International flights

In talking to Bill and Michelle a few nights ago they asked if we had ever flown internationally before. Carolyn answered yes, she had been to England on tour with her high school choir (she played piano and sang in some amazing cathedrals).

I was reminded that I’ve actually had one prior international flight as well. I’m wondering if this will be a similar experience.

In 1967 (I was 10 at the time), my parents decided to take my brother, grandmother and me to Expo ’67, the world’s fair in Montreal, Quebec. My sister was considered too young to remember (and, at 4, probably so), she was out-placed to our aunt (my mom’s sister) and uncle’s in metropolitan White Pine MI.

The trip went as follows:

· Dad rented a Beechcraft Bonanza (single engine, 5 passenger, low wing, V tail). He chose this because we were going relatively far and it had a relatively fast cruising speed when compared to other small, single-engine craft that were available in northern WI.

· Departure was AM – the trip would take we would be much of the day.

· Departure probably from Hayward WI (extreme northern WI – think fishing and lumberjacks)

· We flew to Sault Ste Marie Ontario / landing to refuel and go through customs. (about 350 mi east – at the eastern tip of Lake Superior). Ontario is English speaking, eh? (Well, sort of.) Travel time, 1.5-2 hours.

· Customs to a 10 year old seemed to take forever. In actuality I have no idea how long we were there or what the heck they were talking about. We had lunch as well.

· Sault Ste Marie to Montreal is over 500 mi east – another 3 hours in the air. I remember seeing strings of lakes in either Ontario or Quebec, and my mom telling me they were the hoof prints of Babe the Blue Ox. (We may have traveled, but were never far from the lumberjack theme.) As she and Granny were the only flight attendants, and Granny did not disagree, I believed her :-)

· As it turns out, Quebec is not English speaking – and we were not landing at the main airport – and had difficulty finding our airport when the only instructions were in French. This was not the pinnacle of planning or preparation - we “toured” the city for about an hour until they sent up another plane for us to follow in. I remember it was evening – getting to be dusk.

· Eventually, land we did. As there are no restrooms in a Bonanza, this was a good thing.

· My parents rented a convertible and an apartment, and I believe we stayed more than a week.

· We departed from Montreal to go south to Boston (yet another foreign country) to my other aunt (my dad’s sister) and uncle’s. The traffic in Boston, to a 10 year old from Drummond WI (population 175, and we didn’t live in town) was outrageous – but it was great fun to hang out with my cousins.

· We returned direct to northern WI. I don’t remember anything about the flight back – maybe Dale does.

We’re booked on a Boeing 777 on the way out and 747 on the way back. So, similar experience coming up? I hope we find airports. And what about the traffic – can it be as bad as Boston?

D