There was someone sitting in my seat when I got there, so I offered a trade.  It was funny as the ladies were really very friendly and I told her that I would not get up all night so she said I could sit in the window.  I would not have minded sitting in the aisle, but they insisted as she said she may get up during the night.  They were perhaps the best seatmates I’ve had in ages.

We soon pushed back and headed out in the cool night skies.  My best thing about Las Vegas is taking off at night and seeing all the lights below.  There is really nothing like it.  We took off with the Strip on the right and then making a right turn so we could see the Strip from the other end as we gained altitude on this wingleted Boeing 757-300.  I had noticed the winglets until we pushed back.  This is the first Boeing 757-300 in revenue service with winglets.

I was way tired so sleep came really quickly as I covered up with the plastic wrapped provided blanket.  A pretzel and beverage service passed through, but I was full from the barbecue at the Hilton so I declined anything.  Landing seemed to come quickly on this 4:15 flight touching down at 5:22a.  I don’t think I will make the connection flight I thought.

As I was in the back of the plane and we got to the gate at 5:30a, I missed the 5:45a which was in the other finger of Terminal C at rainy Newark airport.  The agents moved me over to the next flight, a Boeing 777-200ER at 7:45a.  I then went to find a place to take a photo of the wingleted bird which was now heading for Orlando, FL (MCO) at 7:00a.  I could not find a place though due to its gate assignment at 102.

I did however find a spot in the Presidents Club that would give me great pictures.  And so at 7:00a when it pushed back, I got a few pictures in the rainy dawn.  I also had some breakfast of cereal and mini muffins.  I left almost right after the pushback as I did not want to lose my place on this flight.

At the gate I collected my middle seat boarding pass and headed onboard.  It was freezing in the jetway, I thought these things had heat.  As I waited onboard, a guy came for the aisle seat, but no one showed for the window.  Once the doors were closed, the guy asked if he could take the window as I was about to move over.  He said he wanted to sleep; I guess I did not look sleepy.  I obliged him anyway and he was thankful.  I was psyched about having that empty seat as I believe it was the only one on the plane.

We pushed back a few minutes late and made the long trek to the runway and took off  into the rainy morning skies.  I reclined my seat and the guy behind me protested that he was tall, annoyed I un-reclined and tried to fall asleep.  Maybe I should have complained about the noise his little girl was making…The flight attendants did come by with a breakfast offering of cereal and bananas; At this point, I kind of wished the offering was a bit different, oh well.

This airplane has power at the seats which I utilized and audio/video on demand which I did not use as I could hardly keep my eyes open.  I did hear the Captain come on and say that due to the winds we would have to fly past the airport and then come back which would cause us to arrive at the gate a few minutes late.

As we descended, the guy’s daughter kept kicking my seat back and tapping it with her hands.  Her father never once told her to stop it or apologize for her behavior and I never said anything to him.  Some people can be really selfish it seems.

We landed without incident and headed to the gate arriving about five minutes behind schedule.  I then called Metro and was advised the next bus was at 10:51a, good deal I had enough time.  This was a pretty good trip.

How are you spending your weekend?

I then got ready and jumped in the weekend rental car that I have and headed for the airport at about 9:07a.  As its a Saturday, traffic was light and I was at the airport at 9:35a parking at FastPark.  It was about 9:55 when we pulled into Terminal B.

The TSA security line was minimal so it did not take long.  There was a guy who had a flight in 17 minutes, so we all allowed him to go ahead of us.  Some of the folks in the line commented that, only in Texas would he be allowed to jump the queue, adding that people in the Northeast would have scoffed at him.  Ah, northeasterners have such a bad rep.

There was also a young guy in his navy garb.  He had just spent nine months in Florida and was heading back home to Pittsburgh, PA (PIT) for some well deserved rest and relaxation before returning to find out where he would be deployed.

I cleared security after having to remove my belt as the kid in front of me beeped.  What does that have to do with my belt?  Geez…It is a new belt and I wanted to test if it would beep anyways.  To avoid any issues, I took it off and cleared without beeping.  No new see thru machines in Terminal B.

I then headed to the Presidents Club where I had a bagel with light cream cheese (is there really such a thing though?), some muffins and water.  I was looking for a banana, but they only had apples.  All four available newspapers (Wall Street Journal, Houston Chronicle, Financial Times and the USA Today (yesterday’s edition))  had the President Obama Nobel Peace Prize headline.  Congrats Mr. President.

