Loose Cannon
Dec 28, 05, 1:32 am
I got a call from one of the companies I contract with and was told there was a truck in Long Beach that needed to be transported to Phoenix. So I accepted that trip and was taken to Long Beach where I picked up the truck.
Trip: Long Beach, CA to Phoenix, AZ 377 miles Routes: Interstate 405 to Interstate 605 to Interstate 10
Weather was good and there was some congestion on the northbound 605 around the 5 and again near Rose Hills. I was glad to be in the Southwest this time of year. Made delivery the following morning and was told the only thing available was Albuquerque to Gilbert, AZ. I got a courtesy hold on a Southwest flight and got a cab to Sky Harbor Airport.
I checked in and got a "B" boarding pass. I cleared security and did not undergo secondary screening.
Southwest #445 PHX-ABQ B-737-300 Seat 21A Cruising altitude 33,000' Estimated flying time 0:42, actual 0:44 Ticket cost: $124.20
Had about 80 or so passengers on board so this was not nearly a full flight. Pushback was one minute late followed by taxi/hold time of 17 minutes. Takeoff was to east and seatbelt sign came off at 0:16. Standard service of one drink run and peanuts offered. Descent started at 0:28 and seatbelt sign on at 0:36. Landing was SW to NE followed by taxi of 4 minutes and arrival at gate 3 minutes early. It was 28 degrees F in Albuquerque when I landed but later warmed up to 36.
Trip: Albuquerque, NM to Gilbert, AZ 440 paid miles Routes: Interstate 40 to Interstate 17 to Loop 101 to US60
This trip was fairly routine, no precipitation enroute but it got down to 4 degrees F in Gallup, NM. I ran into congestion on Interstate 17 just south of Carefree Highway. Phoenix is growing rapidly and large areas of what used to be sand and cactus are now becoming filled with houses and other development. There was more congestion on Loop 101 and I heard about a shooting on US60 which really messed traffic up but the customer stayed to receive the truck as it was a Friday evening. It was a good deal warmer in the Phoenix area. I rang a taxicab company and waited...and waited...and waited some more and finally saw another cab go by and got and rang their number and this second company responded and I rang the first company and told the guy who answered to cancel the call, one of your competitors is picking me up. I waited almost two hours for the first company but the second company showed up in about 20 minutes. The person who answered apologised and sounded embarrassed. I spent a night in Mesa, AZ and got a ride to Sky Harbor the next morning. My next run was Salt Lake City to Las Vegas.
I checked in curbside and got a "B" boarding pass and cleared security and again did not undergo secondary though an agent took a closer look at my briefcase.
Southwest #1703 PHX-SLC B-737-300 Seat 13F Cruising altitude 32,000' Estimated flying time not given, scheduled gate to gate was 1:35, actual flying time 1:09 Cost of ticket: $163.20
Plane was nearly full; only a few middle seats empty including the one next to me. Pushback was one minute late followed by taxi/hold of 12 minutes. Takeoff was to the east followed by a turn then bumpy air near Flagstaff. Seatbelt sign came off at 0:32. Some sort of snack mixer and peanuts were offered and there were two drink runs. Descent started at 0:50 and I saw the Wasatch Mountains and Utah Lake. It got hazy as we approached SLC and as we got lower I could see there was snow on the ground. We landed south to north followed by 3 minutes of taxi and we arrived at the gate 9 minutes early. There was a considerable wait for my bags and then I was picked up by the customer and taken to the truck.
Trip: Salt Lake City, UT to Las Vegas, NV 415 paid miles. Routes: Interstate 215 to Interstate 15
This was a fairly routine trip. I attended Sunday morning service at Central Baptist in Fillmore, UT. It warmed up as I headed south. I elected to spend Sunday evening in St. George, UT due to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. I figured it could be difficult to get a room in Vegas during the NFR, especially the final day. I delivered Monday and neither company I contract with had a run that day so I spent the night in Vegas. I hit a buffet and among other things I tried escargot for the first and hopefully last time. I saw the water show in front of the Bellagio.
