Delta RIC-ATL-DEN then SLC-JFK-RIC on 7/22 and 8/5

[z740]

Here it is folks! The long awaited review of my two week vacation to the Rockies. I hope you enjoy it!

Date: July 22, 2008
Flight: Delta Air Lines-DL 1679
Aircraft: N933DL McDonnell Douglas MD-88
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SDT: 7:15 EDT
ADT: 7:51 EDT
Departure Weather: Sunny, mid-70s
SAT: 9:00
AAT: 9:02
Arrival Weather: Partly Cloudy, mid-70s
FlightAware Tracking (http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1679/history/20080722/1133Z/KRIC/KATL)

On a rather warm Tuesday morning I woke up, gathered my camera gear, performed some last minute checks to make sure everything was working at it’s prime, ate breakfast, and loaded my luggage into our neighbor’s minivan. They had graciously offered to drive us to and pick us up from the airport so we wouldn’t have to park our car there for two weeks. We arrived at the empty arrivals terminal to check in for our 7:15 flight. Check-in was quick and easy, along with out quick trip through security. That’s the advantage of small town airports, the lines are almost non-existent unless it’s a major holiday. We walked down to our gate, B15, and waited for boarding to begin. After walking all the way to the back of the Mad Dog I realized that my window seat had a beautiful view of the engine. I had about an inch of a view of the outside world if I pressed my face up against the window. After pushing back and taxiing alongside runway 2 we slowly came to a halt. We sat there for a few minutes and then we heard the engines slowly shut down. We were then informed by out captain that our landing slot in ATL had been messed up somehow and we had to wait for a new one to open up. We got our slot about 20 minutes later and proceeded to take off. We quickly reached our cruising altitude of 32,000 feet and the snack service began. Unfortunately for sleep deprived me they had no caffeinated beverages on that flight so I had a water and peanuts. I read my complementary issue of Sky and SkyMall magazine. They sure sell some weird stuff in that magazine! We began our decent into ATL’s runway 27L and soon landed. The landing was rather smooth considering the mild turbulence we had experienced a few minutes before. After taxiing to gate A2 and getting off of the plane, we relocated our stuff to our next departure gate and then started walking around the airport to scope out the best spotting locations.

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AirTran's newest special livery.

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My beautiful view.

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My view.

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Did some spotting at the end of concourse D.

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DL 752.

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AirTran 712.

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Moved to E for some more spotting.

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Shuttle America E170.

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My DL 738 for flight 747 coming up next.

Next portion will be ATL-DEN flight 747 on a 738.

Questions/comments are welcome!

-Chris

[jazzyspreetsingh]

great pics! & great report!

i didn't even know that air tran had that special livery floating around!
I look forward to reading your others!

[screaming_emu]

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Did some spotting at the end of concourse D.


That plane in the background is pretty sexy :-P

[Crism]

Yep! That widebodys pretty nice.

[z740]

Thanks for the nice words Jaspreet! It means a lot to me.

Here's the next leg guys, enjoy!

Date: July 22, 2008
Flight: Delta Air Lines-DL 747
Aircraft: N383DN Boeing 737-832
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SDT: 12:40 EDT
ADT: 13:08 EDT
Departure Weather: Hazy, mid-80s
SAT: 13:47 MDT
AAT: 13:42 MDT
Arrival Weather: Partly Cloudy, mid-80s
FlightAware Tracking (http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL747/history/20080722/1700Z/KATL/KDEN)

