Happy birthday....from Nellie

I have two fold purpose in posting this blog. The first is the fact that Aunt Nellie (Mom's older sister) will be having her birthday shortly and I wanted wish her a happy birthday and remind all you who know her to do the same.
The second is relate the story of the birthday gift she gave to Dennis many years ago that he considered to be the highlight of his youth. We had been told it was a huge surprise and that I was part of the event as well. We were both giddy with excitement and wanted to know what was going on. It was some special activity that we had to drive to Durango in order to recieve. Durango! Anything out side of Mancos was a thrill, but Durango only added to the anticipation of it all.
On the appointed day Nellie came by the house, Mom, Nellie, Dennis and I all jumped into the car and off we went. I always loved the trip to Durango. The road would rise up and into the foothills and I would look out either side hoping to see deer and other sites. The road to the north that would take us to Grandma Matlocks house and small farm passed by. The open area on the south side of the road showed a sloping mountain where there were rope pulleys for skiers. There were never skiers, but it was obvious the mountain side had been cleared for that purpose and we fancied ourselves being skiers and falling down the slopes in the attempt to get to the bottom. There were the camel hump hills to the north as we got closer to Durango, all the while the anticipation was building up in us. We entered Durango and took the turn south that had us going into the direction of Pagosa Springs. It was just a short distance out of Durango that we turned off the road and pulled into an area that had hangars and flying machines all around.
"This is it! You are going to take a helicoptor ride today!" Nellie said.
"Wow" said Dennis "A helicoptor ride!!"
"What?" I exclaimed "A helicoptor ride?"
"Sure" came the reply "Let's go finish off the arrangements" and into the office we went.
There was some brief conversation as Dennis and I looked out the windows wondering which one we would be flying in.
We were told to follow and off we went to meet the pilot and start Dennis's birthday activity.
I'll admit right now that I was nervous at the prospect of having some little bubble with blades take me up into the air but Dennis was just all ga ga over the upcoming experience.
We were told something to the effect that there was a wind blowing and that might affect the duration of our flight.
Wrong thing for me to hear! I immediately had visions of us ending up some where over the rainbow which is nice for Dorothy on tv, but wasn't something I wanted to encounter there in Colorado.
We were buckled in, the adults backed away, the motor was started and the rotors starting whirring. I thought there was going to be more time to get clearance for lift off so I was surprised when the pilot said "Here we go" at the very same time the chopper started rising up off the ground.
I had the feeling I had just lost my stomach and I could hear Dennis say "Whhhheeeeeeeee"
We were up in the air. I could feel the tail tilt up and we were in forward motion.
"That hurts! Let go of my leg? Dennis pleaded. I was holding on for dear life. About this time the pilot looked back to see how we were doing. He must of read the horror from my face because he smiled and said "Relax. Look around. This will be fun"
I got a sudden burst of anxiety knowing he was not watching the road and I almost told him to watch where he was going, but then I realized there was no road to watch. Dennis was already immersed into turning his head in every direction. Out to the left then to the right, up, down, backwards, forwards. He was thrilled with his birthday gift and was amazed at being up in the air. It took me only a few seconds myself to come to the realization that we were indeed having a wonderful experience.
Just as I was starting to calm down and getting used to the whir of the rotors the helicopter bounced and lurched and I again grabbed ahold of Dennis's leg.
"OOOOps, there is the wind I told you about" said the pilot.
He tried his best to make the remainder of our flight a smooth one but he cut the flight a bit short and back to the hangars we went.
Now the downward flight for the the landing was worse than the take off, but I am proud to say I did not loose my breakfast or my lunch and when I was back on solid ground I had to agree with Dennis...that was one of the most memorable activities of my youth. Dennis had a birthday gift he would never forget....Thanks Nelllie