This post is part two of Spring Skiing Spring Break.
I sit and relax for 20 minutes eating the bagel I packed at home and forgot to eat on the subway. I eventually decide to get up and walk the new long pier that replaced the Pan Am Terminal that has been nearly demolished to make space for more plane parking. At 6:45 I return to the gate B24 after realizing just how long the concourse is, not giving myself enough time to walk to the end of it. I eventually board as their boarding zone 2 onto my 757. There making announcements about courtesy checking rollaboard bags. I’m debating about checking mine but want to try. I then descend the ramp (because of international arrivals) and see my 757 is in the SkyTeam livery.
My rollaboard fits like a glove! I’m sitting in the back and the flights quite full. The rear for maybe an empty middle seat didn’t work his time. They hand out blankets (no pillows) and headphones. I feel like I’m on an international flight. There is even a duty free leaflit in the seat pocket, I don’t further inquire. Waiting to leave I entertain myself with the baggage getting loaded, the baggage truck has an ad on it, “The Most First Class Seats from NYC”:
We push back on time at 7:15 into the remains of T3. The former PanAm World Port is really no longer. As we get the safety video. Delta is following Continental and we hear from its CEO to start the video. As we push back I have my camera to get pictures of the PanAm World Port going under demolition:
It’s a long taxi and we take off at 7:36 starting on the closest runway to the A trains Rockaway Line swing bridge.
We take off over Nassau County and are bombarded by ads (broadcast over the PA) for who’s bringing us the inflight entertainment.
We reach the clouds and I find a couple of movies I want to watch. I Starting with The Butler. The movies are free. HBO seems to cost money. The crew comes through with their buy on board menu, its gone ‘heathy.’ Then the usual drink cart and I have my usual Delta meal of pretzels, Biscoff cookies, and peanuts (even at 8 in the morning). We reach sun as were over the finger lakes and I they really do look like long fingers from the air.
We cross Lake Ontario and head over the Canada still with a dusting of snow before the clouds return and I don’t see Lake Huron. Eventually they break and it’s a nice view of the mitten of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
I see the Mackinack Bridge and we cross over the northern end of Lake Michigan with a clear view of the UP and Lake Superior off in the distance. Quite a but is still frozen with plenty of snow everywhere. We cross the bottom of the UP and eventually head over the bottom of Lake Superior, all are partially frozen. The clouds returning before we reach this area. There is something really relaxing half watching a movie, half enjoying the scenery.
My movie finishes as we cross over northern Minnesota full of lakes.
I need my cat nap and put some toons on over the IFE I get my 10-15 minutes of dozing which is generally all I can get on a plane when I’ve at least slept a bit the night before. I push the Sade back up as were just over Williston and have a nice view of the wide and dammed Missouri River. I think of the gas drilling.
We cross into Montana and deep clouds return.
The clouds part over the Western end of Montana’s great planes and soon the Rockies come into view capped in snow. Were in a slightly southern track from the Empire Builder. When I flew to Vancouver nearly three years ago we directly followed it for awhile across Northern Montana. We get our first patch of rough air starting to fly over the Rockies. Something I find different about Montana’s Rockies is the lakes compared to Colorado.
At 12:25 we fly over the one decently sized city on this entire trip after leaving New York and the northeast, Spokane/Coeur D’Alene. The plane continues trough the heart of Washington, following extremely wide rivers. I forgot how nice having an interactive in flight map is, not just one that scrolls from map to ads or other information, like the map that JetBlue does. Going west we have headwinds in the 90mphs.
Turbulence starts as we head over the Cascades and clouds return.
Landing takes us in a huge arc over the sprawl of Seattle. I look down and distinctively see two Amtrak P42s and realize it’s the Coast Starlight, leaving for its southbound trip on time.
Touchdown is at 10:07 PDT and we slowly taxi getting to the gate at 10:16, I amuse myself watching the unloading of baggage. There is an ad, for China The downside of sitting in the back.
I decide its time for free food and a visit to the United Club. I think its nearby but it isn’t, I walk around towards the end of the B concourse (instead of going straight into baggage claim) and head down the escalators to try the Seattle Airport Train. The Seattle Airport has three shuttle trains (people movers), all three run underground with two core lines running in unidirectional three station loops that are the only way to get to the airport satellites. The train has three cars with the front car doors blocked off at the B gates. I wonder why. All the train doors open but no one can get off the empty front car. The doors open to closed doors with signs saying to stay on the train.
I get on the train, we stop at the S-Gates. This is the satellite in the middle of the airport with the train the only way to access it. The front car doors open and a few people get on. I look out and notice a divider on the platform with a small security checkpoint in the distance. I later learn that customs and immigration are in the satellite and to reach the main terminal without needing to pass through security again the airport just dedicates a car of the Peoplemover to be for international arrivals only (with people riding it only between two stations). I get off at the A Gates and have a long walk (towards the other end of the airport) to the nicely newly renovated United Club with a view of the airport access road, not airplanes. I’m happy to see breakfast is still out (its promptly changed at 11:00am to the lunch time snacks) and enjoy some granola and an awful danish.
I spend about 20 minutes in the club before its time for the long walk to rail into Seattle.