D is for Dirigible

This afternoon the air cleared up, the clouds began to part, the drizzle came to an end, and the day was transformed into a perfect evening for a motorcycle ride. I hopped on my trusty WeedHopper (1974 Yamaha Enduro 250) and Dale straddled his Barney Bike (Purple Kawasaki Concourse 1100) to head for the Uffda Shop in Red Wing to acquire our traditional Danish Wedding Gift for my Most Perfect Male Cousin, Adam, who will be wed to his beloved Jen on 23 July.

It was a perfectly harmless and purposeful mission on a cool, windless, sunny summer evening before dinner with our rural friends, Tom and Beth. As we were clearing Miesville and gaining speed Dale kept pointing ahead, so I sped up to come alongside and see what he wanted. I used the best left-hand signalling as I could, while keeping my right hand fast to the throttle, to indicate that I wanted to take the scenic, curvy route to Red Wing through Welch Village. He nodded affirmation but kept pointing ahead. I was puzzled.

Then what to my wondering eyes did appear?!?!

A big dirigible!

I have since learned from the folks at KARE 11 News that we witnessed the world's largest Zeppelin coming into a local airport for a weekend of aerial sight-seeing tours. I flagged Dale over to a side road so we could stop and take a picture. We called our friends in the flight path and they were already on to it. It simply isn't a sight one sees every day.

It also caused me to wonder; blimp, zeppelin, or dirigible. Following is what I learned from a quick Google search on dirigibles at Airships:

What is a Dirigible?  

A dirigible is any lighter-than-air craft that is both powered and steerable (as opposed to free floating, like a balloon).  Blimps like the Goodyear blimp, rigid airships like the Hindenburg, and semi-rigid airships like the Zeppelin NT are all dirigibles. The word “dirigible” is often associated with large rigid airships, but the term does not come from the word “rigid,” but rather the French verb “diriger” (“to steer”). 

 

Needless to say this opportunity presented itself as the Vacation Day #5 POTD (Picture of the Day) post on FaceBook. I love when random things like this happen in the countryside.

 

Now on with vacation with two days to the Harry Potter midnight finale and three days to departure for New York and New England!