It was time to get to the gate, so I did.  I settled in after getting my boarding pass and used the power plugs that are set up to charge your phone before the flight.  Soon an announcement was made for y flight to Charleston, WV.  It was at that moment that I noticed that the flight to Charleston, SC was leaving from the doorway right next to my flight.  People were confused and also laughing, but checking their boarding passes to ensure that they board the correct plane.

An older lady next to me was a little confused, but I assured here that her flight to South Carolina was not yet boarding.  Some people including me took pictures of the two displays next to each other.  I looked around and everyone was checking their boarding passes to ensure they did not miss their flight or board the wrong airplane.

When it was time, I boarded through the door for West Virginia and headed down the jetway, noticing that were signs above both jetway entrances with the city names.  At the airplane door, a couple was talking with the flight attendant as there was another couple sitting in their seat.  Oops, I thought, I believe that they boarded the wrong flight.

Sure enough that was the case.  The gate agent came on board and made an announcement that we are going to Charleston, WV, not South Carolina.  The flight attendant also reiterated this fact.  The couple headed off adding they do not want to go to West Virginia as their car is in South Carolina.

The door on this not so heavily booked Embraer ERJ-145 closed at 10:50a and then the flight attendant started her demo.  Seven minutes later, we pushed back and headed for the runway.  On our way there, the pilot made a hard step on the brakes and we changed our direction.  This was followed by another direction change.  I assumed that we changed runway and we did, we were now heading for runway 27-9 which takes you over Lee Road on takeoff.

I did notice a Boeing 777-200ER that had just landed and wondered where it was coming from that early in the morning.  It ended up at E4.  I’m puzzled.

We were number six for takeoff behind a few Continental jets as well as a Continental Connection Saab 340 and a Continental Express ERJ-145.  As it was almost our turn, here came a Delta Connection CRJ-900 who took to the runway ahead of us.

At 11:15a, we took to the cloudy skies breaking into beautiful sunshine as we cleared them.  Soon after the lone flight attendant came on the PA and announced the service expectations for our flight which included a snack.

Soon after that announcement, I smelled nail polish.  Why would anyone think that it is O.K. to polish your nails in an airplane?  People do this from time to time, please don’t do it.  I now have a headache and watery eyes.

The flight attendant came by at 11:33a and offered a choice of a turkey or ham sandwich.  I chose Turkey which was served with mayonnaise, a pack of Fritos corn chips and a mini Hershey milk chocolate bar.  Drinks followed at 11:43a.  Trash pickup was at 11:58a.

I fell asleep after the battery on my MacBook died.  I awoke as we started our descent into West Virginia.  It was really beautiful as the leaves were just changing.  Also, it is a very mountainous area, so you can see homes nestled into the side of the mountains and ridges.

We were really close to the ground though, wow.  We made it into the runway which sits at the top of one of the mountains at 981′ above sea level.  It was 2:11p when we touched down and we made it to the gate within a minute.  The pilots really hot the brakes and when we turned I realized why, the runway ended pretty short after where we turned off.

Charleston, WV 10 Oct. 2009

At the gate, I deplaned and headed for the exit as I wanted to see what the ticket counter area was like.  It looked like all the passengers were already at the gate as the flight departs at 2:55p.  I made it outside to the ticket counter, checked in, got my boarding pass then headed outside to take some pictures.  At the counter, there was a lady waiting as she had some liquids to put back in her suitcase.  I don’t think that was going to happen as there was no one at the counter.  In small stations, there is usually a small staff and they do everything.  Since the flight was in they were at the gate.  Also, her bags were more than likely already in the plane.  I told her I’d tell the gate she was there, but if they did not show by 2:30p, she was to make her way back to the gate.

After taking pictures, I walked through the baggage claim area and headed back through security.  I was the only one going through as everyone else was at the gate.  I heard an announcement that the pilot wanted to leave early so everyone should make it to the gate.

At the gate, I collected my boarding pass from the agent.  I told her about the lady at the counter.  Eventually I saw the lady coming up to the gate, not sure if she got her bag back.  I doubt it though.

I boarded when it was time and as it turns out sat across from that lady.  I heard her say that she had to throw her stuff away as she could not get her bag back.  She had like peanut butter I think she said as well as a large tube of toothpaste.  She was none too happy, but her friend she was traveling with told her she would give her some toothpaste.  It was really funny listening to them talk about.

The door closed at 2:54p, so much for leaving early.  Not sure what was the hold up.  I kept thinking that I was going to get booted as the airport is 981′ above sea level and the flight was weight restricted as a result.

