B757
at Indianapolis International AirportWoke up at 6:00am. I packed most of the stuffs last night so I just stretched my body and took shower. I brought my stuffs out of my apartment, trying to get in the car but the carwash yesterday caused the key cylinders of my both doors to freeze up. I could not even get the remote to open it, either. So, I had to get in the car through the trunk while bring in all the stuffs needed. I was going to leave at 8:00am but ended up wasting about 10 extra minutes for this. By the time I clicked my seatbelt, the car warmed up enough so I drove out the property and took a path to go to the airport. I was driving a bit faster than the pack so I got there around 8:40am. I was expecting to take 45 minutes on the travel. I saw a bunch of people wearing Indianapolis Colts stuffs but almost all of them are not going to the super bowl, they just watch the game on TV. Passed the security check around 9:00am. This is my first time using Northwest Airlines so I had to walk around to locate the terminal A (my preferred airline is at terminal B). The boarding was already begun as I got there but those people who have prestige can go in, I was waiting about 15 minutes before I can get on board.
B757
at Indianapolis International Airport
Because the temperature was around 12F, it was pretty cold but the aircraft was dry, so no deicing was needed. The NW501, a Boeing 757 departed at 9:30am, took off to the south then turned to north to Minneapolis, MN. The plane pass the downtown Mineapolis, then landed to the south. Arrived shortly after 10:30am. Inside of the airport was like a shopping mall, lots of place to eat, and shop. I had around 2 hours before the connection flight so I stopped by at Quizno's Sub for lunch. The tram system at the airport works pretty well if I need to go to terminal A or B. It's a lot faster than using moving walkways. There was no one there neither the aircraft when I get to the gate.
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| Minneapolis, St Paul airport | Minneapolis |
NW3056
waiting at the gate where snow falling
It's been a while since I rode on a turboprop aircraft. The NW3056, bound for Bemidji, MN is a Saab made SF340, which only goes like 290mph, not like 550-600mph of jetliners... At 1:00pm, the plane was about depart when the sky suddenly got cloudy and snow began falling. The plane had to wait for a while then proceeded for a deicing process, the plane took off around 1:30pm, I was worrying that I might miss the appointment at the customer's location. The plane flew in a stable air, then landed around 2:50pm. I was sitting in the first row on left side, so while waiting the ground to be ready with the door open, I was exposed to the 0F air! Let me go now...
SF340
arrived at Bemidji, MN
After getting off the airport, I met with my contact there. While he was getting a rental car, I used automated check in machine to print out the tickets for returning flight for tomorrow. When I picked up the baggage, we drove to the customer's location and I did my part. We drove back to the town around 5:30pm, and decided to have dinner around 7:00pm. I had a Cobb salad at the restaurant just by the hotel. I think walking outside is a bad idea considering the temperature dropped to -6F now.
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| Lake is frozen up | People place small shacks, and drive on the lake |
The hotel I stayed is by Lake Bemidji, and I get to see people driving on the lake, staying in a shack for fishing. I decided to walk on the lake a while. It was a bit windy and scary. Anyways, I used a tread mill to workout before going to bed around 11:00pm. (It's actually midnight in EST)
Woke up at 6:00am, had breakfast and went to gym again to workout. I had some time before going to the airport so I went outside again to check out the frozen lake. The ice was about 6 inches thick and seems okay to walk on it. (People could even drive on it so who cares?)
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I called a taxi and left the place around 9:15am. I asked the driver to take me to a famous statues in the town, and I get to see Paul Bunyan and Babe.
Paul
Bunyan and Blue Ox, Babe (Babe needs to have his belly fixed since it is cracked
up...)
Arrived at the airport, worked on my stuff at the lobby. I had to go though the screening and the security staff was surprised to see what I was carrying (it's a company order so I cannot put it in my checked baggage!). Since it is safe to carry, it is okay. The same kinds of plane was waiting on me and NW3242 departed the small regional airport at 10:50am with no trouble. The visibility was not that good but arrived in Minneapolis as scheduled around 12:00pm. The plane had to wait by the gate since the ground crews were busy going back and forth to take care of other planes. Anyways, I got out the plane and walked to the next gate. I stopped at a Burger King to buy my lunch, worked at a desk to finish up emailing.
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| Getting ready to go back | Bemidji Regional Airport |
The DC-9 (I don't recall when I got a ride in this type of the airliner before), NW494 began boarding people and departed at 1:25pm on time. I was sitting in a second row of the economy class, so the row in front of me had 3 and 2 configuration and our row was 3 and 3, so I was facing a cockpit door. I did not have a tray in front of me, I had to pull it out from the side of the seat. I worked on my assignments all the time until I get back to Indianapolis around 4:00pm. While waiting for my bag, I picked up my dinner upstairs then took a ride in a shuttle bus to the parking lot. The doors of my car were willing to open this time so I had no trouble loading baggage and drive home. Come home, worked on company stuffs and went to bed around 11:00pm.
DC-9
Preparing for departure