Screen Free Saturday Thoughts from Heidi - Part #2

Hey there, Heidi here! This past Saturday for Screen – Free Saturday my husband and I got out of the house (while maintaining social distancing) and drove to Fort Snelling Cemetery to watch planes take off and land at the airport. There is a hill within the cemetery that goes up along Post Road that gives you a good view point to watch planes on the run way. Although we weren’t supposed to use our phones, there are different flight tracker apps available (we used Flightradar 24) that tell you where planes are going and/or where the planes that are landing are coming from. Prior to using the app., we had to be alert to know when a plane was taking off or landing. While waiting for a plane to take off or land, there are different activities you can do that DON’T involve your phone or iPad. We played I Spy, had a picnic, guessed when the next plane was going to land and guessed where the plane that was taking off was going. We watched commercial planes land from Rochester, MN and Cedar Rapids, IA. We watched one commercial plane take off for Orlando, FL. There were also two private planes that took off and one private plane that landed, but their information was not available on the app. My husband imagined it was Justin Jefferson for the MN Vikings or Mike Zimmer on the private planes, while I imagined it was Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson. We’ll never know but it sure was fun pretending. Before we knew it an hour had passed! If you are looking for something different, fun, and free; especially if you have a little one that enjoys planes, I suggest watching the planes take off and land from Fort Snelling Cemetery.