After doing some spotting throughout the eastern half of the airport and having my usual chicken Caesar salad for lunch, we went back to out assigned gate (B26) and waited for boarding to begin. We had been placed in the bulkhead row 10. I had seat 10C, which gave me two windows with a decent view of the wing, engine, and everything below us. After boarding, putting our carry-on items in the overhead bin and taking our seats, the flight attendants began the safety speech and we pushed back. We taxied to past Delta TOC so I wrote down a few registrations from there. There were two ex-EOS 752s parked there along with a variety of Delta and World Airways aircraft. We were second or third in line for takeoff from runway 26L, and were soon rolling down the runway. After a very smooth takeoff we passed over some stores in College Park with their logo painted on top such as BJs, Lowes, and Target. An interesting way of advertising I thought. We quickly ascended to our cruising altitude of 38,000 feet and the beverage service began. I had my usual Sprite. Unfortunately for us the F/As somehow managed to skip us for the food, so I didn’t get any peanuts. I wasn’t too disappointed though. Since the landscape after the Mississippi River is flat and bland, I shut my windows and watched bits and pieces of A Married Life in between pages of my Sky and SkyMall magazines. After remembering that we were changing time zones, I had to dig out both of my cameras and my iPod to change the time. Not as easy as it may seem. The batteries in my old Z740 died as I was changing the time so I had to dig out new batteries, etc., etc. After changing the time zone we began our rather bumpy decent into Denver. Since the east side of Denver is open farmland, I began to think we were landing for fuel somewhere in Kansas. We made probably a complete circle before lining up for our arrival into runway 16L. We were landing buddies with a United 737, and I think both the captains were racing each other to see who could land first. He would pass us, then we would pass him, and it went on for a few minutes before we finally pulled ahead and bet him to the runway. We also stopped much faster than him because I remember seeing him off in the distance with his buckets deployed while we were pulling off of the runway. We quickly made our way to gate C44 and deplaned. We then took the train to Concourse A and then took the walkway to the main terminal so we could get some shots of the Frontier tails. We got our bags and were driven by my grandparents (in their sardine can of a Ford Focus, which you will hear about later) to our friend’s house on the west side of Denver.

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Somewhere over the US of A.

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That speck in the left center of the picture is the UAL 737.

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Taxiing to our gate.

Sorry about the lack of pictures on this leg. The next post will have plenty to make up for it.

Up next, my trip through Wyoming to the Tetons and Yellowstone.

Hope you enjoyed this half of my flight reviews, the next will be my flight from SLC-JFK and then back home from JFK-RIC.

-Chris

[Electric-Jet]

Great review so far, can't wait to read about the SLC-JFK leg of it.

[z740]

Great review so far, can't wait to read about the SLC-JFK leg of it.

Thanks Dylan! It should be up by Thursday. I'm finishing up my vacation summary right now.

-Chris

[z740]

Well here’s a short summary of my vacation out west.


Tuesday, July 22nd
Arrived in Denver mid-afternoon, drove to our friends house, got settled in, ate dinner, and went for a quick hike on Lookout Mountain to a boulder field. Saw some mule deer and went back down the trail to the car. Drove home and went to bed.

Wednesday, July 23rd
Sat around in the morning trying to get used to the extra two hours we suddenly have at our disposal due to the time change. My grandpa picked us up and we went to a Rockies game. It was my first professional game where the team I wanted to win actually won. We then had dinner with my aunt and then drove back to our current living quarters and went to sleep.

Thursday, July 24th
We woke up early and drove up to Estes Park, CO in the sardine can and went for a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. We rode the shuttle bus up to Bear Lake and then we took the trail uphill to Bierstadt Lake and then back down the switchback trail to the bus stop. The scenery there is absolutely gorgeous and I got some nice shots of some wildflowers. We then took the scenic route home and crashed as soon as we got into bed. A great ending to our day and the 6-mile hike.

Friday, July 25th
Friday was our relaxation day before our journey. We played miniature golf and just did nothing for the entire day. It was wonderful.

Saturday, July 26th
Saturday was a day with my aunt in Boulder. We went to the falls and then back to her apartment. Then we went to Jeffco Airport for lunch at an airport that is right on the runway. We ten went to church and then to my grandparents RV to begin our journey. It was when I was first introduced to my new sleeping arrangements. A 2 1/2 foot by 7 foot cushion above the driver and passenger’s seat in the front of the RV. It was surprisingly comfortable except for the TV that stuck out a few inches from the wall on my right. I accidentally turned it on a few times over the next week and a half.

Sunday, July 27th
We began our journey bright and early by dumping our wastewater and disconnecting our water and electrical lines. We then hooked up the sardine can to be towed behind us. We left Westminster, CO at around 8:30 and arrived in Lander, WY 10 hours later. We stopped in Cheyenne for lunch, then went over to Independence Rock where the flying ants come in swarms, and then a quick stop at Devil’s Gate, and finally we reached our little campground by a golf course just outside of Lander and at the end of the runway of their little community airport. After a gorgeous sunset and a great dinner we turned in for the night.

