{"id":3897,"date":"2013-07-28T09:00:55","date_gmt":"2013-07-28T16:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/?p=3897"},"modified":"2013-07-27T19:14:39","modified_gmt":"2013-07-28T02:14:39","slug":"trip-report-adventuring-to-airventure-seattle-to-madison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/?p=3897","title":{"rendered":"Trip Report: Adventuring to AirVenture – Seattle to Madison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/a>
\nSeattle to Madison<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 27th July 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Early mornings suck, but for the first time in almost 2 months, there was no workout this morning, I was taking a day off. \u00a0So after the usual morning details and last minute packing stuff away, cleaning up the apartment etc. \u00a0I jumped in the truck and headed south for SeaTac. \u00a0The roads were empty (as expected) and within a brief 25 minutes I was entering WallyPark to park the truck up on the rooftop. \u00a0Gazing at the sunset for a brief second before heading on the shuttle over to the airport this adventure was about to begin properly.<\/p>\n

The airport was a bit of a shambles, but the Delta Check in was relatively quiet. \u00a0There was a line at Check in and I was using the Sky Priority lines rather than self check as I wanted to see if I could get Delta to comp my checked bag. \u00a0Though not a benefit I should get, apparently a lot of staff get themselves confused and just check it free of charge. \u00a0I must of lucked out because I got my bag free. \u00a0Even though to begin with she asked for my credit card, when I handed it over with my VA Gold Card she eventually gave it back. \u00a0Not sure if she charged it or not, but it did look like she swiped it, I was told there was no charge… we shall see. \u00a0I had my boarding passes (though they were going in the bag as I didn’t want the TSA to draw all over them) and I headed for security. \u00a0I turned the corner and saw what looked like Hell on Earth…. ahhhh crap! \u00a0The normal security lines at the South Check Point were huge! \u00a0Not what I wanted to see at all. \u00a0But way off down in the distance the priority lane had no one there at all…. SWWEEEEEET! \u00a0Thank you Delta #2! \u00a0I headed for the Priority line and was through to a scanner in a matter of minutes. \u00a0Sadly though I had to go through secondary as apparently something was setting off in my camera bag that looked like a knife. \u00a0Pfft whatever.<\/p>\n

Bag back from the TSA and I headed to the train for the South Satellite. \u00a0Boarding was due to commence in about 15-20 minutes so I knew it would only be a brief pit stop in the club for a coffee and grabbing some food for the road. \u00a0The club was fairly quiet but the family that had entered ahead of me was hogging the coffee machine with words like “what button do I push” and “I think I broke it” so I gave up on the coffee notion in the hopes of a Starbucks near the gate, as I had to get a banana anyway (Delta Sky Clubs NEVER have fruit, but United does… funny that). \u00a0I grabbed what I could, snapped a few photos, even scored some good shots of the Alaska Retro Jet parked at the\u00a0Maintenance\u00a0base at the south end and scampered out of the club with some yoghurt pretzels in hand… yum! \u00a0Time to get to the gate.<\/p>\n

Delta Air Lines – DL2314<\/strong>
\nSeattle Tacoma to Minneapolis St-Paul<\/strong>
\n0655-1207<\/strong>
\nBoeing 757-300 (N586NW)<\/strong>
\nEconomy Comfort – Seat 14A<\/strong><\/p>\n

Boarding: 0618 (Gate S15)<\/strong>
\nPush Back: 0659<\/strong>
\nTake off Roll: 0723 (Runway 16L)<\/strong>
\nTop of Descent: 1137<\/strong>
\nTouch Down: 1210 (Runway 30L)<\/strong>
\nShut Down: 1214 (Gate G15)<\/b><\/p>\n

I got to the gate area and it was in an area that was being refurbished (not sure what for?) but because it was S15 there was no way to get a shot of the aircraft I was flying, which would make finding out the registration tough. \u00a0Within about 3-4 minutes of me arriving at the gate area the preboarding started. \u00a0I joined the gate lice in the general vicinity so that I could get down to the aircraft quickly and as soon as they announced Sky Priority i was heading on my way onboard. \u00a0What greeted me was an absolute score. \u00a0I didn’t realise that the seat I had picked online was literally at Door 2L. \u00a0We boarded directly in front of my seat. \u00a0Which is a bad thing really for me, because it meant that I would have everyone almost standing on me while they boarded. \u00a0Doh! \u00a0But I got seated quickly and just stuck it out as the entire aircraft boarded right in front o my face.<\/p>\n

