I left my house about 1pm in order to catch something like a 7pm flight out of San Francisco. I realize now that was probably a bit excessive. The drive to the airport only took an hour and 45 minutes, parking was a breeze, and check-in and security maybe took another 5 minutes. I checked in with Customer service to see if I needed to change flights because of the weather situation in Chicago, but they said everything appeared to on time and advised me to just keep an eye on it. With plenty more time to kill, I got some food, wondered around and took a few pictures of the airplanes outside. If you've never been, SFO is a great place to plane spot.
Crossing the Bay Bridge on my way to San Francisco
The Oprah Final Season Plane at SFO
Current weather at San Francisco
A very quiet Terminal 3
The short flight to LA was rather uneventful, and I don't even remember what type of aircraft it was on, probably an Airbus. I sat on the right, as I usually do flying into LAX so that I could get a glimpse of my alma mater, USC and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It was dark when we landed, but I could still pick out my old apartment as the plane turned to final.
Nothing too exciting to report about LAX, other than it is not my favorite airport. There is a fun interactive sign board between terminals 7 and 8 that I went to play with. The gist of the game is that you go stand in front of it, wave your hands like a crazy person and it somehow reacts. Sometimes you can play matching games on it and sometimes it is just a blur of colors that responds to motion with a ripple effect mimicking water. I've noticed this is a gathering place for TSA agents and other airport employees on their breaks who like to watch people like me make asses of themselves.
Easily entertained in Los Angeles
The super-fun interactive sign board at LAX
LAX
Miles!
Keeping an eye on the weather
After that, I cruised around, checked up on the weather in Chicago and took some pictures to post for the totally awsome 10 or so people who follow @hulagrrl210 on twitter. My next flight was on United 44, and I only remember that flight number because I had been on it about a month before, OGG-LAX. It wasn't a coincidence that I ended up in the same seat either- 6J, last row of first, cozily tucked next to the closet. It's kind of a long story how this ended up being my favorite seat on the 767, but it goes back to a long time ago when a senile old man stole the seemingly more desirable 4H from me.
My dad and I had boarded our mainland-bound flight in Maui and here was this guy just sitting there, in one of our seats. As far as I knew United hadn't adopted the practice of open seating like Hawaiian and Aloha so we figured maybe the elderly gentleman was a bit confused and we nicely asked if there had been a mistake. For someone so decrepit and harmless looking it turns out he was quite the fighter. "No, this is my seat! I'm sitting here!" Obviously, it wouldn't have been a problem if this guy had just asked us to move, but he of course hadn't. We always make it a point not to be like so many other first class a-holes on Hawaii flights, and are usually more than happy to switch with honeymooners, people with kids, old people, etc.. My dad, however, didn't appreciate the nasty tone the guy had set, and calmly smiled before letting the old man have it. "Well, sir, you see, that's funny. I have a boarding pass right here that says it's actually my seat, so I'm afraid you're going to have to MOVE!" he shouted. The ensuing argument between the two quickly gathered the undivided attention of the entire first class cabin. The flight attendants quickly intervened and pulled us aside. "Sir, ma'am, we really would appreciate if you could just sit in row 6. This guy has been incredibly difficult. He's said he's afraid to sit next to the closet." In the meantime 2 rows ahead of us, the old man is still shouting at the other flight attendant. I thought who am I to argue with a mentally challenged person but my dad wanted to push the issue. "Well, maybe I don't want to sit by the closet either," he argued. The flight attendant then used a word I've never heard a United employee speak before. "Please." She was desperate.
After that, 6J became my seat of choice. It's private, you get to watch the rest of the first class, and every time I look over at the closet I laugh to myself, imagining jumping out of it and scaring that horrible old guy into cardiac arrest. I also figured if it meant I never had to sit next to someone so nasty as the senile seat thief, then that was the place to be. Only cool people sit in row 6, and luckily my seat mate on this flight did not disappoint. He was a nice middle-aged man who was traveling home to the DC area from a business trip. We quickly started up a conversation, and I soon learned we grew up in the same area. Small world.