It was 3:00p when we pulled forward after the jetway had been pulled out of the way.  We taxied down to the lone runway and was airborne by 3:07p.  It was beautiful as we cleared the trees and saw the foliage below.  We also flew over the city and you could see the river that runs through it as well as the city’s capitol building.  I wonder how many U.S. cities have one of those capitol buildings?

Soon, we had some pretzels and drinks.  I was a bit tired so I fell asleep and awoke when we landed in Houston at 4:40p on 8L-26R.  It took another ten minutes to make it to the gate at B81A.  As it turns out, the airplane will now go to Charleston, SC (CHS).

I deplaned and walked around the airport.  The was a flight to San Jose, Costa Rica as well as Newburgh, NY (SWF) and a few other cities.  I was trying to work in Newburgh, but the flight times does not work well.  But I have to figure out an itinerary that works though as Newburgh must be logged before the month is done.

I found an area that had a seat, a desk power plugs and a phone.  Plus I had a view of the planes coming and going so I was set for the next few hours.  Plus Orlando International has free Wi-Fi – a definite plus.

Three hours seemed like forever, but boarding time arrived and I did, noting that I was boarding an Airbus A320, “Blue Suede Shoes” which is registered as N566JB.

Onboard, I realized that I was indeed sitting in the extra legroom section of the flight.  The extra 4″ does indeed make a difference and is quite noticeable.

I did say hello to the lady next to me who lived in both Orlando and Syracuse and flies the route often.  She told me that she did not pay extra to sit here, which tells me that she got rewarded for her business with jetBlue.

She said her daughter was way in the back and she wanted her to come sit in the middle.  She never materialized though.  It was good to have that middle seat empty.

We pushed back early at 12:41p just after it stopped raining heavily.  I thought that the rain would delay our departure, but not so.

Soon after takeoff, we had a boat load of snacks to choose from once more and complimentary beverages.  Wine and alcohol is 6 USD.  Of course Live TV is free but 6 USD for a movie of which there are three.

I did some work on the computer and watched TV for a bit as I headed north to Syracuse and then to JFK.  I actually ran out of power; wished jetBlue had power at the seat, but oh well.

Soon, it was time to land in my next new airport, Syracuse, NY (SYR) where we landed at 3:16p and was at the gate by 3:18p, two minutes early.

This is a much smaller airport than Buffalo, NY (BUF).  The passengers for the return flight to Orlando, FL (MCO) were all waiting in the small gate area.  I needed to go get the registration of the plane so I did before exiting and heading for the restroom.  I really needed to go.

I then made my way through security and downstairs to the check-in area as I did not have a boarding pass for the next flight.

I made my way to the counter and met a wonderful lady, Valerie.  She re-printed my boarding pass for the JFK bound flight and also asked me if I was continuing on from JFK.  I told her yes and she found my connecting flight to Houston and then printed a boarding pass for me.  She even posed for a picture for me.

I then walked around the airport a bit.  Syracuse has done a good job about educating visitors about aviation by having a huge aviation display.  If you ever pass through, you should check it out.

I noticed the time and then headed upstairs to the TSA security check-in.  I had no issues passing through, then headed to the gate after spotting a Boeing 737-200 at another gate.  It looked like a charter flight though.  I also saw my airplane landing.

I seeked out a power port and found one in a corner next to a play area for kids.  I could see my plane landing so I took some pictures as well as a video.

Just before boarding, the agent welcomed the All you can Jetters, sweet, I thought.  I said hello to her as I boarded and thanked her for the acknowledgment.

I boarded “Room with a Blue,” N294JB an Embraer 190 saying hello as I did so.  I settled in on this very empty 0:40 flight down to JFK.  Gabe our Captain, addressed us before departure saying that we will leave shortly and we will be holding for a bit due to ATC in JFK.  However, we will still arrive about 0:25 early.

We did pushback at 5:05p and sat for a bit until 5:14p, then we started our taxi out taking off at 5:19p.

Due to the length of the flight, we had offerings of coke, diet coke, sprite and water plus chips and cookies.

I looked out and noticed that we were crossing Manhattan.  It was awesome to see the city below.  We then headed way out to sea and made left turns in until we landed at 6:24p, arriving at the gate at 6:30p, 0:19 early.  It was a fantastic view of New York from the air as we came in.

Just one more leg to go in this weekend’s journey. 

Follow me me on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/mskonfa1990 for constant updates.  Also, you read what others are saying about All you can jet on twitter at http://twitter.com/#search?q=aycj.

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