February 7, 2012
Delta Airlines Denver – Memphis 300p – 610p CRJ-900 Economy Class
Delta Connection Memphis – Oklahoma City 730p – 904p CRJ-200 Economy Class
On the night before my departure from Denver, I stayed up in Evergreen with some old friends who I used to live with back in the eighties. The storm that had deposited 15” on Denver this past weekend dumped 36” up in Evergreen. It snowed four more inches during the night while I was there, making the drive back down to DIA a tad dodgier than I would have liked.
When I showed up at the gate to board the CRJ-900 to Memphis, I noted the sign indicating that First Class had checked in full. Right – on to the airplane then. Not so fast, said the gate agent. There were still two people who hadn’t shown up yet, so if I were willing to hang out a bit longer, I might snag an upgrade. I waited about ten minutes while she paged them three or four times. Things were starting to look good until first one and then finally the other showed up, leaving me to trudge back to my exit row seat at row 13.
In Memphis, we parked right across from my favorite Memphis eatery – Dave Neely’s Interstate Barbecue – the finest barbecue I have ever eaten! I wasted no time in ordering a hot pork sandwich with a side of barbecue sauce and coleslaw, washed down with an ice cold Sam Adams. Life is good!
The short flight over to Oklahoma City brought back memories of the last time I flew this route. It was October 1977 and I was seated in Coach aboard a two-tone green Braniff 727-100. We were served a hot chicken dinner on that flight, after which I connected in OKC to a two tone red 727-200 down to DFW. Back in those days, it was rare not to get a meal on a flight.
The purpose of this trip to Oklahoma City is to ride Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer on its 212 mile journey down to Dallas. That train leaves Oklahoma City tomorrow morning at 8:25am, so I needed to find the most economical and efficient way to get downtown from the airport in the morning. A check of the internet revealed that Oklahoma City’s municipal bus does service the airport, but unfortunately the first bus wouldn’t depart for downtown until almost 8:00am. So much for the least expensive option.
Upon arrival at Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers International Airport, I headed downstairs to baggage claim where I located an information booth and inquired as to the least expensive options to get me downtown. Amazingly, the guy working there suggested I go outside and inquire individually of each taxi driver. When I asked about shuttles into town, he indicated that there were a couple, but he was unable to elucidate any farther. Really, it seemed almost like a new concept to him that anyone flying into OKC would want to go into town on anything other than a horse or a wagon. I thanked him for his time and went over to an electronic information kiosk that listed two shuttle companies serving the airport. Calls were made and soon I’d arranged for a 7:15am pick-up the next morning. Total cost: $16.00.
Now, if I can just find a nice quiet place to sleep. This I accomplished just outside the now closed Delta Baggage Service office. It was nice and quiet until about 4:30am when most every TSA agent on duty arrived and entered into their offices or locker room accessed through a door just twenty feet away. Thankfully, the majority of them seemed to have arrived by 5:00am and I was able to knock off another hour and a half of decent sleep.
February 8, 2012
Amtrak Oklahoma City – Ft. Worth 825a – 1239p Heartland Flyer Economy Class
Oklahoma City's Amtrak station is the old Santa Fe Depot. It’s located downtown right across the street from the city’s historic and now trendy Bricktown district. In fact, the same developer who spruced up the Bricktown district now owns the old Santa Fe Depot. Architecturally, the station is considered to be Art Deco, but while that may be true inside, I did not find the exterior to be overly attractive.
Oklahoma City’s Santa Fe Depot
The interior has been renovated revealing a nice frescoed ceiling and a couple of nice chandeliers. Otherwise, this station offers only a stark waiting room with hard backed wooden railway pews to sit on. There are no restaurants or other concessions in the station, but there is a well-stocked brochure rack at one end of the waiting room. I picked up a train timetable and began to daydream.
The “Great Hall” at Oklahoma City’s Station
A Southwest Themed Chandelier
Amtrak's
Heartland Flyer is the only train serving Oklahoma City. It provides one round-trip from Oklahoma City down to Fort Worth, Texas and back each day. Boarding for the forty or so of us gathered began at about 8:00am. The Heartland Flyer uses Amtrak’s bi-level Superliner equipment, and since Superliner cars are normally used on long distance services and so offer more spacious seating with deeper recline, this translates into a very comfortable ride for the four hour journey down to Ft. Worth.
