(detailed with a lot of aviation stuff!)


Finally, Spring Break ‘04 began on the morning of April 9th, 2004 for my mom and me. I was on the phone the night before until 1am(not smart when you have to be up and out the door the next day by 5:30). All of our bags were packed and we were on our way up I-64 to Richmond International Airport for our 8:32am departure to Atlanta. It’s about an hour drive from Williamsburg to Richmond, but we do it a lot. We entered the airport grounds and I saw an AA Eagle ERJ blast off runway 2. We parked in the economy lot and got on the shuttle bus to the terminal. I checked my mom and me in with the self service kiosks and printed our boarding passes. We walked up to security with no problems. Last year, RIC’s B concourse had some major renovations done to it, and this was my first time in it since then, and it was BEAUTIFUL! It’s all tile(not that nasty carpet) and they added about 10 new gates and a customs facility. I strolled through the terminal and saw a lot of morning traffic. I then met my mom back at gate B3 and waited to board.

April 9th, 2004
Delta Airlines Flight 1544 RIC-ATL
MD-88 N913DE
Depart- 8:32am
Actual- 8:32am gate B3
Arrive- 10:14am
Actual- 9:55am gate B15
Seat 18A

The flight was about 85% full. Everyone boarded on time and we taxied out. #1 for takeoff on runway 2. Runway 2/20 has gotten a lot of use in the last decade, and I could def tell on our takeoff roll. WOW that runway needs to be repaved. Anyway we climbed out on a perfectly clear day and turned south towards the dirty south. Beverage service began as we leveled off. I had a cup of sprite and two biscoff’s(better than pretzels). We continued to fly south along the Great Smokies of NC and into SC. No bumps whatsoever on this flight. I love DL’s MD-88's, great leg room and they are quiet(well in some parts, we will find out later in the trip that there are other parts of the aircraft that aren’t that great). We began our descent over SC and made a smooth landing onto 26R. We waited for some departing traffic on the funway(26L/8R) and then taxied to B15. We pulled up next to another MD-88 departing to MSY. Overall great flight.

In ATL, we took the train to concourse A to get some breakfast at Cinnabon(my all-time favorite). I ate that and then got back on the train to the T-gates. I was surprised at how nice this terminal was. I sat down and watched Sportscenter for a while and then went over to gate T02 to find N837MH getting ready to shoot me through the air at 450mph to Los Angeles. This would be my first time west of the Rockies.

Delta Airlines Flight 541 ATL-LAX
Boeing 767-400ER N837MH
Depart- 11:35am
Actual- 11:40am gate T-02
Arrive- 1:23pm
Actual- 1:20pm gate 51B
Seat 36A

Well, as I walked through the jetway and boarded this 767-400, I was expecting hell. But as I took my seat in 36A, it wasn’t bad. I was nice and comfy. We pushed back a few minutes behind and taxied out to the funway where there was a 14 plane line up. We waited for our turn to takeoff and I watched numerous DL and FL jets land and depart. Finally at about 12:15 it was our turn. We sped downhill and left the ground with some great wingflex. Smooth climb up to 28000 where we cruised for about an hour. The F/A’s came through with the food for purchase menus. $2 for a chocolate chip cookie! Some of the sandwiches looked good but I didn’t get anything except for the free sprite and pretzels. This flight was very smooth. The seatbelt sign never came on until we began our descent. We crossed into Kansas and we climbed up to 35000. I spotted two WN 737's both in the blue c/s over NM. The skies were clear the whole flight so I could see about everything on the ground. We flew over the AZ-CA border and began our descent into LAX after 3 hours of doing homework and listening to my CD player. The movie was Big Fish but I didn’t feel like paying two dollars to watch it(even though that is cheaper than the theater). Smooth descent over the massive slab known as Los Angeles. I noticed all the power lines are above ground. I also saw a HUGE interchange. Anyway we continued on finals and touched down ontime. I noticed a ton of international heavies at TBIT as we passed by. The pilot came on and told us newbies to LAX that since the ramp space is so small, he had to shutdown one engine and we had to get towed to our gate. Something new for me. Welcome to Los Angeles!

The world famous LAX, I had made it. The Delta terminal is kinda boring though. I was starving and I got a BBQ chicken pizza and my mom had a Thai chicken pizza from the California Pizza Co.(I think that was what it was called). It was good. We explored the small T5 and came back to wait for our flight to HNL. I was so excited, I was going to be in Hawaii in about 6 and a half hours! Boarding started at 3pm and we boarded with zone 8. Hawaii here I come!

Delta Airlines Flight 1579 LAX-HNL
Boeing 767-400ER N836MH
Depart- 3:30pm
Actual- 3:40pm gate 52A
Arrive- 6:03pm
Actual- 6:10pm gate 20
Seat 32A

I took my seat in 32A and got comfortable for the 5 hour 30 minute flight. The movie on this flight would be Paycheck and it was free. We pushed back a little late and taxied. We tookoff over the Pacific and continued straight towards the islands. Smooth climb up to our cruising altitude of 32000 when drinks began to be served. The movie started shortly there after and I plugged in. About halfway through the movie dinner was served(yes dinner, my first meal on a domestic flight since pre 9-11) It was lasagna with a caesar salad and a roll along with a piece of orange cake for desert. It wasn’t to bad for airline food, but just a little cold. The f/a’s however were great and funny! The movie ended and I slept on and off for the next hour when we hit some turbulence while flying through some rain showers. I had my camcorder in the overhead bin and it was rattling around making a lot of noise and people kept looking over at us. It was pretty bumpy for the next hour when we began our descent into HNL. We came in from the northeast over Diamond Head and Waikiki where I saw a rainbow from above. We continued passed the airport towards the south west side of the island when we turned around for an 8L landing. Talk about bumpy finals! The wind was pretty strong and we were blowing up and down. At one point, we hit some rough air and I got butterflies in my stomach as we dropped about 50 feet. We flew passed Pearl Harbor and touched down on 8L when captain Virus SLAMMED on the brakes and sent some people into the seat in front of them. Someone was in a hurry to get somewhere tonight. We taxied in and pulled up next to N830MH bound for CVG.

Our tour guide met us at the gate with fresh flower lei’s and escorted us to the baggage claim. We picked up our bags which came out really fast and got on a shuttle to the Pacific Beach Hotel.

I was impressed with DL(like always) and recommend them to everyone.