Chicago O'Hare to El Paso (ORD-ELP) First Class on AA MD80
I spent some time catching up on messages and FT, posting some more of this report. I headed to the gate 30 minutes prior to departure and find boarding is already up to group 6! Fortunately F isn't too full and there is still overhead bin space for me.
We pushback on time before joining a queue of over 30 aircraft waiting to take off. As we head southwest I see a few scattered thunderstorms. Meal is a choice of pizza or chicken and pasta, with a side salad. Unusually for airline meals the salad is simple with lettuce, tomato and cucumber. No rocket!
The flight is smooth and I sleep much of the way, waking up 30 minutes out from El Paso. We fly past White Sands and have a straight in approach. Within 5 minutes of landing I am checked in at the Hilton, just a short walk in the desert heat across the carpark from the terminal (not quite all under cover but mostly). The first room they give me hasn't been serviced so I get another room.
I finally get to meet
jfe and see his mansion from afar at sunset (I think he was being kind enough to allow it to fit in one picture
) before eating ribs over the New Mexico state line.