PIMA Aircraft Museum, Phoenix and Goodbye

Aircraft Museum- The Bone yard

Slide Show Bone Yard - last one- thank goodness you say

We drove from the Canyon through the evening and into the night, through Flagstaff and down to Phoenix and got in rather late looking for a hotel.

Well fate is a great leveler. 

From the grand suite and dazzling sites at Caesars Palace we pulled into the Ramada at about midnight. People with their room doors open allowing kids to roam the passages, a couple apparently high on something meandering around, a guy carrying in a crate of booze and to cap it a father and his daughter checking in about 2 doors down from our room.

 Well it served its purpose for a night’s sleep (hopefully) and an early start to the aircraft museum about 2 hours drive out.

We had hired the car with the option to pay for a full refill at what we were told was a discounted price only to find that their discounted price was what we could actually get on the road. So we had paid in advance for a full tank refill and decided that on principle we would have to return the car on empty. Blatant challenge to Murphy!!

Phoenix and Goodbye

On the trip to and from the aircraft museum we did our calcs on fuel consumption and distance as well as the time to get to the airport for check in. At the last fill up we topped up calculating that we would have about 1 gallon or about 20 miles left in the tank. Plenty reserve we thought.

On the drive down to Phoenix the turn off o the airport was not in site when the red light came on. But we were counting on our calcs.

The turn off came up and we breathed a sigh of relief. We saw a highway board for our exit 3B. Then Murphy struck- gotcha. There was a roadwork and deviation on the freeway. Within sight of exit 3B we had to turn off on exit 3A. Now we were going around in apparent circles with traffic lights eating our reserve. The residual in the tank kept dropping and we fell way under 20 miles to empty and we had not seen the directions to the rental car return yet. We now had to turn the air conditioning off in the car to conserve fuel. We had assumed that the car rental return would be in the basement of the airport terminals, but not so, we were directed past the airport to who knows where. Not only were we running out of gas we were now running out of time. We kept going hoping that John would not have to push- obviously not me.

The trip computer “dropped the miles to empty” to below 10 and we finally found the car return with 6 miles in the tank. 

We had little time to savor our victory of principle as we had lost our time reserve and I had to check in a short time before John. We dropped the car and headed for the shuttle bus only to find that there were individual buses for each terminal and we were departing from different terminals. It looked like our goodbye after a great holiday that had allowed us to bond as father and son was going to come down to a handshake in a bus station, when another traveler who saw the predicament popped up and advised John that he could get from my terminal to his in a short time.

After I checked in my son and I said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

A beautiful and fulfilling trip together had come to an end.

 Newark-JFK-Abu Dhabi-Bangkok-KL-
Perth

As the ploughman homeward plods his weary way, I left Phoenix for Newark Airport in New Jersey. 

Spent the night at the Holiday Inn and took a town car to Ronnie and Amy in Hoboken before the wonderful BC phenomena resumed with a limo to JFK. 

Amy kindly helped me with some washing and I selected a nice blue herring bone shirt to go with my grey pin stripped pants and shiny Floorshiems to finish the distinguished gentleman look.

Then Murphy popped up. 

I spilt some cranberry juice on the collar of my shirt. Lipstick may have been one thing, perhaps adding a little “Je ne sais quoi" to my image, but red cranberry! - will not do!. So a quick clean and dry.

So it was that at 6.00 pm a distinguished gent boarded a waiting black limo and departed 1500 Washington Street Hoboken for JFK airport.

I checked in and made my languid way to the lounge and savoured the offerings while waiting to board.  Not good!

Made my way to the gate and presented my boarding pass to the attendant. Instead of the screen reading “boarded” when he scanned it, as it had done for others before me, it read “Check Paz Record”.

“Please step this way Sir” –mental overload, Murphy!!, what the heck has gone wrong, I was feeling so relaxed and suave and now !!!!

A young lady types my details into the computer I see my name and some details on the screen. She rips my boarding pass in half, 

NO! I chose that seat near the window for privacy.

NO! I don’t want a different seat.

Another boarding pass slides out of the printer. She picks it up and gives it to me and says “You have been upgraded to first class Sir”

Between my ear imbalance problem and my now spinning head I am not sure how I made it down the air bridge to the plane. But I recovered in time to take in the invitation to turn left, not right, but left on entry and be escorted to my, wait for it…, to my Suite.

Yes to a spacious suite. I thought Business class capsules were great but this blew them away. It was spacious and long with a little sideboard and cubby on the window side and a big 23 inch TV screen. Touch screen controls for the seat adjustment and massage.

I had to tell someone, I had to, how, I had no phone!. I asked a steward if there was WIFI- “No Sir”, but I have to tell someone. I examined all the plugs and found an RJ45, a network plug. There must be intent access hardwired!!. I asked another steward. “Sorry Sir it used to work but it is being upgraded”.  What could I do. I could not share my good fortune with anyone. 

Take photo’s

I don’t have a camera, my phone is in my checked in luggage.

My e-book has a camera???

Skype!!!, Skype has a video camera function. 

Open the e-book. Now try and take shots without my own mug in the way and without anyone seeing.

No good,  not enough light.

Ah Well sit back and lap it up.

As usual Sir orders a Baileys for after takeoff drink (because Sir only knows Baileys, Sir is clueless about the other drinks on offer and there is nowhere to throw it away if Sir can’t drink it)

Dinner time comes around. I am never going to be in First class again so I am going to own this menu, and I select from all three courses. 

Steward arrives before dinner, opens the lid on the sideboard and pulls up a folding table, unfolds it into a nice 600 x 600 square top, spreads the white table cloth, and lays out the silver.

Press the icon on the touch screen and the seat slides up to the table. Very nice.

First course arrives, a healthy second course, finally a lovely desert.

Time to sip the Baileys and Watch a movie. 

I should not have savoured the offerings of the lounge!

I am overfull and the ambience of first class is pushed aside by the need to sleep like a primitive python.

So the steward adjusts the seat to form a long bed and fits the fitted sheets.  The bed has more than enough space length and width wise.
I open the little black bag and change into a nice pair of black pyjamas. Hang my clothes on a hanger in the wardrobe to my left, slide the two doors to my suite closed, and I soon drop off  into a deep sleep for virtually the rest of the 14 hour journey.  A breakfast of omelet and mushrooms, and tomato awaits.

But right now flying could not be better as I enjoy a wonderful end to a fabulous journey with my son. 

I thank God, for him, and for the opportunity.

I am a blessed and fortunate man.

Thank you for reading my blog!

The Contented Wanderer

Father and Son together - priceless