Monday, July 28th
After being awoken by a small Cessna that decided to buzz our campground at 7 in the morning I ate breakfast and we then headed for our destination of the Colter Bay campground in Grand Teton National Park. After getting set up at one campsite and ten moving to another because at the first one we were literally on a hill. So we set up the table, chairs, and my hammock in which my mom laid down in and the string broke. We had thought we packed parachute cord but it turned out to be a string. After lunch my dad, grandpa, and I piled into the sardine can and went out to look for some wildlife. We drove down the inner road in search of antelope and deer then back up the outer road in search of moose and elk. We saw some bison, moose, antelope, and deer. I was stalking them with my camera to get some good pictures and I didn’t realize how use to humans they are. Every time the deer would look at me I would stop moving and squat down in the sagebrush. It was a tad uncomfortable and gave me quite a few scrapes. We then drove back to camp, had dinner, and turned in for the night.

Tuesday, July 29th
My dad and I woke up early to watch the sunrise over the Oxbow Lake. It was pretty, but not worth the 5AM wake up call. After looking for some more animals and not seeing much we drove back to camp to pick up the rest of the group and head over to Jenny Lake to take a hike. We took the boat across the lake to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. After eating lunch, my grandparents and I went up the canyon while my parents went back around the lake. The hike in the canyon was absolutely beautiful. I got the chance to see two bull moose on the hike. They were no more than 20 feet from each other. We then turned around and walked the two miles back around the lake to the car. It was a beautiful 7 mile hike and I would suggest it to anyone who goes up there. Just bring LOTS OF WATER!

Wednesday, July 30th
On Wednesday we relocated to Yellowstone. The drive up there was pretty short and full of beautiful meadows of wildflowers. We got set up and then my parents, grandpa, and I decided to drive up to the Upper and Lower falls for the scenery. On the way there we stopped to take some pictures of bison in Hayden Valley. There are soooo many bison in that park it’s unreal. The wind was also unreal. I almost lost my hat twice and witnessed a small child blown over by a strong gust. We then piled back into the car to head for the canyon. We arrived at the canyon, hiked to Artist’s Point (I would suggest driving) took some pictures and then piled back into the car to go look for some wolves up in the Lamar Valley area. We passed an overview and saw some smoke in the distance. We didn’t think much of it so we continued on to the Lamar area. We drove along the NE Entrance road but didn’t see anything worth stopping for. We then stopped at the Tower-Roosevelt visitor’s center and learned that the fire we saw earlier was in the Hayden Valley. The exact place we had been 2 hours earlier. So the road was closed. We then realized that we would not be home for dinner and had to take the long way home. So we drove to Mammoth, had dinner, walked around the hot springs for a bit, and then drove to Norris. On the way to Norris we were stopped by a buffalo in the center of the road walking the yellow line. He was weaving back and forth and looked like someone who had one too many taking a sobriety test. We passed him and drove on to Norris. After a quick break at the Fountain Paint Pots to watch the sunset we drove on, past Old faithful to our campground. After a 3 hour trip that took 9, we were happy to be back. Needless to say we slept good that night.

The LaHardy Fire was the name of it. http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2008/08/04/news/10fire.txt
There were also apparently quite a few minor(4.5 and below) earthquakes in the park while we were there. Though we didn’t feel anything.

Thursday, July 31st
Thursday was spent watching Old Faithful and walking around the geyser basin behind it. The smell of those things is horrible and if you get sprayed, the water is either really hot or really cold. We rested for the rest of the day.

Friday, August 1st
On Friday, we packed up and drove to our friend’s house outside of Jackson, WY. We stopped in the Tetons and Jackson on the way to their place. The Snake River in that area is a pretty site. We saw a bald eagle sitting on a dead tree on the side of the road there too. It was a pretty drive.

