October 5, 2017
Again, I woke up much too early, so no sleeping in. Jet lag...
A reader of my German report asked me to take a picture of the trunk of the SantaFe, which I happily did. You can also see half of my carry on luggage in the pictures. As you can see, the SantaFe did only offer limited space for my needs.
After loading everything into the car, I drove to Newport News. There two more aircraft carriers would be waiting for me. At first the decommissioned USS Enterprise, which is currently being dismantled/scrapped.
Secondly, there's supposed to be the USS George Washington in the yard. This is the only current aircraft carrier I haven't really seen so far. At first, I wasn't able to find her. She is not sitting directly behind the Enterprise, there is no second island visible. I know some other spots in Newport News, which I got to. The only thing I found are the first parts of the future USS John F. Kennedy.
After checking the yard, I couldn't find another aircraft carrier, so I decided to cross the James River Bridge to check out the yard from the other waterside. This is how I found the
missing aircraft carrier.
With the knowledge, where to look, I again crossed the bridge. Unfortunately, the George Washington is laid up at a position you can hardly see from the outside. This is why I couldn't take any pictures of her. With the carrier being overhauled, she will be in Newport News for some more time, so I will get her another time.
From Newport News, I drove to Yorktown to see, if there were any ships at the ammunition depot. There was the USS Leyte Gulf, which I already visited one year before during the Baltimore Fleet Week.
My last destination was the Langley Air Force Base where I hopped to see some F-22 jets. Unfortunately, there were none, just one C-17 Globemaster was departing.
After spending some time waiting for nothing to happen, I slowly made my way back to the airport. Before returning the car, I had to refill the tank. At the airport, the return parking lot was totally packed with cars and more returns coming in.
The airport in Norfolk is rather small and not much to do there. With a late afternoon departure, I played it safe to avoid hitting traffic. I killed time by watching my aircraft arrive that will take me back to Chicago.
This 737-800, N8673F, served flight WN 102 ORF - MDW, 17:16 - 18:07 air time. Unfortunately for me, Southwest was operating a brand new 737-8MAX on the exact same route the day before. The only day for me in Norfolk that I didn't spend in the air.
With a departure to the south, I selected a seat on the right hand side. I then was able to get a nice view over Norfolk and Portsmouth after takeoff.
After that, we continued far south of Newport News. The bridge in the center of the picture is the previously mentioned James River Bridge.
After arrival in Chicago, I once again checked the available food options, but again took the burger. I again found a seat near the gate for my next flight. I was connecting to the west coast on flight WN578 MDW - OAK, Boeing 737-700 N772SW, 21:03 - 23:33. Unfortunately, no empty middle seat this time. Snacks on this flight were salty things (pretzels) and waffles with cheese, as well as drinks. The somewhat tight pitch made me feel slightly uncomfortable, but I nevertheless dozed off for some time.
Upon arrival in Oakland, I was able to get the last train of the new Oakland Airport Connector. The first and only stop is Coliseum BART station. The last OAK airport connector train to make downtown San Francisco connection departs OAK at 3 minutes past midnight. With a ten minutes scheduled buffer, there is plenty of time to make the connection to the downtown train. I alighted at Embarcadero station and walked to the Hilton Financial District. This would be my home for the next days.