Next day I talked to both companies. One company told me about a run from Watertown, SD to Seattle, WA but the truck would not be ready until Thursday (it was Tuesday) and the other company told me about a truck ready in Rock Springs, WY going to Barrie, ON. I chose the latter and was told the best way to get to Rock Springs was to fly to Salt Lake City then take Greyhound to Rock Springs.
I got to McCarran Airport and checked in curbside and got a "B" boarding pass. I did not undergo secondary at security.
Southwest #1816 LAS-SLC B-737-300 Seat 22F Cruising altitude 33,000' Estimated flying time 1:10, actual 0:59 Ticket cost: $130.20
Plane was nearly full. Pushback was 10 minutes late. Taxi for 6 minutes then takeoff to west, turn south, west, and northeast. I saw Lake Mead, Mesquite, Virgin River Gorge, St. George. Descent started at 0:39 abreast of Scipio. There were bumps when entering clouds during latter stage of descent. Peanuts were offered and one drink run. We landed at sunset and I saw snow on the ground. Taxi was 3 minutes and we arrived 5 minutes early. Unlike last time my bags arrived at baggage claim as I did so no wait.
I explored options to get to Rock Springs and found Greyhound was the only viable way. I got a cab to the bus station and purchased a ticket for $43.50. The bus I was to take was headed to Denver and Rock Springs was one of the stops. The bus was scheduled to leave Salt Lake at 20h00 and arrive in Rock Springs at 23h50. A private security guard inspected passengers carry on articles and wanded all passengers on this bus.
Greyhound #1310 Salt Lake City, UT to Rock Springs, WY
We left a few minutes late and it appeard to be slick going up Parley's Canyon. We made a rest stop in Evanston, WY and arrived in Rock Springs 13 minutes early. It was quite cold. No cab so I walked to the Holiday Inn. $125 was too much for a rooom so I rang the cab and told where I was and got a room elsewhere for about a third as much.
Trip: Rock Springs, WY to Barrie, ON 1,749 paid miles. Routes: Intestate 80 to Interstate 94 to Michigan 39 to Interstate 75 to Ambassador Bridge to Canada 401 to Canada 400
I picked up the truck at a shop. I found out the truck originated in Oregon but developed electrical problems and had to be taken to shop. I did not get terribly far the first evening because I heard of blowing snow and reduced visibility farther ahead. I attended midweek church service at Victory Baptist in Rawlins, WY. Next morning it got down to 2 degrees F in Rawlins with a wind chill well below zero. This was not a comfortable truck to drive so I had a slow trip. I attended Sunday morning service at Grace Baptist in East Moline, IL followed by Fairhaven Baptist in Chesterton, IN. I got a few flurries near Michigan City, IN and had more snow in Michigan. I almost slid off the road near Battle Creek, MI. The highways in Michigan are in terrible shape. In Michigan the headlights quit working except as daytime running lights and the other lights would not work except for the emergency flashers. A shop fixed that.
I was held up about four hours crossing over into Windsor, Ontario. I don't know exactly what happened but apparently there was something wrong between the broker and the customer. I got some snow flurries around Chatham, ON but the snow got worse approaching London. The snow eased the rest of the way to Toronto but there were some wrecks on the 401. Near the Toronto the 401 is supposedly the busiest stretch of highway in North America. I switched to the 400 north and headed north and snow started to fall and got worse as I approached Barrie. The road was covered with snow and traffic slowed to a crawl. The snow subsided some and I exited to make delivery and there was a truck waiting for me going to Glenview, IL.
Trip: Barrie, ON to Streator, IL 1,030 actual kilometres driven. Routes: Ontario 400 to Ontario 401 to Ontario 402 to border crossing to Interstate 94 to Interstate 69 to Interstate 94 to Interstate 80 to Illinois 23.
After I picked up the truck it snowed again and I was already in deep snow so I called it a night. Next day it was not snowing when I left Barrie. I got on the 400 south, mashed the throttle to the floor and the truck would do only 80 km/h (50mph). While approaching Sarnia I encountered some snow flurries that changed to rain. The border crossing was real easy. I got word the destination of the truck was changed to Chadwick, IL. I was diverted to Streator, IL where I dropped the truck off on the 23rd of December. I was taken to Pontiac, IL where I spent the night
The next morning I caught the Peoria Charter to Chicago Midway Airport after a transfer in Joliet. It rained the whole way to Chicago. I purchased ticket to San Jose via San Diego and checked in and got "B" boarding pass for first flight and "A" boarding pass for second flight. I cleared security and did not undergo secondary.