I tried to get the registration of the aircraft off the flight attendant in my area as he was greeting people coming onboard and there was some lulls in the swarm of people. \u00a0Fail time for this crew member. \u00a0First off he told me he didn’t know what a “Tail Number” is (it’s what american’s call the registration) and then he said “Well I know this is a 757-200, but that’s it”. \u00a0He had no idea! \u00a0Because sitting right in front of him was a safety card that said 757-300 and it was\u00a0definitely\u00a0a 300 because the aircraft was and endless walk all the way to the back. \u00a0Sadly some crew just have no idea (turns out I think he was the crew leader as well!). \u00a0Eventually the door was shut and we pushed back. \u00a0I could actually open my window at this point (as before all I saw was the endless stream of people coming onboard from the jetway) and then saw that it was dirty. \u00a0*sigh* \u00a0Hate the fact that some airlines don’t wash their windows. \u00a0O well, I would just deal with it. \u00a0The aircraft taxiied out past the Alaska Retro (which must of been just starting up to head towards a gate as the beacon was running and it was under tow) and headed for the north end of the runway. \u00a0We would be taking off to the south but there was a long taxi and a hell of a lot of other aircraft ahead of us. \u00a0At one point we were 8th or more in line for departure.<\/p>\n

As we were making our way to the active, the pilots came on to say we were up to 4th in line so should be off shortly and gave the crew their warning to get ready, although he kind of got himself mixed up. \u00a0His speech went as follows:<\/p>\n

“Ladies and Gentlemen this is your Captain Speaking. \u00a0It seems we are getting closer and there is 4 aircraft ahead of us and one more about to take off, so we should be up in the air shortly. \u00a0Cabin Crew, prepare the cabin for arrival” *pause* “I mean, Cabin crew, prepare the aircraft for departure…. we are\u00a0definitely\u00a0leaving Seattle”<\/p>\n

It made for a great giggle as the cabin filled with laughs, and helped to make this an interesting flight. \u00a0The two cabin crew seated at door 2L looked like they had been around the block (that’s probably the nicest way to put it). \u00a0Although it wasn’t just the grannies on this Delta flight, one of the crew was a man, and I heard them talking about retirement and he did say he was 63. \u00a0I have a feeling the other crew member (female) was way past that age, or at least she looked it. \u00a0They did well though no matter what. \u00a0My seat mate had a quick chat and it was suprising that she was allowed to sit at the emergency exit with her arm in a sling and the crew never said or did a thing about it… WTF!<\/p>\n

We finally took off to the south, and I do love a 757 for one reason. \u00a0It was a long slow roll to begin with (which probably meant we were full of cargo) but like most 757’s once they get moving and they pull those noses up, it is up lick a rocket. \u00a0How such a long aircraft can get off the ground so quickly and so steeply I have no idea. We were quickly passing 10,000ft and WifFi went on, but due to no seat in front it meant my laptop was up in the overhead bin so couldn’t get to it, or anything really, till the seat belt sign came off. \u00a0People were already up and moving within seconds of that point and I was suprised the crew said or did nothing at all. \u00a0Gotta love North American airlines. \u00a0My last flight on ANA the crew would of been all angry at me if I even looked like I was going to move while the seat belt sign was on. \u00a0O how things are so different over here.<\/p>\n

In the end the seat belt sign was no where near coming off, the service had begun and I had my first cup of coffee in hand so I gave in, I got up off my butt and hit the bathroom. \u00a0I became one of “those people”. \u00a0I grabbed my bags out of the overhead while I was at it and shoved them by my seat so I could access them. \u00a0Then it was time to get down to catching up with the world. \u00a0The tray table was just tiny and barely fit my laptop, but the mission was get myself online, read some blogs (though when I finally got into them, there was only one update since last night) and then do a bit of relaxing. \u00a0Since my session was free, it was all about doing the stuff online that I don’t normally do and not wasting the session. \u00a0So I sat back to reading through some trip reports on flyer talk while enjoying my peanut butter bagel, some more coffee and some of the dried fruit I had “liberated” from the lounge.<\/p>\n

The flight sped by and we must of had a good tailwind as what was meant to be a 3-4 hour flight west bound, is only a 2 hour 40 minute flight today. \u00a0Awesome! \u00a0I got a good amount of stuff done and enjoyed my reading time. \u00a0I was slowly eating my way through breakfast and just chilling out and then all of a sudden the WiFi went down. \u00a0Well, it was about an hour to go, I had to put my EarPlanes back in, as good a time as any to shut stuff down. \u00a0So I packed up my gear and instead got the tablet out to do a bit of reading instead. \u00a0With a book and some more coffee (the male crew member had been drinking it most of the flight and it wasn’t half bad) I was a content traveler.<\/p>\n