So I am yet to take a picture of a meal served to me on the airplane for the purpose of trip reporting, but I can assure you the food was good. It was a bowl of chili-like soup and a very light sandwich made with fresh mozzarella and basil, really the perfect meal before a good night's rest on board the airplane.
I woke up, a I usually do, right as the engines throttled back as we began our descent. As we got closer to the ground, I could see a little but of snow, but the roads looked clear. "I guess, the storm hasn't hit yet." my neighbor commented as he peeked over my shoulder. He seemed relieved by the conditions, which is understandable because he had to drive home in them. I on the other hand was completely unaware of how massive this storm was going to be. It turned out Chicago wasn't the only airport that was getting shut down that day.
My layover at IAD went by very quickly. I think I was only there for about an hour. I took some more pictures, this time by the neon-lit glass cubes in the United terminal and posted them for the now 15 or so people following me on twitter. The airport seemed eerily quiet for a major hub this early in the morning, and I quickly learned why; most of the airports on the east coast, including all of the ones in New York, were closed. Not a lot of people were flying that day.
Welcome to IAD
Weather update
On time to Miami
Early morning at IAD
The flight to Miami was about 3 hours on an Embraer jet. I didn't clear the upgrade, but was perfectly happy with my window seat in coach. Nothing too remarkable to report here, except that we flew over Cape Canaveral where I took a few photos to post on my photoblog: thirtysixthousand.com.
Cape Canaveral
www.thirtysixthousand.com
After we landed in Miami a rush of warm tropical air greeted me as I walked up the jet bridge, in stark contrast to the weather I'd left behind up north. The first thing I did was to check in with the gate agents to see if there was going to be a flight to Chicago. Still on time. I figured that was probably going to change, but I wasn't too worried about it. I knew I had options like flight 5pm flight 485 that went to Denver, oddly enough with continuing service to Sacramento. I remember, because a few months before I had been on it. It's weird out of all the flights in the world, and all the flights on United Airlines, I keep ending up on the same ones.
Since I only had 35 minutes to spend in Miami, I knew I had to be efficient with my time. Mission 1 was to acquire a Cuban sandwich and Mission 2 was to track down on of those "I was in Miami b*itch t-shirts." Surely no airport store would carry anything so horribly tacky (except maybe that Hudson News in LAX that sells Ed Hardy crap) but if they did, I was going to find it on my way to get food.
Don't take this the wrong way, but there is something I noticed about the types of people who live in places with warm tropical climates; they lack any sense of urgency. I'm kind of used to it after spending so much time growing up in Hawaii, and I have come to appreciate and even respect it, that is, as long as I'm not in a hurry. The bartender at the kitschy Cuban-themed bar in MIA was no exception to this. She was casually chatting away with a customer, frustratingly unaware that I standing right in front of her ready to order. I didn't want to be completely rude and interrupt them, but I was on a mission. "Excuse me, how long does it take to get a Cuban sandwich?" 15 minutes. So it had taken 10 minutes to walk there. I figured it would take 10 minutes to get back, 10 +10 +15+2 that I wasted talking to the gate agents...you see where this is going, and by the looks of this woman, 15 minutes in her little world could mean anywhere between that and an hour and 15 minutes. I didn't get the sandwich.
I didn't get the t-shirt either. I hurried back to the gate, and actually made good time, or so I thought. When I got there the boarding area was complete empty. The departure screen had an ominous looking and very-pink radar weather map showing the current conditions in Chicago. I checked in again with the agents to make sure the flight wasn't cancelled and they handed me a new boarding pass. I didn't even get a chance to look at what it said. Chicago? Denver? Washington Dulles? "Wait, did you just get here?" the gate agent asked me. It was the same guy I'd talked to a just a few minutes before. I don't know why he was asking me. "Yeah, I went to get a sandwi..." but before I could finish..."No, I mean didn't you just get here, to Miami?" So, I explained about the $65 ticket, how I needed the miles, I might of mentioned that I like to fly...he didn't seem to care. "See, I told you so," he jeered at his friend. He then looked back at me. "That's cool!" He smiled. I had won his approval. I looked down at my boarding pass. First Class to Chicago.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/16381860-post4.html