Delta Airlines Flight 9
LGW-ATL
767-300 N179DN
Seat 34C
Depart LGW: 1:00 PM
Arrive ATL:5:30
I woke up at 6 AM in my hotel room, took a shower, and finished up packing. I headed downstairs and put my luggage in with the rest of the bands luggage, and ate breakfast. I went back up to my room for one final check, and went back downstairs. We loaded up the charter buses and it was off to LGW. Today it only took a hour over the 3 it took on the way in. I just listened to my MP3 player and slept on the way. As we got closer a US Airways A330 flew right over my head....gotta admit the US A330's look so graceful in flight...too bad I was flying Delta. We got to the airport, unloaded and it was on to check-in. I checked my bag, handed over my Sky Miles card, only to remember I was credited with my miles back in ATL a week earlier. I had my passport checked as we went through security, and we went and ate again at Garfunkels. We got in and out fairly quick, and my group went to look around in stores...some stuff, not a ton though. I saw a Ferarri being raffled off and I took a picture of it, but a few days later I found it didn't come out. After much admiration of the car we made the 8973256 mile trip to gate 48. I swear we passed every airlines gate until we hit gate 48 right there at the end. Right next to it was a snack cart and a Starbucks (I think I saw more Starbucks in England than I saw in my life). I bought a water, and had to walk through security again. I handed over my passport, and some guy looked through my shoes, my carry-on, and my clarinet case. He was a nice guy, and I got through with no problem. By this point it was 12:30, almost time to board. I just sat and watched out the window. I saw a few Easy Jet planes, and a Continental plane (didn't even try to identify it) probably going back to the US. About 12:35 we started boarding. I was in zone 6, so there was no need to hurry. After first class everyone was invited to board....interesting...we weren't late by any stretch. I got squeezed in line...fine with me, it was a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong line. Looking out the window...the jetbridge was right there, but it required quite a walk. I entered the plane and made the immediate right turn up the first aisle. Even after the cattle call to get on, we left about 5 minutes early. It amazes me how many people in my band are afraid of flying....and here I am knowing the fact that thre most dangerous part of our day was the busride over to the airport! Pushing back, we waited quite a while to leave, as our estimated time of arrival kept adding time. We eventually lined up number 3 for takeoff. I haven't the slightest idea what runway we took off from, but we took off almost due west. These guys hit the throttle hard, as the takeoff was nice and powerful. At about 9 AM EST they came around with pretzels. Just 20 minutes later they came around with meals. I chose to have the pasta with cream sauce. It was quite good, and on top of my water that came with the meal, my other 2 friends gave me theirs, and my cup of water that I got on top of that....way to fight the jet lag. After lunch things settled down, and I took my first and only nap of the flight, for just a half hour. I watched some of Shark Tale. It was really fruity, but why not. After that I read Sky Mall, Sky Magazine, some of my stuff, and listened to my MP3 player......and we're only to Greenland! I spen some time trying to sleep, but no luck, so I sat and watched whatever was on the overhead screens. One thing that was good was that the whole plane was asleep, so the flight attendants kept coming and asking if I wanted some more water or whatever. It was quite nice. We finally crossed over the US-Canadian border. on the map it showed that we were flying right over my grandparents home town of Presque Isle. I just sat and listened to my MP3 player until Washington DC, where I turned it off and just kinda sat there. We passed over the Georgia border, and I was glues to the map. As we were descending, I saw Stone Mountain out the window. I followed US 78 and found my home town of Snellville...kinda cool to see it from the air. We went out east and I saw Stonecrest mall for the secons time in my life from the air. We headed back westward and landed on what I thik was runway 8R...I'm not 100% sure. It was fairly smooth, and we taxied to a gate that I forgot (it was on the opposite end from where I departed though). We went through customs, and to international baggage claim. My bag took forever to come out but it came. We walked through security again and stuck our bags on a conveyer again. We went back and caught the train and took the very long ride back to the terminal. I got there and my dad was already waiting with my bag. I told my band director (who came home on the flight 3 hours earlier) I was going, and I was off. It was kinda hard to think about, after several years of waiting, and thousands of dollars...it was over
LGW-ATL
