North Dakota-trying to leave

Al was scheduled to leave North Dakota this morning at 6:45 am.  He awoke to a temperature of –27.  He said it takes your breath away and burns when you breathe.  I have experienced –14,  but never quite that cold. 

His flight has been delayed and now he has missed his connecting flight in Minneapolis.  He only had a 40 minute layover there to begin with.  It appears that the plane into Jamestown was coming from Devils Lake, ND and may not get there at all due to mechanical issues.  Might it have something to do with the temperature????  Anyway they are now talking them by bus to Bismarck, ND, for a flight to Minneapolis.  They (Delta) is still trying to work it out.  Sometimes these things happen for a reason.  Maybe he was supposed to stay in Jamestown another day?

update….

Well, now he’s supposed to be leaving North Dakota at 1:30 and will arrive in Tampa around 11pm.  He’s staying the night in Tampa at Mom’s house and will drive home in the morning.  Sure will be glad to have him home.   He’s had a real nice visit with all his relatives.  He even got to see where they ice fish.  I’ll be anxious for his pictures. 

another update on Al’s attempt to leave North Dakota….

The plane leaving Fargo had to land in Devils Lake ND to pick up a bunch of passengers also heading to Minneapolis.  They sat on the runway trying to burn off extra fuel to get the weight down, then flew around a while to burn off additional fuel.  The passengers were picked up and then they found they had a problem with the landing gear.  But now they also found they did not have enough fuel to get to Minneapolis so they went back to Fargo???  Does this make any sense?    By this time Al had a raging headache and was very frustrated and tired.

He was finally able to catch another flight out of Fargo to Minneapolis Northwest flight, which is actually really the same as Delta.. He had been flying Delta previously (and their affiliate puddle jumpers). 

The flight was supposed to leave around 1:30 pm but of course it was delayed as well.  I think he finally left sometime after 4:30.  He finally landed in Minneapolis and was just about to miss the connection to Tampa. There was no gate info on the ticket and no screens to tell him what gate he needed to go to.  He finally found someone who could give him a ride to the correct gate, just in the nick of time….

……however..of course there was ANOTHER delay.  He called me from his cell while on the plane.  Apparently they can use the cell until they close the door and prepare to take off.  The plane finally took off and he was on his way to Tampa…at least I hoped.

I found a website where you can actually track the flight.  It was kind of cool.

Flight Tracker

Once I keyed in the flight number, I was able to see that the takeoff had been delayed.  Of course.  Finally it took off and I watched him fly right over Tallahassee and about 5 miles west of our house!  It told the flight speed, the altitude, the miles from Minneapolis and the miles to Tampa.  It also gave the estimated time of arrival.  I watched it until he landed at Tampa International.  What a relief.

…baggage issues??  Actually they did not lose his checked bag!  What a shock.  He is extremely disappointed with the puddle jumpers Delta used.  We hated to have him use those planes but in Jamestown North Dakota, there are few options.  He ended up with a $10 food voucher that is only good for 24 hours.  Of course, he had no time between flights to get any food.  It’s a good thing his cousin Jean made him a few sandwiches.  He would have starved to death from the beginning of his journey at 6am to his arrival at 11:30 pm…without food…or beer!

He left Tampa about 11 this morning to temps in the 40’s.  Cold for Tampa but it felt balmy to him.  He’s on his way home.  Pork roast in the crock pot for his dinner.  Will be very glad to have him home.  I can’t wait to see his photos of the snow.  He even took some out on the lake where they ice fish!

Our temperatures are very cold this week. It was 25 degrees when I woke up, and now at noon only 41.  No warm up for a few days either.

…well Al’s back home.  Sure am happy to have him home.  I Tivo’d the Bucs game so he can watch that.  I sure hope they won!

 

Got Al’s pictures downloaded from his North Dakota visit.  He did pretty well, even though he doesn’t take many photographs.

The streets are plowed but still a lot of snow.

Aunt Arline

Karen & Jack, Polly, & Jean

Jack, Jean, & Al

 

Arline, Jean, and Polly

Jerry Iverson and Al

An old photograph of Uncle Ken and Aunt Arline

This is the house that Al’s Mom and Grandmother lived in in Jamestown, after his dad died.

This photo was taken from quite a distance and it was hard to tell what this was.  His cousin Jerry Iverson swore this was a herd of deer.  Looks like a bunch of signs to me!!  

This Buffalo statue was built in 1959. It’s a tourist attraction in Jamestown.

The Blue Moon

 

The ice house. People actually build a house on the ice, then drill a hole in the ice and fish!  In 35 below zero temperatures!

The ice hole.

These are some cute little birds that lived a very nice in the nursing home where Al’s uncle Ken is living

Al had a real nice visit with his North Dakota relatives.  They treated him very well and he enjoyed seeing them all again. We hope to be able to get up there sometime in the motorhome and in the summer.