Okay, so it starts with a plane ride, but then switches to several surface segments. Maybe not Flyertalk orthodoxy as trip reports go (although I remain in awe of Loose Canon's Tours of Duty) but it was a trip and this is a report, and it was fun...
Sunday, April 8
SEA-EWR, AS 8, B737-800, scheduled departure 0840, arrival 1705 (actual 0845 - 1655.) Seat 3F (first.)
Even though it was Easter Sunday, the AS lines at SEA were horrendous; it was the second day of spring break for numerous school districts in the area, and AS was doing a booming trade in taking munchkins and already-tired looking parents to various Disney destinations in Florida and California, not to mention older munchkins going to places where they speak Margarita. The MVP/First Class check-in line was almost as long as the others; in fact because of fewer kiosks open, I think it moved slower. No matter, we had plenty of time. We were to depart from the north satellite at SEA thus the Board Room was out of the question, so we made it through security by and by, and rode the train to the satellite, there to wait 30 min. for boarding.
The view of the Olympics from the gate was stunning - crystalline air and snow-topped mountains - just another day in Paradise. We boarded the new-looking 737-800 efficiently, flight completely full, and pushed back only a minute or two late. Had to queue a bit for takeoff, then zoomed off to the south and into the clouds for a minute, then turned left past Mt. Rainier rising above its private cloud tops.
We followed I-90 most of the way to Ellensburg, then vectored a little more northerly, out over bare and barely-green wheat fields.
Dig-e-players were handed out and breakfast was served around the Idaho panhandle - an omelet filled with Alaska Airlines cheesy goo (which appears in a variety of other dishes) or a Spanish frittata - isn't that an oxymoron? - accompanied by some fruit, some ham, a bun, and a Psalm.
The movie selection was okay, but I'd seen most of them except some kids' movie. Borat, by the way, is even less funny the second time. I read my book for the most part. (I have become a big Harry Turtledove fan - alternate history.)
The clouds disappeared around an hour out of Seattle and we had fine views of frozen Rockies, plains, prairies, and cities, including Minneapolis right below us. Hit clouds around Michigan, we were served some warm nuts, then presently descended, bounced around on the downwind with a view of Manhattan, and landed in sunlight at Newark, ahead of schedule. Our bags came promptly (clearly AS contracts ground services at EWR) and we were in and out of the Hertz counter badda-bing, as they say locally.
Road Trip, Newark to Seattle.
The exit from EWR to I-95 is signposted with the assumption that you want to go to Manhattan and not Philly, so we nearly ended up in the Holland Tunnel instead of the NJ Turnpike; a detour through some paint-challenged Newark neighborhood finally got us going the right way on the right freeway, and we headed off to my late father's home in Montgomery Township PA.
(A note on the purpose of the trip: My dad passed away a couple of months ago and in the course of cleaning out his home we set aside some personal effects of value to me, but too fragile to ship confidently, and way too bulky to take as checked or carryon bags. Thus we decided that I and my brother-in-law - he on his spring break from his teaching duties - would fly to Philly, rent a car, and drive ourselves and said effects back across the country. He could use the break and I could use the company. I used a B of A AS $50 companion coupon for two one-way FC seats for the price of one, we kissed our wives farewell and promised not to ingest too much cholesterol on the road trip, and flew to Newark, which was the closest airport to my dad's house served by AS.)
We got to the house and rendezvoused with the family friend who has served as the local factor for my dad's affairs, got the car loaded with the cargo, and went off to a late meal of a most excellent Reuben at the equally excellent Pumpernick's deli on SR 309, checked into the Courtyard across the road, and conked.
Monday, April 9
Road trip Day 1 - Montgomery Twp PA to Springfield OH via PA 309, I-78, I-76 and I-70. Distance traveled approximately 520 miles.
We had to make a stop first thing in the morning, so we weren't really on the road until after 9. The weather was sunny and cold, and we made pretty good time, stopping at a mall somewhere near Harrisburg for Starbux and a muffin, through the Appalachian foothills and various grand tunnels, and then stopped for lunch and gas at Breezewood. Breezewood, for the uninitiated, is a notorious half-mile gap between I-76 and I-70 where voyagers must endure motel hell on surface streets to make the connection. The many service stations and Bob Evanses have lobbied to keep it that way, making Breezewood one of two places where an Interstate highway uses signalized surface streets, and making "breezewood" a known term within highway planning circles, as in "you go through the breezewood between Route 65 and Route 73."
We crossed the Ohio River at Wheeling WV and roared across an increasingly cloudy Ohio. Hello and Goodbye Columbus, then turned off I-70 and down a mile or two to US 40 at West Jefferson OH (east of Dayton) in order to get to Henry's Diner before it closed.
Henry's was the first of our "Roadfood" highlighter-marked stops. It's a former gas station out in the middle of farm country that was converted many years ago to a café. While the food is good in a very Ohio way (everything comes with gravy, or so it seems) the star attraction is the pie, with several types made daily. Décor is Bicentennial curtains and ads for local farm equipment vendors; there's newspaper spread over the floor of the men's room to make cleanup easier; and our waitress said she liked working at Henry's much more than her previous job, that of guard at a nearby prison. Dinner was roast beef and stuffing, served with coleslaw, price $5.95. Dessert was apple pie a la mode, price $1.75. Oh. My. God.
Then back up to the freeway and into a motel in Springfield (Days Inn Suites IIRC) where we called it a night.