices until a certain altitude" thing is mostly bunk. ON AirChad we had nonstop iPod, game-boy, and texting. I wanted to send some funny texts like "I'm falllllllling......" but decided not to chance it. Anyway you climb in, turn the key and you...just go. Off into the wild blue yonder. Let the adventure begin.

I had come prepared with lots of Ziploc bags, Benedryl, and the already mentioned electronic stuff and hoped for the best. I knew we would try and fly about 4 hours. Stop and refuel, and then fly about 2 more until we landed at the cabin. How bad could it be?

Can I pause here and admire my own stupid naivete? 6 hours is a verrrrrry long time. In a single prop Cessna, 6 hours can be just short of eternity, in fact.

...to be continued.