Train time at OKC
Spacious seating and OKC’s Bricktown District in the background
Today’s train consisted of four coaches, one of which had a downstairs snack bar. I hesitate to call it a lounge because there was really nowhere to sit. You pretty much go down and order, then return to your seat. $6.00 scored me a coffee and a decent breakfast sandwich. Back at my seat a 120 volt outlet provided electrical power to my laptop. W.E.B. Griffin’s latest provided plenty of entertainment in between. The scenery was not particularly inspiring, but then it was a cloudy day in the dead of winter. There was one stretch about midway into the trip where rolling hills became a shallow but attractive river canyon that I should imagine would be much prettier under the green palette of spring.
Rolling south through the Red River Canyon
We arrived at Fort Worth’s Intermodal Transportation Center right on time. From here one can take a city bus locally or a Greyhound bus farther. There is also commuter train service available over to Dallas, including convenient service to DFW. I had arranged for a rental car in downtown Ft. Worth, to be dropped off at DFW the next day. The rental car company had a pick-up service, so after availing myself of a $5.00 Foot Long at the local Subway concession, I picked up my car and relocated to Plano where I had an appointment at the Baylor Medical Center the next morning.
February 9, 2012
Alaska Airlines Dallas – Seattle 155p – 415p 737-800 First Class
Horizon Airlines Seattle – Portland 730p – 818p DHC-8-400 Economy Class
Horizon Airlines Portland – Spokane 900p – 1005p DHC-8-400 Economy Class
It was 11:00am by the time I’d finished up at Baylor, plenty of time to get down to DFW for my 1:55pm departure up to Seattle. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten my laptop power cord at a Fed Ex Kinko’s outlet in Ft. Worth the day before and so had to drive all the way out there to retrieve it before I could return my car at DFW. Thanks to minimal traffic, I made it out back to DFW with plenty of time to spare – enough time to enjoy a couple of Shiner Bocks in the Sky Club before boarding.
Although this flight was originally scheduled to operate with a 737-900, it was switched to an -800 about two weeks ago. This is the third flight on this trip where a flight I booked as a -900 has been switched out. Now I understand that most people could probably care less about such things, and ordinarily I wouldn’t have given it much thought either, but here’s the thing: Prior to this trip I’d logged 92 flights aboard Alaska 737-900s. Having one hundred or more flights aboard this and other aircraft in Alaska’s fleet holds a certain allure to guys like me. It looks like I’ll just have to wait a while longer for that milestone.
Anyone who enjoys the view from their window seats will find that on a clear day, flying from Dallas to Seattle can be quite pretty. Entering Colorado from the southeast, you’ll usually fly just south of Colorado Springs. On the right side of the plane is Pikes Peak while on the left are the rugged 14000’ peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range. Keen eyed viewers may also note the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The mountains, valleys and rivers of Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Washington are just ahead, followed by the often pretty approach into Seattle. Today offered only brief glimpses of the grandeur below, but good glimpses they were.
Luncheon was the ever ubiquitous turkey sandwich – or is it chicken? – washed down with surprisingly cold Alaskan Amber. I usually don’t order beer on airplanes because most of the time it’s cool rather than cold. I know, I know… most brewers will tell you the beer ought to be served at about 45°F, but I like it colder. If seatmate hadn’t commented favorably about how nicely chilled his beer was, I wouldn’t have joined him for a couple more.
A pair of previously flown Dash 8s took me from Seattle to Spokane via Portland. The temperature in Spokane was a good 20° colder than it was over on the coast, and for those of us shivering in the wind on the tarmac while awaiting our gate checked baggage, that cart just couldn’t come fast enough.
I once slept in the Spokane airport back in 1985. Back then, you could stay airside. These days that’s no longer the case and I must say the options on landside are not very good. Ideally I look for somewhere that’s off the main public corridors and is not brightly lit. Most of Spokane’s main terminal is anything but. I found what I thought was a suitable spot off a hallway upstairs but the local constabulary stopped by to inform me that they didn’t agree. It was about 1:30am when I was awoken and asked to move, so downstairs I trudged to the now quiet but still brightly lit baggage claim area. I’ve got four more nights scheduled here at GEG, so I’m just going to have to come up with a better plan.
February 10, 2012
Horizon Airlines Spokane – Portland 840a – 1000a DHC-8-400 Economy Class
Horizon Airlines Portland – Seattle 1030a – 1110a DHC-8-400 Economy Class
Alaska Airlines Seattle – Washington DC 205p – 955p 737-800 First Class
The Spokane Airport’s less than ideal sleeping nooks notwithstanding, at least I’ll get to sleep in on each of the five upcoming departures I’ve booked from here. That’s because each of my first flights of the day out of here don’t depart until 8:40am.
