The last leg

Very early the next morning it was time for the last leg of this trip, the flight home to SOT, scheduled to depart at 7:15 am. We were leaving again from a bus gate and all passengers from group C onwards (I was in boarding group D) were requested to gate-check their carry-on baggage. The rollaboards were to be taken on the bus and handed over to the ground crew at the foot of the airstairs. The plane was parked at the furthest of the remote stands, literally in the boondocks of BOG, and the bus ride there took so long that I jokingly thought: “They aren’t going to bus us all the way to SOT, are they?” The flight was – again – totally full and in seats B and C next to me I had a young couple with a baby that would not stop crying for the duration of the flight. Rather than being upset I felt sorry for the parents who couldn’t find a way to mollify their baby in all that time.


The 737-200 still going strong, at least hauling cargo:


A few random thoughts that crossed my mind while writing up this report:

- You can choose your holiday destination, but you don’t get to choose the weather you encounter there. On this trip it was not always bright sunshine, but even the rainy and foggy days had their charm somehow. Besides: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
- As a consequence of the above, I didn’t get to see any northern lights during my stay in Alaska, something I had been looking forward to. Some people said that it was still too early (September), but I saw newspaper headlines reporting sightings.
- Also, not once in my 2+ weeks in Alaska did I get to see an Alaska Airlines plane in a special livery. They are probably all deployed in the Lower 48 + HI.

Well, this turned out to be a bit longer than I had anticipated. I hope I didn’t bore you out of your minds.

Anyway, if you made it this far, you deserve an endurance award! Thanks for bearing with me.

Now it’s time to plan the next trip!