Descent began over cloudy skies (and to be honest I hadn’t seen much out the window most of the flight anyway) and it meant I had to pack my gear up and stow it. \u00a0I kept the tablet down as it was small and could fit in the tiny tiny pocket next to the seat. \u00a0I kept reading till I had to turn it all off and we started for the final approaches into MSP. \u00a0We cleared out of the clouds above the Minnesota country side and it was nice to see a very different landscape compared to the PNW (not that I don’t love living out there). \u00a0Minnesota was flat… super flat, and there was a lot of green fields. \u00a0Then it became light industrial with freight centers and things like that as we got closer and closer to the airport. \u00a0I couldn’t see the airport near me so figured it was out the other side of the aircraft (which it was). \u00a0We landed fairly gently and there wasn’t much of a taxi for us as we headed for the G concourse (where the heavies usually depart from at MSP).<\/p>\n

We pulled into G15, almost at the end of the concourse and one good thing about row 14, your usually first or second off the aircraft. I was off quickly and out into the terminal probably before the staff had even thought we would be as the doors to the terminal at the end of the jetway were not even open! \u00a0I forgot to grab a shot of the aircraft I just wanted to get my butt towards my gate as it was a long long walk. \u00a0O well, I have plenty of shot of Delta 757s from my tiem at LAX and SEA spotting. \u00a0It was a nice walk as I trudged along getting the steps counted in the terminal. \u00a0The walk felt like it was going forever but things started to look familiar around the central concourse area and then I knew exactly where to head. \u00a0I checked my watch and had about 10 minutes to hit the Skyclub before I would have to get moving again. \u00a0Plenty of time for a bathroom break, a quick drink, grab a snack and head off. \u00a0So I did just that!<\/p>\n

The club was pretty quiet and I did comment on that to the staff at the entrance and she told me that it was normal at this time of the day as it was just before the International departure guests should start flooding in, but she told me to enjoy it while it lasts. \u00a0I wouldn’t get long but it was still nice either way. \u00a0Grabbed a quick snack (no biscoffs again! \u00a0What is with my luck and Skyclubs lately), I mean seriously! \u00a0I was hoping to grab some for the road as I seriously love those things. \u00a0I grabbed an apple instead for lunch and some vegies and it the road towards my next flight.<\/p>\n

Headed along the F concourse towards the next gate and when I got there, people were still coming off the aircraft, not a good sign as we should of been boarding literally the moment I arrived. \u00a0It did give me time to do a few things, like catch up on emails and stuff that had come through while I was in the air prior to arrival and make a few tweets. \u00a0I did get a decent shot of my next aircraft and then just waited. \u00a0I did approach the counter to see if I could get a better seat (figuring the flight was full) but they told me it wasn’t and then put me in a AB seat pair with a blocked adjacent seat. \u00a0Thank you Delta! \u00a0Though the system crashed right as he went to print my new boarding pass, I could\u00a0sympathize\u00a0with this and I was happy to wait a few extra minutes since I wasn’t going anywhere anyway. \u00a0My old seat ended up going to someone standing next in line at the counter trying to adjust the seats for his family of 5.<\/p>\n

Delta Air Lines – DL725<\/strong>
\nMinneapolis St Paul to Madison<\/strong>
\n1315-1416<\/strong>
\nMcDonnell Douglas MD-90 (N948DN)<\/strong>
\nEconomy Class – Seat 23A<\/strong><\/p>\n

Boarding: 1255 (Gate F8)<\/strong>
\nPush Back: 1324<\/strong>
\nTake Off Roll: 1335 (Runway 30R)<\/strong>
\nTop of Descent: 1357<\/strong>
\nTouch Down: 1413 (Runway 36)<\/strong>
\nShut Down: 1417 (Gate 7)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I boarded once they called Sky Priority and headed down the jetway towards what would be a new aircraft for me. \u00a0The MD-90 is an ellusive aircraft in Australia (all of the MDs are) so I figured that getting myself on them when I can is a good idea. \u00a0This Mad Dog looked good on the inside and I could swear it had been refurbed recently as it looked slick. \u00a0The nice new Delta slim line seats were in evidence and that could not be laughed at. \u00a0Even the overheads looked like they had been refitted as they just looked awesome.<\/p>\n

