david55

We arrived at Boeing Field in the rain at approximately 10:30 AM. We waited at the security gate that would take us out to the tarmac. We could see the Citation X idling about 500 feet away on the apron. The gate automatically opened and we drove out to the plane. The pilots came out to greet us and the ground crew began to unload the cars and stow the baggage in the cargo. The six of us boarded the plane. It was warm, dry and opulent. The interior was leather, burl wood and “gold-plated” fixtures. There were trays of catering (more on that later) all around on any flat service. The plane is narrow as are the seats, but they are well padded and well-appointed with reading lights and buttons that do stuff I have no idea what. There were six of us flying and 8 seats. There were lots of carefully sculpted drawers and compartments on the plane. They held everything from candy and gum to playing cards and stationary. The bathroom, which occupied the back part of the plane, was similarly filled with drawers that had every toiletry you can imagine. The only souvenir with the Netjets name were decks of playing cards.

Within ten minutes of boarding and a safety briefing from the captain we were on the move. Traffic at Boeing was light and we headed straight for the runway passing a new parked 787 on the way. It looked smaller than I thought it would.Take-off (to the south) was fast and we were above the clouds and rain in no time. Flying time to central Mexico was 3hours and 45 minutes flying at 41,000 feet at about 650 mile per hour. Normally this journey going from Seattle to our place in Mexico takes 14 hours with connections in Houston going commercial. There was no turbulence the entire trip until our final approach into the airport in Leon.

Once we took off we began to explore what the caterers had provided. What a feast. Smoked salmon, bagels and herbed cream cheese. Two seafood platters piled with lobster, crab claws, jumbo shrimp, scallops, and squid. There was a trio of dipping sauce for the seafood. Fresh fruit platters, cheese assortments (not pre-packaged) and for dessert, cookies and a large birthday cake. (It was one of our friend’s birthdays) Everything was great and we feasted. In the words of one our flying companion’s….
“This flight is so fast; I hardly had time to finish my lobster”. ( he said this the last time we flew private…so the joke is getting old)

We arrived in Mexico and were greeted by the immigration representative who handles private planes. He had all our forms pre-filled except for customs. They loaded our baggage onto a cart and we followed our rep into the terminal. Although another commercial plane had just arrived he escorted us to an immigration desk ahead of the growing line. Our visas and passports were stamped and we were waved through to customs where all our baggage was piled. They asked to whom each piece belonged and sent us on our way….minus the left-over seafood we tried to take.

Our driver, whom we have known for years, met us outside customs and we loaded the suburban and drove the 90 minutes to the house, both relaxed, excited to be “home” and not feeling the customary effects of an international flight at all….


I do have a few images..... but to upload is taking forever here in Mexico.... so I will wait till I get back to the States.