Southwest screwed the pooch

Now at the gate... At the gate, the flight status still is shown as "delayed"... Even as the web site, and the electronic flight status boards display 1:20… Our status remains “delayed”... No time promised, at least at the gate... On line we are leaving at 1:20... But at the gate we are simply "delayed"

Now, 1:04, on board... Fellow passengers are grumpy... The boarding was rushed... Gate staff and the cabin crew are defensive, agitated... "Please board as quickly as possible.... (We are late (maybe their problem?)) We don't what to lose out takeoff slot".... The employee's stress is transferring to the passengers... "we are already late... Take a seat as quickly as Possible" People continue to stream on... There is nothing glamorous or exciting about this big jet air plane... "Please grab a seat quickly folks"

1:17 they are closing the door. They are closing the overhead bins... We are getting ready to depart. Time to turn the IPad off... At least we are finally on the way...

1:48... Now above 10,000 feet, Ipad back on... Stanford and the linear accelerator below... Leaving SFO all traffic was limited to the two north south runways... So maybe Southwest wasn't lying about the reason for the delay... Still they didn't handle it well, or communicate well... We were into the fog, before we cleared the end of the runway... We had broken through into sun light while still over the airport...

I am reading "Lost in My Own Backyard" by Tom Cahill... About "A walk in Yellowstone National Park"... I recommend it... I am listening to Houston Jones on the IPad... All is good... Now below... I-5 and traffic southbound of LA and beyond... A different way to move about... I see a road trip coming on... Yellowstone or Utah's canyon lands... Somewhere remote, where I can camp... Fire blazing, away from where ever "here" is.

Now 2:04... Strangely, while traveling, time is linear once again... I am settled in, a sprite on my tray table... Houston Jones singing "Three Crow Town and a good book... Below the San Joaquin Valley is fading into the Sierra foothills... We are headed east...

There is still lots of snow in the Sierras... Rivers are running high, easily seen from 25,000 feet or so... This will be a good year to fish the Kern River...

We plan to scatter Mom's & Dad's (and Cleo's (the dog)) ashes along the Kern River. Merle Haggard has a song about the Kern River... Dad, and his dad, George homesteaded land and built a cabin near Lake Isabella, on the Kern River... We spent a lot of time there as kids...

Now 2:15...Below, a glimpse of the Owens Valley, the Alabama Hills... Before they disappear under clouds...

2:22... peanuts arrive... I like peanuts... Now desert below... Death Valley... Hot & dry.

We land about 3:00 in Las Vegas...

I have an our plus layover... I find a bar, and order a beer... Having consumed said beer, I find a restroom... I find the gate and after a short wait board... I am B-2... Not a bad boarding number... I get a window behind the wing... I like to look outside when flying... It is now 4:03... People continue to board... To look for seats and precious overhead bin space... I establish my camp... The IPad, a book, and my snacks... Time to shut the I pad down...

Now 5:43... More likely 6:43... By now we have likely crossed the border and are over west Texas, and Mountain Time... we have come less than half way... Half way from Nevada to Florida...

6:27... This flight is more subdued... We are flying towards darkness... Into night below us darkness is falling... Below it is 7:30, possibly 8:30... Below is world of green fields... Streams meandering.. Occasional lights... Likely east Texas... Here at 35,000 feet it is still light, the plane's wing glowing pink in the alpenglow.

By 7:05 (locally likely 9:05, maybe 10:05) all is dark save for the lights of the cities and towns below. We have an hour and a half or so to go...

At 7:49, hear the engines throttle back a bit and feel the plane pitch downward... We are nearing Tampa... We should be on the ground in 40 minutes or so... They should be making the "turn off all electronic devices" announcement soon.

Now Sunday morning… sometime after 9:00 am… The plane landed… I recovered my luggage which was so hard to check… I found the truck, drove home to Brooksville and went to bed…

This AM, Dad is doing well, stuck in bed, sick, but in good spirits… talking to people, looking forward to visitors…


One final thought... While I am not happy with Southwest and their communication, no employee was ever rude or lashed out... they were stressed... they had lost their sense of humor... but they were never rude...