Alaska and Horizon flights depart from concourse C. More than a mere concourse, this building appears to be an entirely different terminal connected to the main terminal building by a long, narrow hallway. Although the concourse sports three jetways, they are rarely used since Frontier operates only a couple of flights per day into GEG and most of Alaska/Horizon’s flights are operated with Dash 8s. In the morning the upstairs jetway equipped portion of the terminal is completely deserted, leaving me a choice of deserted restrooms in which to wash up undisturbed.
Hair freshly washed and now clean shaven, I proceeded downstairs to the Horizon gate area where an affordably priced selection of breakfast entrees was being offered at the Taproom, along with good looking Bloody Mary’s. I’ve never been a morning drinker, so I settled on some good coffee and a breakfast burrito. Then it was off to gate 25 where ship 432, a Dash 8 freshly painted in the attractive new Alaska Horizon livery, awaited. With my flights aboard this aircraft to Portland and on up to Seattle, I’ve now flown 40 of Horizon’s 48 Dash 8s.
Unfortunately, I’ve not been so fortunate when it comes to adding to my collection of Alaska 737-800s flown upon. After starting hot with new additions on two out of my first four flights, I haven’t managed to add to my fleet totals in the eighteen flights I’ve flown aboard Alaska 737-800s since then. As such, you can only imagine my disappointment at seeing ship 560 – a perfectly good but nonetheless previously flown 737 – parked at the gate to operate my flight to Washington this afternoon. Oh well. At least I had a First Class seat to look forward to.
Oh yeah, there is one other little milestone I’ll have reached upon boarding this aircraft. This will be my 250th flight upon a 737-800.
Due to some windy conditions as we climbed away from Seattle, it took a good half hour before the inflight service commenced. Drinks were delivered with a nice ramekin of mixed nuts followed by the menu presentation. I had always thought that Alaska’s transcon menus were in effect on all routes for one month cycles, so I was quite surprised to see that this was an entirely different menu from what I’d been offered on my BOS-PDX flight earlier this month. Check it out:
DINNER
Appetizer Salad
Mixed Green Salad with Seasonal Fruit and Sliced Almonds
Chicken Breast with Bacon Sage Sauce
Polenta Cake and Julienne Vegetables
Or
Steak Kabob with Bordelaise Sauce
Mashed Parsnip and Potatoes
Garlic Green Beans
Warm Dinner Roll
Dessert
Mini Cheesecakes
What a welcome surprise! I’d never had a salad with blueberries in it before, but the berries and slivered almonds worked quite well. I only wish that Alaska would find a new salad dressing vendor. I’ve always loved Italian or Vinaigrette dressings, but there’s something in the texture of that Naturally Fresh brand that just doesn’t taste right. Maybe I’ll see if I can grab an extra packet or two of Paul Newman’s Lite Ranch over at Delta’s SEA Sky Club in advance of my next Alaska flight.
Mixed Green Salad with Seasonal Fruit and Sliced Almonds
For the main course I opted for the steak kabobs. This can be risky given the smaller cuts of meat involved – i.e. tough, overcooked meat – but I was willing to gamble if only because over the years I’ve eaten so much chicken on Alaska that I really crave an alternative. I’m pleased to report that the steak I was presented was nicely cooked – about medium, I’d say – and the accompanying vegetables were tasty additions. A glass of red wine accompanied this meal and like most reds I’ve had on Alaska, it tasted like a $7-10.00 bottle of wine. Not bad but certainly nothing that would inspire me to take note of the label. Still, I remember buying a $6.00 bottle of Chilean red a few years ago that was – per my tastes at least – just fantastic, so I figure it never hurts to at least taste what Alaska’s offering each month.
Steak Kabob with Bordelaise Sauce
Dessert was a couple of mini-cheesecakes that were actually pretty good, especially with coffee and Baileys. Plates were cleared, coffee was refilled and now there were just three more hours to go until our arrival in Washington. Satisfyingly sated, I reclined my seat and knocked off another one hundred or so pages from my book of the week. I go through a lot of books on a trip like this, but what better place to read than sat in a reasonably comfy armchair while jetting along 38000 feet above the planet.
Mini-Cheesecakes for dessert
That said, I couldn’t help but notice the middle aged lady across the aisle from me. She was travelling alone and had evidently brought nothing along to read or otherwise entertain herself with. Her seatmate was watching a Digiplayer, but for whatever reason she’d declined one, preferring instead to stare straight ahead at the seatback in front of her. Perhaps she was meditating. Whatever, three hours is a long time to just sit there.