767-300 N179DN
Seat 34C
Depart LGW: 1:00 PM
Arrive ATL:5:30
I woke up at 6 AM in my hotel room, took a shower, and finished up packing. I headed downstairs and put my luggage in with the rest of the bands luggage, and ate breakfast. I went back up to my room for one final check, and went back downstairs. We loaded up the charter buses and it was off to LGW. Today it only took a hour over the 3 it took on the way in. I just listened to my MP3 player and slept on the way. As we got closer a US Airways A330 flew right over my head....gotta admit the US A330's look so graceful in flight...too bad I was flying Delta. We got to the airport, unloaded and it was on to check-in. I checked my bag, handed over my Sky Miles card, only to remember I was credited with my miles back in ATL a week earlier. I had my passport checked as we went through security, and we went and ate again at Garfunkels. We got in and out fairly quick, and my group went to look around in stores...some stuff, not a ton though. I saw a Ferarri being raffled off and I took a picture of it, but a few days later I found it didn't come out. After much admiration of the car we made the 8973256 mile trip to gate 48. I swear we passed every airlines gate until we hit gate 48 right there at the end. Right next to it was a snack cart and a Starbucks (I think I saw more Starbucks in England than I saw in my life). I bought a water, and had to walk through security again. I handed over my passport, and some guy looked through my shoes, my carry-on, and my clarinet case. He was a nice guy, and I got through with no problem. By this point it was 12:30, almost time to board. I just sat and watched out the window. I saw a few Easy Jet planes, and a Continental plane (didn't even try to identify it) probably going back to the US. About 12:35 we started boarding. I was in zone 6, so there was no need to hurry. After first class everyone was invited to board....interesting...we weren't late by any stretch. I got squeezed in line...fine with me, it was a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong line. Looking out the window...the jetbridge was right there, but it required quite a walk. I entered the plane and made the immediate right turn up the first aisle. Even after the cattle call to get on, we left about 5 minutes early. It amazes me how many people in my band are afraid of flying....and here I am knowing the fact that thre most dangerous part of our day was the busride over to the airport! Pushing back, we waited quite a while to leave, as our estimated time of arrival kept adding time. We eventually lined up number 3 for takeoff. I haven't the slightest idea what runway we took off from, but we took off almost due west. These guys hit the throttle hard, as the takeoff was nice and powerful. At about 9 AM EST they came around with pretzels. Just 20 minutes later they came around with meals. I chose to have the pasta with cream sauce. It was quite good, and on top of my water that came with the meal, my other 2 friends gave me theirs, and my cup of water that I got on top of that....way to fight the jet lag. After lunch things settled down, and I took my first and only nap of the flight, for just a half hour. I watched some of Shark Tale. It was really fruity, but why not. After that I read Sky Mall, Sky Magazine, some of my stuff, and listened to my MP3 player......and we're only to Greenland! I spen some time trying to sleep, but no luck, so I sat and watched whatever was on the overhead screens. One thing that was good was that the whole plane was asleep, so the flight attendants kept coming and asking if I wanted some more water or whatever. It was quite nice. We finally crossed over the US-Canadian border. on the map it showed that we were flying right over my grandparents home town of Presque Isle. I just sat and listened to my MP3 player until Washington DC, where I turned it off and just kinda sat there. We passed over the Georgia border, and I was glues to the map. As we were descending, I saw Stone Mountain out the window. I followed US 78 and found my home town of Snellville...kinda cool to see it from the air. We went out east and I saw Stonecrest mall for the secons time in my life from the air. We headed back westward and landed on what I thik was runway 8R...I'm not 100% sure. It was fairly smooth, and we taxied to a gate that I forgot (it was on the opposite end from where I departed though). We went through customs, and to international baggage claim. My bag took forever to come out but it came. We walked through security again and stuck our bags on a conveyer again. We went back and caught the train and took the very long ride back to the terminal. I got there and my dad was already waiting with my bag. I told my band director (who came home on the flight 3 hours earlier) I was going, and I was off. It was kinda hard to think about, after several years of waiting, and thousands of dollars...it was over
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