A Day of Airports and Planes

We didn't have an early flight today and we were packed and ready so we didn't have to get up too early. We took care of a few little things around the house and left around 10:00am for the Albuquerque Sunport. Everything went quick and smooth - fast check in and a smooth pass through security. So we arrived at our gate for Frontier Airlines pretty early only to find that the plane was delayed and our 12:45pm departure was now at 1:40pm. So we decided to grab a bite to eat and then sit and read until it was time to board. We did a little people watching while we waited for the plane and one that intrigued me was a 16yo boy reading War and Peace - I just don't picture young people these days reading those types of books. Oh, and we did pick up some trail mix to have as snacks throughout the day. The plane ended up arriving a little earlier than they thought and we left Albuquerque at 1:20pm.

We were on a very small plane, well smaller than we normally fly on. It had about 18 rows with four seats across. We were in a row with the engines right next to us, and we had a view of the large propeller on the outside of the engine. The flight turned out to be really noisy . . . with the engine right outside the window and all the passengers chit chatting in the small, confined area and one woman sitting a few rows back talking loud enough so that everyone could hear her stories. Once we took off and the stewardesses finished their little spiels they handed out drinks and cookies, we only had cookies because we brought bottled water onto the plane. Thomas ended up taking a little nap while I read. During this whole time the woman a few rows back never quit talking. A little over halfway through the flight we started about having turbulence. "The Woman" was now letting out little screams - not sure if I liked her talking or her screams better. After about 10 minutes of the turbulence and the screams things settled down. We had a little turbulence for the remainder of the flight but thankfully the screams and the talking stopped. The last part of the flight was much quieter.

We arrived at Denver International Airport at Gate A62 (well the plane parked near there and we had to walk the tarmac to enter the terminal. We made our way to Gate A33 for the next part of the flight. It was 2:45pm and our next flight wasn't until 6:10pm. We found a place to sit where I could plug in the computer and we just sat and people watched and waited. Thomas ended up going for a walk and came back with a macadamia cookie, a sugar cookie and a peanut butter cookie. We took turns taking walks while one of us watched the bags, we snacked on the cookies and trail mix just trying to make the time go by quicker while we waited for our next flight.

The last leg of our trip (Denver to Fairbanks) was a much smoother ride but it was long - about five and a half hours. Mostly we read but we also took little cat naps throughout the trip. It was pretty uneventful except for a woman sitting behind me who was watching NASCAR and really getting in to it. All I could think of was Jeff Dunham and Bubba J. Eventually NASCAR ended and the plane quieted down for the rest of the flight. Once we landed we made our way to baggage claim and since the bags weren't there we decided to get the rental car (the rental car counters are right next to baggage claim) and hopefully get out of the airport faster. The rental car people were fast and we had the car keys before the baggage arrived. So we waited about ten more minutes for the bags then made our way out to the car. It is so weird - we landed around 9:50pm and walked out of the airport at 10:15pm and the sun was still shining bright. To me it looked like the sun was at about 5:00pm or 6:00pm. The hotel where we are staying - Alpine Lodge - is less than a half mile from the airport and easy to find. We got checked in and decided to get something to eat. Not much open after 10:00pm so we settled on Denny's. It was good to get something in our stomachs after the layover in Denver and the long flight. Now back at the hotel we are showered and Thomas is already asleep but I am trying to get the blog done - don't want to get behind on the first day. Well it is now after midnight and I am tired so I will call it a night and report back tomorrow on our first day in Fairbanks.