WillFlyToDisney
04-28-2005, 06:01 AM
Okay it made me cry. Read on.
CHS to ATL to BNA
Sometimes it really annoys me to live in a town with a small airport. I cant go many places direct - and certainly not to my office in Nashville - so I head to the airport for my 2 flights on Tuesday.
The weather is stormy and the weather channel shows some red patches between CHS and ATL - great - I hate bad weather. I knew it was going to be turbulent and I knew I was on an RJ. Now I love the RJ. Totally. Ken will argue this with me but I just feel the most comfortable on the little 40 seater CRJ. The only times I want to be on a bigger plane are for long haul flights (over 90 minutes) or in bad weather. We head out to board in the rain and I smile as I realize that I am about to climb onboard the elusive CRJ-700 - 70 seats!!! I didnt know any flew to CHS!!! I board and ask the FA how bumpy the trip is going to be. She said they had just come from ATL and it was very bumpy so they expect more of the same. Lovely. I take my exit row seat next to a very rude guy who decided the arm rest and a good 6 inches of space on the other side of the arm rest (into my seat) belonged to him. Ugh. I tolerated that for a few moments then just shoved him over. :rolleyes:
We taxi down the runway in between a few C-17s landing (they use the same runways for the Air Force and the Airport traffic) and take off. The noises on the RJ-700 are a bit different than the ones on the 400 but I settle into my seat and wait for the bumps. I didnt have to wait long. We hit some light chop as soon as we took off and then hit what I would consider moderate chop because we were shaken around pretty badly. The only reason I kept it together was that I imagined Ray up in the cockpit yelling "wheee!" while the plane bounced thru the turbulence. I also compared the plane to a wave runner going thru rough water. The analogies helped alot! I had to really concentrate on these distracting thoughts to keep from breaking down but I was a wreck by the time we landed in ATL.
We pulled up to gate C-27 which is a rare terminal for me to land at and we deplane. ATL is FREEZING cold and I am glad I had my jacket with me. I spotted an Atlanta Bread Company by our gate and grabbed a quick sandwich there, ate half of it, then took off for terminal B to board my MD-88 to BNA.
I got to the gate after they had already boarded zones 1 thru 6 so I was the last first class passenger to board. I was still very flustered from the rough flight in so I spoke to the Captain when I boarded and asked him how bad the ride would be to BNA. He said it was going to be extremely turbulent. I asked if there was anything he could do about that since I hate turbulence. He laughed and said, sure - I can change your ticket so you fly tomorrow! :rotflmao:
I take seat 4A by the window and am quite thrilled that seat 4B remained empty. A soldier boarded the plane and had to pause by my seat waiting for others ahead of him. I caught his eye and smiled and said simply "Thank you". He smiled and nodded and said "Yes, maam". I started to tear up thinking of my friend Eddie who was killed in action 3 weeks ago. The flight wasnt nearly as bad as the other one - which was a big relief - but I had tears running down my cheeks for most of the flight. We landed and taxied to the gate when the FA came on the speaker and told everyone that we had 2 heros on the plane that were returning home for 2 weeks from serving our country in Iraq. She asked if we could please remain seated and let the soldiers get off the plane first since they had families waiting that were VERY eager to see them. The entire plane erupted in applause and cheers. I lost it. :cry: I cried so hard but I clapped as loud as everyone else for these brave soldiers. Once we were at the gate, no one moved except the soldiers and they each received a huge round of applause as they walked off the plane. Sometimes I am so proud to be an American. No matter what anyone on that plane thought of our presence in Iraq, they cheered for these brave men and let them know that they have our support.
We all gathered at baggage claim and the cheers and applause started again. I think the soldiers were pretty embarrassed at that point - especially when people from other baggage carousels came running over to see which "celebrity" was getting such treatment. :lol:
As I got my bag I turned to leave - tears still streaming down my face - and I caught the eye of the soldier I had spoken to earlier. He smiled at me and I managed to choke out the words "tell everyone over there thank you". He smiled again, seeming concerned with my tears and promised that he would. He nodded at me and smiled and I headed to my rental car where I sat and cried some more before heading to my first meeting of the day.
I fly back on Sunday evening (I hate flying at nite) on 2 MD-88s. I'm hoping for smoother flights this time around.
Hugs to everyone who is flying this week. Hope you all have blue skies!