Southwest #1501 MDW-SAN B-737-700 Seat 22A Cruising altitude 38,000' Estimated flying time 3:30, actual 3:34. Cost of ticket: $317.20
I got a couple of sandwiches at Potbelly's and ate one and saved the other for later in the flight. Plane arrived early from previous city. I found out I was fortunate to get a "B" pass though I checked in over two hours early. Plane was nearly full with just a handful of empty middle seats. A large number of people preboarded. Pushback was one minute late followed by 5 minute taxi and takeoff to southwest. Seatbelt sign stayed on for awhile and came off at 0:57, on at 1:09, off at 1:39, on at 2:01 and off at 2:20. There was some intermittent turbulence so cabin service was suspended a couple times. There was one drink run and a snack pack consisting of Fig Newtons, Wheat Thins and Ritz Crackers with Cheese was served. Also peanuts were offered and there was a drink run (I did not get the whole can). The first part of the flight I saw clouds then the Great Plains, perhaps Kansas and then Walsenburg, CO and La Veta Pass and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Descent started at 2:59 before crossing the Colorado River north of Blythe, CA. Seatbelt sign came on at 3:21. We flew directly over the Salton Sea and Borrego Springs and then turned more sharply south over the mountains of eastern San Diego County and then crossed Interstate 8 and turned west and lined up with the runway. We crossed Interstate 805 and 5 and I had a good view of downtown just before landing. We landed basically east to west and there was reverse thrust and hard braking and taxi was under one minute and we arrived 48 minutes early at the gate.
Though I've visited San Diego numerous times and was born just across the bay in Coronado this was my first time flying in and out of SAN. I consider San Diego to be a suburb of Los Angeles even though the population is over 1.2 million and the county population is approaching 3 million. The terminal was small and crowded and there was only one men's washroom airside. SAN has only one runway which is not very long. It is obvious that San Diego needs another airport. I had more time than expected to wait for the flight to San Jose which was late coming in due to a change in takeoff/landing patterns.
Southwest #2755 SAN-SJC B-737-300 Seat 4A Cruising altitude not given Estimated flying time not given though gate to gate scheduled at 1:20. Actual flying time 0:56
While waiting for this flight low clouds rolled in and I could no longer see downtown from the airport. Plane was mostly but not completely full and pushback was 30 minutes late. Taxi was 5 minutes followed by takeoff and we almost immediately entered then exited the clouds into bright sunlight. Seatbelt sign off at 0:20. There was one drink run and peanuts were offered. Descent started at 0:38 and during descent I saw sunset over the Monterey County coastline. It was twilight as we landed south to north and taxi was 2 minutes followed by arrival at gate 14 minutes behind schedule. There was a wait then one of my bags showed up. I got concerned about the other bag but an agent came toward me and I was told my other bag arrived early.
I rented a car and drove to my sister's house in Livermore where I had a late dinner. Next morning I attended Calvary Chapel of Livermore and went back to the house where gifts were unwrapped and then had Christmas dinner.
After dinner I drove to Oakland and traffic was at a standstill on westbound Interstate 580. Things started moving and there was a heavy rain shower and it rained all the way to the airport. I turned in the rental car and got the bus to the terminal and went to Jet Blue and asked for the next flight to Long Beach. I checked my bags and got a boarding pass and cleared security and did not undergo secondary.
Jet Blue #317 OAK-LGB A-320 Seat 23A Cruising altitude 31,000' Estimated flying time 1:01, actual 0:56 Cost of ticket: $119.20
Plane was not full at all; I had the whole row to myself. Pushback was right on time. Taxi 12 minutes followed by takeoff north to south. It was bumpy on climb. There was a drink run and I got the whole can of Sprite. Snacks were offered and I had the blue chips and also had cashews. I enjoyed the Direct TV which is now 36 channels. Descent started 0:33 followed by seatbelt sign at 0:36. We went into clouds and broke through before landing and landed to the northwest. Taxi was 3 minutes and we arrived 7 minutes early. I retrieved my bags after a short wait and took a cab home.
