Edmund Takes Off(His Landing Can Be Viewed Below)
It was raining the day of our planned adventure, but by the afternoon the showers had slowed to a drizzle. Steven had some free time this particular afternoon so we decided to head to the airport despite the sprinkle. After a bunch of twists
and turns through the airport streets we arrived at RDU Observation Park. The rain had stopped and the sky started to clear. When we parked, Edmund started shouting "PS truck, PS truck." I looked around and informed him there were no UPS trucks around, but said we would keep our eyes peeled for one. Edmund was adamant that he saw a "PS truck" and started pointing frantically. Then it occurred to me he was pointing to a plane with a UPS logo. I said "oh I see it . You see a UPS plane." Edmund gave a relieved sigh, settled back into his seat, and calmly stated, "PS plane." He's been looking for UPS planes ever since, but it can be difficult to see a logo when the thing it is on is thousands of miles above your head.After the UPS excitement we headed to the observation deck where several families were already gathered. Edmund enjoyed looking at the smaller planes parked below. Steven gave Edmund a lesson about control towers while we waited to see our first plane take off. Edmund was at the edge of his seat as he learned about air traffic controllers and the control tower and informed us "I go to control tower one day." Upon completing his mini lesson Edmund spotted a plane heading down the runway. He was fascinated as the plane sped up and lifted into the air. I can't speak for Steven, but I was also in awe of the aerodynamics I was witness to. It is one thing to take off in a plane, but quite another to see it take off up close. Edmund wanted more planes and so did I.
While we waited to see the next plane take off, Edmund was spouting his new knowledge of aviation. He was proudly informing us that a pilot is the person who drives a plane when we heard another plane coming down the runway. All three of us were full of anticipation for another take-off. Then we noticed the plane was slowing down. It turns out that planes take off and land on the same runway, which I suppose makes sense. After watching several planes, Edmund got fairly good at determining which planes were landing and which were taking off. In case you need a hint, the planes that are taking off speed up and those that are landing slow down. Have you got it?
A lull developed in all plane activity, so we took Edmund to the small playground a few feet from the observation deck. To get to the playground children can run on a miniature replica of a runway. I loved the mini runway, as I love all things miniature. I tried to encourage Edmund to run down the runway for take-off, to which he replied, "Mommy do it." I normally ignore Edmund or insist he try when he demands something of me, but this was good exercise. If I ran down the runway so would Edmund. Both of us had a blast pretending to be planes
. We made several attempts at take-off, but to no avail. Perhaps we'd have better luck on the playground. The playground is very simple and consists of a spider shaped climbing structure situated in sand. Edmund simply wanted a bucket to play with in the sand, which of course we didn't have. We made a u-turn and headed back to the observation deck hoping to see one more take-off.Unfortunately it was close to dinnertime so we didn't have too much time. Although we did get to see one more landing we didn't have the opportunity to see any more take-offs. Our family had a wonderful time at the Observation Peck. It would have been fun to see a few more take-offs, but we still got our fill of planes for the day. Next time I think we'll try the Observation Park on a sunnier day and hope for a little more activity, but all in all this adventure was a success.
For directions go to http://www.rdu.com/whileatairport/obpark.htm. There isn't an address listed, but there is a map on the website.
