Saga of Three Airports, According to Girl

Saga of three airports according to Girl: It was 1969. Some of the things that went up that year were:
January 15—the Soviet Union launched Soyuz 5.

February 24—the U.S. launched the Mariner 6 Mars probe.

March 3—Apollo 9 carries James McDivitt, David Scott and Rusty Schweikart into space to test the lunar module.

May 22—Apollo 10’s lunar module flew to within 15,400 miles of the moon’s surface.

July 16—Apollo 11 carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins toward the first landing on the moon.

November 19—Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean landed at Oceanus Procellarum, becoming the third and fourth humans to walk on the moon.

December 2—the Boeing 747 jumbo jet made its debut, carrying 191 people (most of them reporters and photographers) from Seattle to New York City.

Hey, wait just one minute. We were there. We watched the Apollo launches on our black and white, we heard the excitement from the Kennedy Space center as Mike and I along with hundreds of millions around the world watched the landing on the moon. The missions that year were planned and executed with every minor detail strategically considered.

The Carrier Flight also happened that year. It had been months since we had a break from the daily city life. We saved our paychecks to head to the Midwest for the holidays. We were going to join ranks of the astronauts and others and fly those friendly skies.

Preparation was intense. There were the logistics of getting to LaGuardia with Mister (our Norwegian Elkhound); checking in our three suitcases; and leading our very hyper "teenage" puppy into the aluminum airline "approved" dog kennel. We were told that it was perfectly okay to fly with the dog. Our taxi driver was given an enormous tip ahead of time to put up with suitcases and the dog. It was actually going smoother than we expected. "It pays to plan ahead," we concluded. This was going to be a great trip. Our families were going to be so excited to see us.

So, how was it that our very small plane trip ended up to be so complicated?

United Airlines was trying its best to be accommodating on the flight to Grand Rapids. Mister was put in the cargo hold. We had drugged him with the tranquilizers that the vet had provided. Even though they seemed to have little or no immediate effect, we remained hopeful he would have a pleasant trip. We then checked in, and were on our way.

Well, Michigan was looking good! The snow was on the ground, the Christmas lights created a dazzling array of colors and configurations to welcome us. The holidays that year came and left quickly and we needed to get back to NYC.

 

Hey, not a problem. Getting here was a "walk in the park," so to speak. We anticipated a similarly uneventful trip back. We were anxious to get home to Glendale after our whirlwind visit, hitting both sides of the family.

My brother dropped us off at the airport in plenty of time. We anticipated a quick stop in Detroit to pick up more passengers, and we would then be landing early afternoon at LaGuardia. I would have plenty of time to unpack and get things ready for work the next day.

That was the plan.

Unfortunately, Mike and I missed our connection, but the luggage and dog did not. Talk about nightmare, we were assigned a later flight which would be landing in Newark, New Jersey. At that point, no one could tell us where Mister or the luggage would be.

We got in very late that night. Mike took that Monday off school and spent the entire day traveling from LaGuardia to Kennedy to retrieve dog, kennel and luggage. I went to work that day and he finally called me about 3 p.m. to let me know Mister was fine, just shook up. Our luggage made it to LaGuardia, and so did the dog, however LaGuardia did not have the facilities to keep the dog overnight, so he was transported to Kennedy.

President Nixon seemed to say it best when addressing Congress that summer of 1969: "Years of neglect have permitted the problems of air transportation in America stack up like aircraft circling a congested airport. The purpose of air transportation is to save time. This purpose is not served when passengers must wait interminably in terminals, when modern jet aircraft creep at five miles per hour in a long line waiting for takeoff; when it takes longer to land than it does to travel between cities; or when it takes longer for the air traveler to get to the airport than to fly to his destination."

Yes, lots of us traveled that year–some even in space. I have always said that I love flying and everything about it. Looking back, I loved the fact that the three of us made it back to our Glendale apartment, and that life would go on. But that particular flight will never rank among my favorites.