Trip: Long Beach, CA to Phoenix, AZ 377 miles Routes: Interstate 405 to Interstate 605 to Interstate 10
Weather was good and there was some congestion on the northbound 605 around the 5 and again near Rose Hills. I was glad to be in the Southwest this time of year. Made delivery the following morning and was told the only thing available was Albuquerque to Gilbert, AZ. I got a courtesy hold on a Southwest flight and got a cab to Sky Harbor Airport.
I checked in and got a "B" boarding pass. I cleared security and did not undergo secondary screening.
Southwest #445 PHX-ABQ B-737-300 Seat 21A Cruising altitude 33,000' Estimated flying time 0:42, actual 0:44 Ticket cost: $124.20
Had about 80 or so passengers on board so this was not nearly a full flight. Pushback was one minute late followed by taxi/hold time of 17 minutes. Takeoff was to east and seatbelt sign came off at 0:16. Standard service of one drink run and peanuts offered. Descent started at 0:28 and seatbelt sign on at 0:36. Landing was SW to NE followed by taxi of 4 minutes and arrival at gate 3 minutes early. It was 28 degrees F in Albuquerque when I landed but later warmed up to 36.
Trip: Albuquerque, NM to Gilbert, AZ 440 paid miles Routes: Interstate 40 to Interstate 17 to Loop 101 to US60
This trip was fairly routine, no precipitation enroute but it got down to 4 degrees F in Gallup, NM. I ran into congestion on Interstate 17 just south of Carefree Highway. Phoenix is growing rapidly and large areas of what used to be sand and cactus are now becoming filled with houses and other development. There was more congestion on Loop 101 and I heard about a shooting on US60 which really messed traffic up but the customer stayed to receive the truck as it was a Friday evening. It was a good deal warmer in the Phoenix area. I rang a taxicab company and waited...and waited...and waited some more and finally saw another cab go by and got and rang their number and this second company responded and I rang the first company and told the guy who answered to cancel the call, one of your competitors is picking me up. I waited almost two hours for the first company but the second company showed up in about 20 minutes. The person who answered apologised and sounded embarrassed. I spent a night in Mesa, AZ and got a ride to Sky Harbor the next morning. My next run was Salt Lake City to Las Vegas.
I checked in curbside and got a "B" boarding pass and cleared security and again did not undergo secondary though an agent took a closer look at my briefcase.
Southwest #1703 PHX-SLC B-737-300 Seat 13F Cruising altitude 32,000' Estimated flying time not given, scheduled gate to gate was 1:35, actual flying time 1:09 Cost of ticket: $163.20
Plane was nearly full; only a few middle seats empty including the one next to me. Pushback was one minute late followed by taxi/hold of 12 minutes. Takeoff was to the east followed by a turn then bumpy air near Flagstaff. Seatbelt sign came off at 0:32. Some sort of snack mixer and peanuts were offered and there were two drink runs. Descent started at 0:50 and I saw the Wasatch Mountains and Utah Lake. It got hazy as we approached SLC and as we got lower I could see there was snow on the ground. We landed south to north followed by 3 minutes of taxi and we arrived at the gate 9 minutes early. There was a considerable wait for my bags and then I was picked up by the customer and taken to the truck.
Trip: Salt Lake City, UT to Las Vegas, NV 415 paid miles. Routes: Interstate 215 to Interstate 15
This was a fairly routine trip. I attended Sunday morning service at Central Baptist in Fillmore, UT. It warmed up as I headed south. I elected to spend Sunday evening in St. George, UT due to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. I figured it could be difficult to get a room in Vegas during the NFR, especially the final day. I delivered Monday and neither company I contract with had a run that day so I spent the night in Vegas. I hit a buffet and among other things I tried escargot for the first and hopefully last time. I saw the water show in front of the Bellagio.
Next day I talked to both companies. One company told me about a run from Watertown, SD to Seattle, WA but the truck would not be ready until Thursday (it was Tuesday) and the other company told me about a truck ready in Rock Springs, WY going to Barrie, ON. I chose the latter and was told the best way to get to Rock Springs was to fly to Salt Lake City then take Greyhound to Rock Springs.