Kel
(the weeping basketcase)
CHS to ATL to BNA
Sometimes it really annoys me to live in a town with a small airport. I cant go many places direct - and certainly not to my office in Nashville - so I head to the airport for my 2 flights on Tuesday.
The weather is stormy and the weather channel shows some red patches between CHS and ATL - great - I hate bad weather. I knew it was going to be turbulent and I knew I was on an RJ. Now I love the RJ. Totally. Ken will argue this with me but I just feel the most comfortable on the little 40 seater CRJ. The only times I want to be on a bigger plane are for long haul flights (over 90 minutes) or in bad weather. We head out to board in the rain and I smile as I realize that I am about to climb onboard the elusive CRJ-700 - 70 seats!!! I didnt know any flew to CHS!!! I board and ask the FA how bumpy the trip is going to be. She said they had just come from ATL and it was very bumpy so they expect more of the same. Lovely. I take my exit row seat next to a very rude guy who decided the arm rest and a good 6 inches of space on the other side of the arm rest (into my seat) belonged to him. Ugh. I tolerated that for a few moments then just shoved him over. :rolleyes:
We taxi down the runway in between a few C-17s landing (they use the same runways for the Air Force and the Airport traffic) and take off. The noises on the RJ-700 are a bit different than the ones on the 400 but I settle into my seat and wait for the bumps. I didnt have to wait long. We hit some light chop as soon as we took off and then hit what I would consider moderate chop because we were shaken around pretty badly. The only reason I kept it together was that I imagined Ray up in the cockpit yelling "wheee!" while the plane bounced thru the turbulence. I also compared the plane to a wave runner going thru rough water. The analogies helped alot! I had to really concentrate on these distracting thoughts to keep from breaking down but I was a wreck by the time we landed in ATL.
We pulled up to gate C-27 which is a rare terminal for me to land at and we deplane. ATL is FREEZING cold and I am glad I had my jacket with me. I spotted an Atlanta Bread Company by our gate and grabbed a quick sandwich there, ate half of it, then took off for terminal B to board my MD-88 to BNA.
I got to the gate after they had already boarded zones 1 thru 6 so I was the last first class passenger to board. I was still very flustered from the rough flight in so I spoke to the Captain when I boarded and asked him how bad the ride would be to BNA. He said it was going to be extremely turbulent. I asked if there was anything he could do about that since I hate turbulence. He laughed and said, sure - I can change your ticket so you fly tomorrow! :rotflmao:
I take seat 4A by the window and am quite thrilled that seat 4B remained empty. A soldier boarded the plane and had to pause by my seat waiting for others ahead of him. I caught his eye and smiled and said simply "Thank you". He smiled and nodded and said "Yes, maam". I started to tear up thinking of my friend Eddie who was killed in action 3 weeks ago. The flight wasnt nearly as bad as the other one - which was a big relief - but I had tears running down my cheeks for most of the flight. We landed and taxied to the gate when the FA came on the speaker and told everyone that we had 2 heros on the plane that were returning home for 2 weeks from serving our country in Iraq. She asked if we could please remain seated and let the soldiers get off the plane first since they had families waiting that were VERY eager to see them. The entire plane erupted in applause and cheers. I lost it. :cry: I cried so hard but I clapped as loud as everyone else for these brave soldiers. Once we were at the gate, no one moved except the soldiers and they each received a huge round of applause as they walked off the plane. Sometimes I am so proud to be an American. No matter what anyone on that plane thought of our presence in Iraq, they cheered for these brave men and let them know that they have our support.
We all gathered at baggage claim and the cheers and applause started again. I think the soldiers were pretty embarrassed at that point - especially when people from other baggage carousels came running over to see which "celebrity" was getting such treatment. :lol:
As I got my bag I turned to leave - tears still streaming down my face - and I caught the eye of the soldier I had spoken to earlier. He smiled at me and I managed to choke out the words "tell everyone over there thank you". He smiled again, seeming concerned with my tears and promised that he would. He nodded at me and smiled and I headed to my rental car where I sat and cried some more before heading to my first meeting of the day.
I fly back on Sunday evening (I hate flying at nite) on 2 MD-88s. I'm hoping for smoother flights this time around.
Hugs to everyone who is flying this week. Hope you all have blue skies!
Kel
(the weeping basketcase)