From Portland to New York

15 Sept 200

And we’re off!….like a dirty shirt….

Our flight (Delta #744) left on time from Portland. Rhonda believes it’s because the stewardesses are from New York and crack the whip quite professionally. They were on the PA system about every 45 seconds telling us that they can’t close the doors until every bag is stowed, the overhead bins are closed, and everyone is sitting down with seatbelts fastened. Then they tell us that we want to depart on time so passengers can make connecting flights. You could almost hear the whip sizzling through the air..

According to the in-flight tracking map on the back of the seat in front of me, we are just south of Kennewick and only 40 minutes into the flight. We are going 535 miles per hour and are at 31,044 ft. in the air. The flight has been a little rough the past few minutes but things are smoothing out now.

Cameron and Serena drove up to Cottage Grove with Richelle and me to meet Dianne and catch a ride up to Portland with her and then they drove back home. We got to Mom’s in time for supper and some good laughs and went to bed around 10pm.

You know, 4am comes pretty early. But we were up and leaving by 4:45. Dianne and Richelle took us to the airport and we arrived in good time to go through security and were at the boarding gate fifty minutes before the flight was scheduled to leave.

It seemed like a lot of “hurry up and wait”. Rush to have things ready to go through security; hurry to find the boarding gate; sit and wait for the boarding call; rush for the line; inch towards the door; fling your bag into the overhead bin; wait for everyone else to do the same; wait our turn to take off….and, finally!….screaming down the runway.

9:50 PDT ~ We’re north of Rapid City, South Dakota traveling 526 miles per hour at 35152 ft elevation. I look out the window and see frost on the wing. Well, at a temperature of -65° F, I can understand why.

This is starting to sound like a documentary and that’s just not how I write. How about I describe the itsy-bitsy bathroom where you could use the toilet, the mirror, and the sink at the same time? Or about the cutest little blond, curly-haired 11-month-old baby girl sitting in front of us who peeks over and grins at us every so often? Right now, she’s off with her papa getting her diaper changed. Then there’s the 6 foot tall stewardess with what looks like a military hair-cut and another stewardess who was impressed with our assortment of dried fruit and almonds that Mom brought along for snacking.

2:35 PDT ~
We’re in the JFK airport terminal at the gate where we will be boarding the plane to Budapest in another two and a half hours. Mom is sitting on my right with a word-search book in hand - Rhonda is sitting on my left, earphones in her ears, writing a letter. At the rate I’m getting internet service, her recipient will get the letter before you all read this on the blog.

Our plane from Portland was late landing in New York in spite of the inspirational stewardesses. I’m not sure why; we had a tailwind the entire way that reached speeds of 89 miles per hour towards the end. There must have been a stack of planes because we made a large figure “8” and then another circle before we landed. The pilot said there were a number of international flights that took up the terminals so we were directed a distance away and a bus came to transport us to where we were supposed to be.

Well, I've wasted about 45 minutes trying to get my blogger password.....because I wasn't smart enough to bring it with me. And, as Mom says, "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get." We've only about forty minutes to download the flight pictures from my camera and upload them here. We'll see what I can do