I got to McCarran Airport and checked in curbside and got a "B" boarding pass. I did not undergo secondary at security.
Southwest #1816 LAS-SLC B-737-300 Seat 22F Cruising altitude 33,000' Estimated flying time 1:10, actual 0:59 Ticket cost: $130.20
Plane was nearly full. Pushback was 10 minutes late. Taxi for 6 minutes then takeoff to west, turn south, west, and northeast. I saw Lake Mead, Mesquite, Virgin River Gorge, St. George. Descent started at 0:39 abreast of Scipio. There were bumps when entering clouds during latter stage of descent. Peanuts were offered and one drink run. We landed at sunset and I saw snow on the ground. Taxi was 3 minutes and we arrived 5 minutes early. Unlike last time my bags arrived at baggage claim as I did so no wait.
I explored options to get to Rock Springs and found Greyhound was the only viable way. I got a cab to the bus station and purchased a ticket for $43.50. The bus I was to take was headed to Denver and Rock Springs was one of the stops. The bus was scheduled to leave Salt Lake at 20h00 and arrive in Rock Springs at 23h50. A private security guard inspected passengers carry on articles and wanded all passengers on this bus.
Greyhound #1310 Salt Lake City, UT to Rock Springs, WY
We left a few minutes late and it appeard to be slick going up Parley's Canyon. We made a rest stop in Evanston, WY and arrived in Rock Springs 13 minutes early. It was quite cold. No cab so I walked to the Holiday Inn. $125 was too much for a rooom so I rang the cab and told where I was and got a room elsewhere for about a third as much.
Trip: Rock Springs, WY to Barrie, ON 1,749 paid miles. Routes: Intestate 80 to Interstate 94 to Michigan 39 to Interstate 75 to Ambassador Bridge to Canada 401 to Canada 400
I picked up the truck at a shop. I found out the truck originated in Oregon but developed electrical problems and had to be taken to shop. I did not get terribly far the first evening because I heard of blowing snow and reduced visibility farther ahead. I attended midweek church service at Victory Baptist in Rawlins, WY. Next morning it got down to 2 degrees F in Rawlins with a wind chill well below zero. This was not a comfortable truck to drive so I had a slow trip. I attended Sunday morning service at Grace Baptist in East Moline, IL followed by Fairhaven Baptist in Chesterton, IN. I got a few flurries near Michigan City, IN and had more snow in Michigan. I almost slid off the road near Battle Creek, MI. The highways in Michigan are in terrible shape. In Michigan the headlights quit working except as daytime running lights and the other lights would not work except for the emergency flashers. A shop fixed that.
I was held up about four hours crossing over into Windsor, Ontario. I don't know exactly what happened but apparently there was something wrong between the broker and the customer. I got some snow flurries around Chatham, ON but the snow got worse approaching London. The snow eased the rest of the way to Toronto but there were some wrecks on the 401. Near the Toronto the 401 is supposedly the busiest stretch of highway in North America. I switched to the 400 north and headed north and snow started to fall and got worse as I approached Barrie. The road was covered with snow and traffic slowed to a crawl. The snow subsided some and I exited to make delivery and there was a truck waiting for me going to Glenview, IL.
Trip: Barrie, ON to Streator, IL 1,030 actual kilometres driven. Routes: Ontario 400 to Ontario 401 to Ontario 402 to border crossing to Interstate 94 to Interstate 69 to Interstate 94 to Interstate 80 to Illinois 23.
After I picked up the truck it snowed again and I was already in deep snow so I called it a night. Next day it was not snowing when I left Barrie. I got on the 400 south, mashed the throttle to the floor and the truck would do only 80 km/h (50mph). While approaching Sarnia I encountered some snow flurries that changed to rain. The border crossing was real easy. I got word the destination of the truck was changed to Chadwick, IL. I was diverted to Streator, IL where I dropped the truck off on the 23rd of December. I was taken to Pontiac, IL where I spent the night
The next morning I caught the Peoria Charter to Chicago Midway Airport after a transfer in Joliet. It rained the whole way to Chicago. I purchased ticket to San Jose via San Diego and checked in and got "B" boarding pass for first flight and "A" boarding pass for second flight. I cleared security and did not undergo secondary.
