I get up at 4:10 am, the latest possible time I can rise and get dressed, make a cup of coffee, brush my teeth, warm the frost off the car, and still make it to the airport 45 minutes before my 6 o’clock flight.
The plane is almost empty. I sit alone on row 12, over the wing. Something about soaring west, away from the sunrise yet still into the light, away from freezing cold into a temperate environ — makes getting up that early all worthwhile.
We reach cruising altitude. On the tray table in front of me are:
- pens and doodling journal
- writing notebook
- cell phone on airplane mode
- coffee and cream in a styrofoam cup
- plastic glass with tomato juice and ice
Plane acoustics are like large restaurant acoustics. A din — combination of the pressurized cabin air, the murmur of men talking a few rows back, the jets. It is perfect white noise.
I dread trips that contain any of the following: multiple stops, change of planes, crowded coach seats, more than two hours. But a hop in a near-empty plane from Albuquerque to Phoenix is perfect.
Even the stale plane smell is absent. Even the bumps are forgiven. Airline attendants are just the right amount of attentive when the passenger load is light. Everyone leaves everyone else alone.
The moon is still out as we bank over the sprawling city. I see it hanging just above the tip of the wing.
I am self-sufficient. I have everything I need in my leather case and rollaway bag. The plane empties quickly. Walking through the airport, I am still protected in my bubble. Strangers traveling don’t make eye contact.
In the three hours since leaving my home and driving my rental car to the exit booth, I have said only five words:
-
“Coffee, four creams”
-
“Thanks”
-
“Ba-bye”
Certain plane rides are so ordinary, they are special.
I’m all for ordinary plane rides and consider them special, too. The last thing I want is an exciting plane ride.
I enjoyed reading this Ybonesy. There was a kind of drowsy relaxation to it.
Thanks, Robin. So true about planes being the last place where you want to find excitement!
It was a drowsy plane ride, plus I was drowsy when I posted it last night. Double dose of drowsiness.
ybonesy, these plane photos in the gridded thumbnails look like pyramids to me. I really like the way you posted them.
Your flight actually sounds like it was relaxing. The way you listed what was in front of you, the very few syllables you had to utter. I think plane rides are relaxing, too, if, like you say, they are non-stop and not too crowded. The people on board make all the difference.
Safe travels back home.
I always love your high flying shots…and the clouds too ;)
I’m not sure which would scare me more…getting on the plane (golf ball size eyes flyer) or getting up at 4:10 am (not to fish)!
Happy, safe travels! ;)H
Whole new worlds of argonauts, aren’t we? ;)
yb, I really enjoyed this post; both the pix and writing. You have it all down to a good trip’s essence! I like it when I don’t have to sit next to a stranger, and when I have a good read with me. I used to like to do cross-stitch, but I don’t think they allow embroidery needles on planes, (yeah, I might stab someone with a needle.) I am glad they don’t allow smoking on planes anymore…it was especially awful, (many years ago,) when I flew during pregnancy, with a man smoking a cigar in front of me…(hand me the barf bag, please.)
Although those “red eye” flights are tough to get up for, a sunrise at eye level is a lovely way to start a day!
(Love the way you include the flight attendants’ special way of saying, “ba-bye”)
Thanks, QM.
Yesterday was the travel day, but before I headed to the airport, I went to downtown Phoenix. It’s really cool, very old-fashioned. Route-66ish, or Palm Springs. I’d never gone down there before. I feel like in all the many, many trips I’ve taken ABQ-to-PHX, I’ve been missing out on something.
Yes, Ben, that we are. Every time I fly, I still feel it’s terribly unnatural. I hear the jets straining on the ascent and think, They’re going to stop!
Heather, I remember your accounts of being on the floor with a blanket over your head. I guess you’re not going on an international flight any time soon ; – ).
I’m with you, oliverowl, on the no-smoking policy. The first international flights I went on allowed smoking in the back of the plane. Which was silly, since the smoke permeated the middle of the plane. I had forgotten about those first international flights. I guess by the time I was flying domestic, they didn’t allow smoking on those flights. Ack — I’m so glad no one smokes now, not even international.
yb, I’ve only seen Phoenix from a distance, while driving through Arizona to other destinations. I’d like to go downtown sometime and check it out. You know, what I remember from driving by it (from a distance) is seeing a lot of smog though. Is that still the case?
Maybe that’s true of all cities, but because of the wide open spaces of desert there, it kind of looks like a puff from Pigpen’s blanket, rising out high over the desert. It was many years ago when I made that drive. It might be very different now. I think because of that, I had not pictured it as old-fashioned or Route-66ish. That makes me want to visit.
The smog hasn’t been so bad the past several visits, QM, and I don’t know if that’s because of the seasons in which I’ve been visiting or that I’m just not there as much as I used to be. But I can recall many a trip where I arrived into the brown-yellow cloud.