Arrival at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport was right on time, as in when we’d parked at the gate and the bell chimed signaling we were free to stand, I looked at my watch and saw it was exactly 9:55pm. My next flight wouldn’t be for another ten hours, so I had plenty of time to sleep. On the other hand, it was only 6:55pm Pacific time and I wasn’t that tired. Thankfully, I’d managed to get prescribed a small amount of Ambien, primarily because my back is occasionally sensitive to certain hotel mattresses, resulting in a sleepless night. I have never taken more than just a quarter tablet of this stuff and it works just fine for me. I can’t imagine taking an entire tablet - especially when I’m only looking to get about six hours of sleep.
I located a quiet, fairly dark area over by the old terminal building. It was quite a walk, but worth it for the quality of sleep possible without the loud music and annoying announcements that make sleep in the main terminal simply untenable. As an added bonus, the cold, linoleum floors meant I wouldn’t have any additional company fidgeting or snoring the night away like you’ll find in the public lounge areas. I can sleep quite comfortably on most any surface thanks to my Thermarest pad and a really warm and perfectly sized wool blanket. I’ve also got a small pillow, eyeshades and a headlamp for reading. Just a little bit of advance planning makes all the difference between a comfortable night’s sleep and an uncomfortable, noisy unpleasant night. Plus, I’ve saved a bundle in hotel fees.
February 11, 2012
Alaska Airlines Washington DC –Seattle 755a – 1045a 737-800 Economy Class
Transcon flights can be difficult to get upgraded on if only because the extended length of the flight results in a higher percentage of passengers (or their companies) willing to pay more to guarantee a seat in First Class. I have heard that the SEA-DCA run is perhaps the hardest of all Alaska’s flights to get upgraded on, so I’m not particularly surprised or disappointed to be sat back in the exit row this morning.
An Einstein’s Bagels concession satisfied my breakfast needs, so once onboard all I required was coffee and an internet connection. I’d gotten about five days behind in this trip report, so the surprisingly short four hour and fifty minute westbound flight allowed me more than enough time to get back on track.
We arrived in Seattle at 10:20am, a little more than twenty minutes early. My originally scheduled flight to Spokane was to depart at 1:00pm, but thanks to one of the more cherished benefits of being an MVP Gold 75K, I was able to call Alaska reservations and secure a confirmed seat on the 7:00pm departure. This left me plenty of time to catch the train into downtown, then connect to a bus up to the University District where I took advantage of the excellent vegan lunch buffet at Flowers Bar & Restaurant located at 43rd and University. I’m an omnivore rather than vegetarian, so I had to supply my own steak chunks to add to the dishes (just kidding, of course!) but I’ve been eating at Flowers for years and highly recommend it to anyone desiring quality meatless fare while in the Seattle area.
After lunch, I got a haircut and then visited one of my favorite old used CD stores on the Ave where I scored a great deal on Alison Krauss’s latest CD “Paper Airplane”, which coincidently won best bluegrass album at the Grammys. I’ve been listening to Alison Krauss since she was just a 14 year old fiddle playing phenom on Rounder Records. It’s nice to see her and her band achieve mainstream recognition.
Back at SeaTac, I checked in at a kiosk for my 7:00pm flight to Spokane and was advised that the flight was oversold. Would I be interested in volunteering? Oh, you betcha! In fact, I went up to the gate and told the agent that if she could get me on the first flight tomorrow morning instead of later tonight, I’d volunteer my seat for free. No compensation necessary. Seattle’s a lot nicer airport to sleep in than Spokane. As things turned out, I was actually first on the volunteer list and they did indeed need my seat, so I got a $300.00 voucher
and I got to crash in my nice little corner of the Seattle airport.
If you click on my
Flight Memory link, you’ll see that I’ve flown through Seattle over 1200 times. I think I mentioned earlier that I’ve very likely spent over one hundred nights in the Seattle airport. I’ve also stayed in over twenty different hotels and motels around the airport. Over the years, I’ve gotten to know people all over the Seattle airport, from airline lounge staff to gate agents to concession employees. Even some of the airport police know me now. Twice this past month they’ve stopped by to rouse what they thought might be a homeless person (most legitimate passengers sleep in the brightly lit and noisy public areas) and upon discovering it was me as I peered out from under my blanket, essentially said “Oh, it’s you! Sorry about that. Have a good night, now.” I love it!