Southwest #1501 MDW-SAN B-737-700 Seat 22A Cruising altitude 38,000' Estimated flying time 3:30, actual 3:34. Cost of ticket: $317.20
I got a couple of sandwiches at Potbelly's and ate one and saved the other for later in the flight. Plane arrived early from previous city. I found out I was fortunate to get a "B" pass though I checked in over two hours early. Plane was nearly full with just a handful of empty middle seats. A large number of people preboarded. Pushback was one minute late followed by 5 minute taxi and takeoff to southwest. Seatbelt sign stayed on for awhile and came off at 0:57, on at 1:09, off at 1:39, on at 2:01 and off at 2:20. There was some intermittent turbulence so cabin service was suspended a couple times. There was one drink run and a snack pack consisting of Fig Newtons, Wheat Thins and Ritz Crackers with Cheese was served. Also peanuts were offered and there was a drink run (I did not get the whole can). The first part of the flight I saw clouds then the Great Plains, perhaps Kansas and then Walsenburg, CO and La Veta Pass and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Descent started at 2:59 before crossing the Colorado River north of Blythe, CA. Seatbelt sign came on at 3:21. We flew directly over the Salton Sea and Borrego Springs and then turned more sharply south over the mountains of eastern San Diego County and then crossed Interstate 8 and turned west and lined up with the runway. We crossed Interstate 805 and 5 and I had a good view of downtown just before landing. We landed basically east to west and there was reverse thrust and hard braking and taxi was under one minute and we arrived 48 minutes early at the gate.
Though I've visited San Diego numerous times and was born just across the bay in Coronado this was my first time flying in and out of SAN. I consider San Diego to be a suburb of Los Angeles even though the population is over 1.2 million and the county population is approaching 3 million. The terminal was small and crowded and there was only one men's washroom airside. SAN has only one runway which is not very long. It is obvious that San Diego needs another airport. I had more time than expected to wait for the flight to San Jose which was late coming in due to a change in takeoff/landing patterns.
Southwest #2755 SAN-SJC B-737-300 Seat 4A Cruising altitude not given Estimated flying time not given though gate to gate scheduled at 1:20. Actual flying time 0:56
While waiting for this flight low clouds rolled in and I could no longer see downtown from the airport. Plane was mostly but not completely full and pushback was 30 minutes late. Taxi was 5 minutes followed by takeoff and we almost immediately entered then exited the clouds into bright sunlight. Seatbelt sign off at 0:20. There was one drink run and peanuts were offered. Descent started at 0:38 and during descent I saw sunset over the Monterey County coastline. It was twilight as we landed south to north and taxi was 2 minutes followed by arrival at gate 14 minutes behind schedule. There was a wait then one of my bags showed up. I got concerned about the other bag but an agent came toward me and I was told my other bag arrived early.
I rented a car and drove to my sister's house in Livermore where I had a late dinner. Next morning I attended Calvary Chapel of Livermore and went back to the house where gifts were unwrapped and then had Christmas dinner.
After dinner I drove to Oakland and traffic was at a standstill on westbound Interstate 580. Things started moving and there was a heavy rain shower and it rained all the way to the airport. I turned in the rental car and got the bus to the terminal and went to Jet Blue and asked for the next flight to Long Beach. I checked my bags and got a boarding pass and cleared security and did not undergo secondary.
Jet Blue #317 OAK-LGB A-320 Seat 23A Cruising altitude 31,000' Estimated flying time 1:01, actual 0:56 Cost of ticket: $119.20
Plane was not full at all; I had the whole row to myself. Pushback was right on time. Taxi 12 minutes followed by takeoff north to south. It was bumpy on climb. There was a drink run and I got the whole can of Sprite. Snacks were offered and I had the blue chips and also had cashews. I enjoyed the Direct TV which is now 36 channels. Descent started 0:33 followed by seatbelt sign at 0:36. We went into clouds and broke through before landing and landed to the northwest. Taxi was 3 minutes and we arrived 7 minutes early. I retrieved my bags after a short wait and took a cab home.