The next morning, we woke up early and hit the road. I had reserved a Chevy Equinox, but I ended up with a 2011 Mitsubishi Endeavor. To say it was a disappointment is an understatement. The Endeavor was underpowered, yet had horrific fuel economy. Steering was not very responsive, with little feedback. With over 31,000 miles on the odometer, it has the highest mileage of any vehicle I’ve ever rented from Hertz. But it did get the job done, getting us to LA intact. After taking care business (i.e. visiting UCLA and dinner with relatives), I took my sisters out to show them some of the touristy stuff since this was their first time to LA.
Never heard of it…
To paraphrase another one of my friends, I am such a dork.
Santa Monica Beach
We stayed at the Residence Inn Long Beach Downtown, since it was close to where our relatives lived and we could burn the last of my Mega Bonus Certificates from last year. It was a fairly nice property, as far as Residence Inns go. And the property was only 40 minutes away from most of tourist attractions in Los Angeles, without traffic of course.
On Sunday, we slept in a bit and checked out a little after 10AM. We headed to Monterrey Park for lunch at the New Lucky Restaurant. While the reviews on Yelp weren’t favorable, I found the food to be fresh and very authentic, and I just got back from Hong Kong. After lunch, we headed straight to LAX as my flight was at 3PM. That would give me a little time to return the car, check my bag, and clear security. I managed to avoid a couple of traffic snags thanks to the traffic information from Google Maps, and arrived at the Hertz lot just before 1PM. After returning the car, we hopped on the terminal bus which dropped us off at the terminal 15 minutes later. We managed to avoid the long line in at check in counters by checking in with sky cap. Security was surprisingly quick and we were in the terminal by 1:45.
I passed time by plane spotting with my sisters, who were surprisingly receptive to me rambling on and on. Soon it was time for me to board. I bade farewell to my parents and sisters, who were waiting for their 3:30 flight to San Francisco, to check out Stanford and UC Berkley. #FOB life
I managed to get an A21 boarding pass by shelling out $10 for Early Bird Check In. After the Business Select passengers boarded, A16-30 were called to board. I made my way down the jet bridge once again, after handing my boarding pass to the gate agent.
WN 2636
Los Angeles (LAX) – Albuquerque (ABQ)
Depart: 2:50 PM
Arrive: 5:40 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700 (N784SW)
Seat: Economy 1A
I don’t usually pick bulkhead seats on WN flights, since leg room is restricted and there are no tray tables. For some reason, I did pick one on this flight and remembered why I hated these seats the second I sat down. But I decided not to move, as I didn’t want to disrupt the steady stream of boarding passengers. The flight was only an hour and a half anyways. Midway through the boarding, a middle aged man, with a copy of Conde Nast magazine in hand, took up residence in the aisle seat. The cabin door was soon shut, with the middle seat empty. Woot! We pushed back smack dab on time, and quickly taxied to Runway 25R. We ended up holding short of the runway to allow a CX 77W to land. Oh the memories…
After the CX plane had cleared the runway, we taxied onto the runway and began rolling immediately. We flew the runway heading for a few minutes before turning south, flying parallel to the coast. After passing by Long Beach, our capable pilots turned the aircraft east, setting course for Albuquerque.
Long Beach. Where I laid my head the last couple of nights. You can see the Residence Inn as well as the Queen Mary in the pic
The climb out to cruising altitude was rather fast, presumably due to the light load. At that time, FAs began the drink and snack service, which consisted of just roasted peanuts today since this flight is under 1,000 miles. I passed on the peanuts but ordered a water. My seatmate began to talk to me. He was an interesting fellow, and very passionate about his state, New Mexico. We chatted about things to do in our respective home states, which would be Louisiana for me. I only claim Texas if it’s advantageous to me. And of course, our conversation turned to travel and I educated him on a few finer points of the frequent traveling. He doesn’t travel much for business, though he expected travel to pick up soon.
All the while, FAs constantly roamed the aisle collecting trash and offering refills, all the while regularly checking up on the unaccompanied minors seated in row 2. About 30 minutes out, our captain came on the PA asking the cabin crew to prepare the cabin for landing immediately because it would get really bumpy on our descent. He was definitely right. The aircraft was tossed around a good bit over the next 20 minutes, although it did smooth out a few minutes before we made our final approach. During the descent, my seatmate heartily recommended me try the green chili, which is apparently a New Mexico staple, during my layover.
Touchdown was smooth, and we pulled into the gate 5 minutes early. I followed my new friend into the terminal, and he led me to the green chili place in the food court. I order a bowl of it, which would serve as dinner. It was delicious. This was my first time in the ABQ airport. It was small, but very nice and clean. The rest of my layover was eventful, as was my flight to Love Field. We left and arrived on time. The flight was full. Standard drink and snack service was conducted. The only thing of note was the aircraft operating the flight, N697SW.
The 737-300 was delivered to TACA, straight from the Boeing factory in 1988. It’s original registration was N75356. After two months of service, N75356 operated
TACA flight 110, from Belize City to New Orleans. As it neared New Orleans, the aircraft suffered a dual engine flameout and was forced to make a dead stick landing on a levee in New Orleans East, near where my family lived at the time. I learned about the incident on an episode of Air Crash Investigation. Afterwards, I researched the registration number and learned that the aircraft had been repaired and put back into service within a few months. In the years after the incident, N75356 wore the colors of America West and Morris Air, before being acquired by Southwest in 1995. It was reregistered N697SW, and still wears the Canyon River Blue livery today. I had wanted to fly this particular aircraft due to the connection with MY city, and I finally got to do so after a year and a half.
Bags hit the belt after 15 minutes after we arrived in Dallas. I got home a little before 11PM.
One week in Dallas, and then I'm off on the final leg of my big adventure.