I settled into my seat and wondered if I was really going to end up with a blocked seat next to me. \u00a0The crew were pushing hard to get us out on time so they were trying everything to get people seated. \u00a0Near that family I had given up my seat for up front a lady was causing a bit of a ruckus and blocking the aisle. \u00a0That didn\u2019t last long as the crew member settled her down in an instant with the words \u201cit\u2019s a 32 minute flight, perhaps you should just deal with it\u201d. \u00a0The cabin laughed and the lady had been put in her place. \u00a0I mean seriously why bother for a 30 minute flight.<\/p>\n

We did push back eventually and it wasn\u2019t all that late, but I had a feeling this schedule had been padded pretty big if it\u2019s a 32 minute flight with an hour block time. \u00a0That\u2019s what happens in the hub cities, when you spend half the time taxiing or on the ground, they put in major block time. We had a fairly quick taxi over to 30R as the take offs were dueling at that point in time. \u00a0It was RJ central on our side though, with CRJ after CRJ after CRJ heading for the runway. \u00a0It was finally our turn in line. \u00a0No real view out my wet window though, till we got rolling at least.<\/p>\n

Another rocket ship take off and it is slightly wierd to not see any engines when your sitting over the wing. \u00a0A great view as we took off with a 757 adjacent to us, though I am pretty sure I missed the perfect shot as we both banked away. \u00a0This was going to be a quiet flight though as the crew announced that this was a short flight so service would only be offered \u201cif required\u201d, which is code for \u201cwe can\u2019t be bothered\u201d.<\/p>\n

I settled in to eat my apple and snacks and did not even see the crew at all during the flight, it was as though they did not exist. \u00a0The trash sat on the seat next to me till we were almost into Madison past descent. \u00a0What suprised me was how quick those MD\u2019s could descend. \u00a0It felt like the pilot was throwing it around. \u00a0Speaking of the pilot, the Captain had the most amazing sounding Pilots Voice. \u00a0He had that voice that you expect all the pilots on TV to have. \u00a0That voice that just had that iconic sound, it is hard to describe but it just commands authority and calmness all at the same time. \u00a0As we headed into MSN on finals he gave his farewell speech and it was long winded but I didn\u2019t care. \u00a0It was also the first time I had heard a pilot ask everyone to say thank you to a service member, like himself. \u00a0He must of been in the Air Force because he had said his rank was Lt Col and I was tempted to go up and hand over one of my cards. \u00a0I held back though.<\/p>\n

As we came into Madison I noticed something off in the distance as we turned off the runway. \u00a0I saw a giant silver tail. \u00a0It looked awfully familiar, I wasn\u2019t sure if I was mistaken or not but I could of sworn it was FiFi. \u00a0FiFi the B29 Superfortress, the only one in existence still flying, was due to be in Osh later in the week, but to see it here… Awesome!! \u00a0It was it and I made the decision right then and there to 100% go and see it no matter what. \u00a0We pulled up to the gate and by the time the aircraft emptied out enough for me to get out, it had been long enough for me to confirm via the web that it was in fact FiFi and she was on the opposite side of the airport to me.<\/p>\n

Madison airport was suprisingly modern looking and the first thing that caught my eye wasn\u2019t the store filled with cheeseheads but more the actual nice looking concourse. \u00a0This tiny airport in the middle of no where in the midwest was way better than Seattle! \u00a0So not fair. \u00a0I headed down to baggage claim but saw the car desks first with no one around. \u00a0Figure may as well get my car keys first since there is no emerald aisle. \u00a0I spotted my rental contract already printed ready to go from my side of the counter, and within 2-3 minutes I had the keys to a Chevy Equinox in hand. \u00a0Which is pretty good beause that is the kind of car I wanted. \u00a0I was hoping for a small SUV for the week so that I had space to spread out my crap when commuting back and forth to Osh. \u00a0Plus the hatch would make it easier getting the gear out when I needed it.<\/p>\n

Keys in hand, bag in hand after about 10 or so bags came off the belt and I was headed out into the Car park to find my car. \u00a0I did get lost as I hadn\u2019t listened to the directions properly and found the Equinox way way way way way out the back of the rental lot. \u00a0Farewell Madison Airport… time to hit the road!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction Seattle to Madison Saturday 27th July 2013 Early mornings suck, but for the first time in almost 2 months, there was no workout this morning, I was taking a day off. \u00a0So after the usual morning details and last minute packing stuff away, cleaning up the apartment etc. \u00a0I jumped in the truck and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,4,8,1,30,18,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventures","category-spotting","category-expat","category-life-in-general","category-oshkosh-2013","category-travelling","category-tripreports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p49RU0-10R","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3897"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3904,"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3897\/revisions\/3904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigmal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}