It has been a while since my last post so why not start it where i left off…in Palm Springs!
It was time to go see my Mom again so I booked tickets down to see her. As usual, the prices were fully jacked, wanting somewhere in the neighborhood of $319 each way. I did manage to find one flight that was $190 dollars for one leg, the only problem being that it left Portland at 5:30am and had a two and a half hour layover in Seattle. I grabbed it figuring it was easy enough to drink coffee in Seattle and save 130 bucks.
After having the alarm go off at the ungodly hour of 3:15am I was out the door and at the airport at 4:30am sharp. It was pretty dead at that time of morning. I checked in via the Alaska kiosk and breezed through security. I’m flying Horizon Air for this first leg. Their parent company is Alaska Airlines and Alaska just decided to ‘retire’ the Horizon brand. Horizon used to be a stand alone airline many moons ago and got bought by Alaska and became their small regional carrier by design (much like the United Shuttles are to United). While Alaska owned both airlines, Horizon got to keep its own name and identity carving out a nice little niche for itself offering free micro brews and local wines for free as a standard amenity. Now that Alaska has decided to retire the Horizon brand, all the Horizon planes will be stripped of their logos and a new livery of all Alaska Airlines planes will be in full swing nation wide. Smart business move but I will really miss Horizon. It was something special to me.
It was still dark when we left Portland and I had a problem with the camera so I couldn’t get a shot of the plane on the deck in the dark. I was on the Oregon State Beaver plane and it looked great with the tail light shining brightly on that Beaver in the pitch dark. This shot is as I deplaned in Seattle. Early morning flying…gotta love it.
Since I had a two and a half hour layover in Seattle I decided to use some free coupons I had to check out the Alaska Airlines Board room. This is their Flagship lounge in the system so I was pretty stoked. I checked in with the agent at the door, showed her my coupon (which I got for signing up for the Alaska Airlines credit card) and went to check it all out. It is two floors with the downstairs being more quiet and mostly for business types. It had individual stations all throughout that had power ports and privacy. A cappuccino maker makes a multitude of coffee drinks at the simple push of one button and the standard soft drinks, juices, waters etc were all available. Their were also spots to grab and toast breadstuffs but I grabbed a coffee and went upstairs. The upper floor is much more open with comfortable seating and couches all throughout the room. TVs play in different areas and it has an awesome view of the tin candy outside the windows.
The Seattle boardroom has a thing of myth. There is a self-serve pancake maker. It could not have been easier.
You place your plate under one end and press the one big button on the front. Within about 30 seconds, two freshly cooked come out from a little conveyor belt within and drop onto your plate. Alaska had all the trimmings with butter, jams and syrups next to it and they were delicious.They also have all sorts of breads, yogurt, hard-boiled eggs and snaky stuff at breakfast time. The coffees were varied and strong and you can get free drinks at the bar with a limit of three. I ate some breakfast and started passing my layover with newspapers, TVs and more coffee. I nodded off at one point, but I can tell you it was because I felt like a sleepy cat laying in a sun beam. My flight left at 9am so about 8:15 I wandered over to the departures screen to confirm the gate and I see that it is boarding! I did my best O.J. Simpson (pre killing days) and high tailed it to the gate. I got there just as my back block of rows had been called and strolled right onto this 737-700 with a smile on my face. I could finely take a nap.
The guy in the right seat came on the mike and said they were going to fly us right over the top of Mt. Rainer and it should be pretty neat scenery on such a beautiful day. Boy was he right.
It was such a clear day I couldn’t help myself to take a few more shots.
Notice the heat signature above from the turn she’s making? Cool effect.
Beautiful Mt. Hood.
I settled in for the flight with a few episodes of ‘The Office’ on my iPhone and a book.
This particular plane felt tired inside. The seats were on the hard side of life and for some reason I lost the armrest wars to my middle seat mate. Leg room wasn’t really a problem but the smell of some of the passengers were. Think a plane FULL of Grandmothers all flying at once. It was a sensory circus.
Lake Tahoe below us.
We arrived in Palm Springs a few minutes early with surprisingly no wind or turbulence. Took the scenic route into the valley of artificial life. I love it when they first open the doors of the plane and that hot desert air fills the cabin. I grabbed my bag and called my Brother to come pick me up. Here is another one of those unintentional traveling shots that seem to creep into my camera.
So there I was, nine hours later after that dreaded 3:15 alarm. It was 100 degrees in Palm Springs…. and I was just in time for lunch.
