Are the Friendly Skies still Friendly?

Posted on September 25, 2021September 23, 2021 by Dusty Roads

Fly the Friendly Skies

Remember United’s slogan to Fly the Friendly Skies? Well what about now? Did COVID make any difference at 30K ft.? I always approach my travel with an open and adventurous mind. I expect things to go wrong. That way I don’t get frustrated when they do and can celebrate when they don’t.

This trip I needed to get to Ashville Regional Airport. I started my search for an airline on KAYAK.com. I wasn’t sure what airlines might fly into Ashville. Allegiant Air popped up with a non stop flight for $99.00. Nothing else came close to that price and the non stop was very attractive. Now you need to understand that I do not like no frills airlines like Spirit Air and refuse to use them. I think they are just nickel and diming the flying public. But I was caught flat footed on this one. I didn’t know anything about Allegiant so in my blissful ignorance I started the booking process. By the time I was through paying for all the “extras” I was accustomed to my round trip ticket was $300+. Just like on any full service airline- but at least it was non stop.

Getting to the Airport

Now that I had my ticket I needed to tackle the logistics of getting from my home in Taunton to the airport. The easiest way is to rent a cab or Uber but that gets very expensive. My 2nd choice is to drive to Logan and either park at the airport or at a nearby Park ‘n Fly. I have used that option in the past but this time I decided on the Logan Express Bus. I drove my car to Braintree and then took the bus to the airport from there. A nice new perk is that you can now buy your tickets online before you leave home. It saves you $2 too.
Time to mask up. It’s required on the bus.

Logan Airport

Logan Airport is an International Airport and has the size to go with it. In spite of my knee problems I did not request any assistance this trip. That may have been a mistake on my part. Anyway I located Allegiant Air with no problem. The folks on the check in desk were friendly and pleasant. They thanked me for getting vaccinated when I handed over my passport and vaccination card. I checked my bag and took off for the security check in. As expected I lit up the Xray machine with my artificial hip and had to go through the pat down. Finally I was released and sent on my way.
As I neared the gate only one restaurant was open so I stopped to enjoy a $15.00 bacon, egg and cheese sandwich.

The plane wasn’t the tiny commuter plane I expected. It was a full sized baby with overhead bins and it was nowhere near a full flight. Once airborne we were allowed to change seats if we wanted to. I haven’t seen that in awhile.

We made the flight from Logan to Ashville in about 2 hours.

Getting There is Half The Fun

Posted on October 20, 2019October 14, 2019 by Dusty Roads

Getting there is half the fun

When you travel you have to keep in mind that getting there is half the fun. Day 1 of any of my vacations is always a travel day. So I remind myself that the journey is as important as the destination. Since I was only going to Florida you’d think this one would be easy. Just a hop, skip and jump down the east coast. Well, not quite. I never do anything the easy way. My flight is out of Logan (Boston) at 8:30 am. That’s a late flight for me but getting to Logan is an adventure in itself.

Park ‘n Fly

Turns out the easiest part of my journey was the Park ‘n Fly. It’s much more expensive than the Logan Express but my car will be better located for my dash to Lynn when I return. Yes, I got a ticket to hear Josh Gates speak and it’s the same evening I come back from Florida. My car needs to be handy or I’ll never get to Lynn on time. So Park ‘n Fly it is and they were great. Easy to get to and the shuttle to the airport picked me up right at the car.

Check in

Getting through security with my new hip was anti climatic. My Doctor said I’d light up the metal detectors so be sure to tell the TSA. Although I did let them know nothing happened when I walked through the metal detector. Not a peep out of those machines. The TSA operator asked me if my new hip was made of plastic because it didn’t set anything off. Wait til I see my Doctor again!

First Class Travel

As has become my habit I was flying first class. You get treated so much better that I’m willing to pay the extra if it isn’t too much. Today Delta really out did themselves. They made me feel like I was visiting royalty from the first person I saw in the terminal to the flight attendants in first class. Thank you Delta. Another fine job.

The planes.

I had a layover at JFK in New York. What a huge airport. We landed in one terminal and had to take a shuttle to another one to board a different plane. That was fine with me. The first plane was a little plane with only 3 seats in each row. Very cramped even in First Class. One seat was in the left with a window the other two were on the other side of the aisle. I had the left window seat. So I got to sit alone. When we changed planes we had a bigger plane with 4 seats per row, 2 on each side of the aisle and the seats were bigger.

Getting there is half the fun

The flight attendants on this plane were great. They were attentive, funny and always smiling even when a child passenger had a major meltdown.

MIA

MIA does not mean Missing in Action although the Miami airport does look like it went through a war. The People Movers are moving walkways that are meant to make it easier and faster to get through the airport. I’ve used them elsewhere and they do help but not in Miami. Very few of the walkways were working so I took off trudging with my luggage trailing behind me for what seemed like miles to find the car rental section of the airport. After a ride on a tram and more trudging I final spotted the Hertz counter.

The Snowy Owls of Duxbury Beach

Posted on January 3, 2015January 3, 2015 by Dusty Roads

I’ve been hearing stories of snowy owls on Duxbury beach for years. I’ve seen photos from my fellow photographers to prove it. I’ve even tried to find them myself.

The Snowy Owls of Duxbury Beach are only seasonal visitors so you need to know where and when to look. Something I have only the vaguest notion of but let me start from the top.

The regal Snowy Owl is one of the few birds that can get even non-birders to come out for a look. This largest (by weight) North American owl shows up irregularly in winter to hunt in windswept fields or dunes, a pale shape with catlike yellow eyes. They spend summers far north of the Arctic Circle hunting lemmings, ptarmigan, and other prey in 24-hour daylight. In years of lemming population booms they can raise double or triple the usual number of young.

According to a Nat Geo program the birds that migrate south are usually the first year youngsters. Fully mature birds stay in the arctic all year long.

Mass Audubon is working to protect snowy owls. Norman Smith, Director of Mass Audubon’s Blue Hills Trailside Museum, has been studying them since 1981. As part of his research, he attaches bands and transmitters to snowy owls at Logan Airport, and then tracks their travels. He releases these trapped and banded owls at Duxbury Beach. So we end up with 2 populations in the winter, the ones that come down to visit on their own and the released owls from the airport.

Why stop at an airport with all it’s noise and activity? As snowy owls migrate north and south, they look for stopping places that resemble their home, the Arctic tundra. To them, the land around Logan Airport fits the bill. It’s low and flat, with short scruffy plants and grasses, and there’s an abundance of small mammals and birds to eat.

Logan airport has the largest known concentration of snowy owls in the Northeast.

The airport owls help by scaring away other birds that might endanger aircraft. Unfortunately, they are large enough to pose a threat themselves. To protect both birds and jets, Smith safely captures and relocates snowy owls each year.

This year I have outfitted myself with uber -warm clothing and a new camera and lenses. Today I booked a day trip with the Audubon Society. Sadly it is a bird watcher’s trip so I was told there won’t be time or spaces for lots of camera gear. I should plan to “Shoot” from the van.

With that in mind I’ll leave the tripod behind this trip and hope I’ll learn the best ways of locating these beautiful birds so I can round up some friends that are photographers and make a return visit with that much more knowledge.