For some people a day spent glued to an airplane window is torture. For me that’s roughly never the case. A few weeks back I was headed to the APEX Expo in Portland, Oregon and had plenty of options for the flights, though the timing on all of them was less than ideal. And so I turned the trip into a transit adventure, flying four segments rather than one.
The first half of the trip was on United Airlines from LaGuardia to Chicago to Los Angeles. Nothing of particular note there other than where I left my laptop on the plane in Chicago (and, thanks to many miracles, got it back). But the second half of the trip was going to be a new adventure for me. I booked on the Alaska Airlines Q400 operated by Horizon Air for LAX to Santa Rosa/Sonoma County and then onward to Portland.
It was a beautiful, sunny day and the Q400 flies relatively low, typically around 20-22,000 feet rather than 30,000+ in a jet. Yes, it is a bit louder. But I have ear plugs. The drinks are free and the views are spectacular.
I’m sure it didn’t hurt that I was facing west watching the sunset for the second of the segments. Simply stunning scenery the whole way. Alas, thanks to a snafu with youtube and my penchant for being horrible about backup copies of things that video is lost. But you’ll have to trust me that it was gorgeous.
Yes, the flight up the coast was slower than it had to be. But I was able to mostly relax and even get some work done. Plus the views cruising just a bit lower are worth it.
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