Saturday, August 2nd
Saturday morning was a hike into the elk refuge behind their house. The refuge is amazing. There are so many pretty sites there. We saw an elk skull, some bones from a deer, and a dried up pond with a bed of reeds that a moose had slept in the night before. Our friends’ dog, Sadie, was all over the place on the hike. She has an amazing amount of energy. We stopped to pick some wild blueberries and the dog was eating them off the bush. She somehow managed to get just the berries and no leaves. We hiked back to the house and had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Then my dad and I drove down to the reservoir to take some pictures of birds. We saw a few osprey, a golden eagle, and a few pelicans, but not much else. Later in the afternoon we drove into Jackson, walked around a bit, went to church, and then met at a sports bar for dinner. They had some good food there.

Sunday, August 3rd
On Sunday we left their house and drove to Salt Lake City. The drive took us through a rather windy canyon, which didn’t help the already sick-to-my-stomach me. I got sick on the drive, but felt much better afterwards. We arrived at the Salt Lake City KOA late that afternoon and soon realized that it was quite a bit warmer than Wyoming. We got set up at the campsite, had dinner, and went to bed.

Monday, August 4th
Monday was spent touring the city. We took a bus into the city then we walked up to the State capitol, walked down to a beautiful catholic cathedral, then into the Temple Square the head of the Mormon church. We then went to the genealogy library across the street. We left there with no more information than we already had (we mainly went in their to see what it was about). We then took the shuttle back to the campsite and took a nap. After dinner, my dad and I wandered over to the airport and did some spotting. That airport is great for spotting if you go to the right places. We were told to go elsewhere though when we were behind the GE Healthcare building on the west side of the airport. There is radioactive material inside the building. After getting some good shots (which are currently in the queue) we went back to finish packing for our trip the next day. We finished packing and turned in for the night.



Well I hope I haven’t bored you too much with this summary. I tried to make it short and sweet while still including some of the highlights of the trip.

The pictures will be in my next post and the next flight will be here by Thursday afternoon. Hope you have enjoyed it so far!

-Chris

[Foxtrot]

That was definitely fun to read, and great shots as well. Just a note, Classic 737s have cascade reversers, not buckets. ;)

[z740]

That was definitely fun to read, and great shots as well.
Thanks, I tried my best not to make it too boring.

Just a note, Classic 737s have cascade reversers, not buckets. ;)
Well, it was kinda far down the runway, and my window was sorta scratched, soooo...

Thanks for that tid-bit of info! I always thought it was the other way around.

-Chris

[z740]

Here are the best of the best of my 1,148 non-flight photos that I took on the trip. I cut it down a bit to save those of you with dial-up. ;)

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Begging for food at Bierstadt Lake in Rocky Mountain NP.

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One of the many wildflowers on the switchback trail back down the mountain to the road 1,000 feet below.

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My house/limo service for the next week and a half. 31 feet by 8 feet of living space. Couch, kitchen, dinner table, shower, bathroom, master bedroom, and three more fold out beds all in that tiny space.

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A "dogette" in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Cheyenne.

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A quick stop to hike up Independence Rock.

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During the trip I fell in love with the emptiness of Wyoming. I am not really a people person so I loved the fact that you could go 20 minutes on the highway without passing anybody.

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Sunset over the golf course in Lander, Wyoming. To the left is the airport, atop the hill.

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A quick scenery stop before we leave the Wind River canyon.

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A Pronghorn in Grand Teton NP.

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The cause of my 5AM wakeup call. Sunrise over Oxbow Lake in Grand Teton NP.

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A mule deer in Grand Teton NP. I consider the Whitetail Deer we have here to be much better looking that the Blacktail they have out there.

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One of the bull moose in the canyon in the Tetons.

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These little critters have very little fear of humans. They act as if you weren't even there, unless you have food of course.

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Some elk just down the road from the Jackson Lake Lodge.

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Bison crossing the road in the Hayden Valley where the fire broke out just a few hours later.

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The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This and all of the other pictures have in no way been altered to bring out the color.

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Failing his sobriety test miserably. :twisted:

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Sunset at the Fountain Paint Pots. We still had another hour and a half before we got back to camp.

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It wouldn't be a trip to Yellowstone without seeing Old Faithful.

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These thermal pools have the most beautiful color.

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Sunset at the Fountain Paint Pots - Take Two. This time, no coyote.

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Trying a new approach to photographing churches. I personally like the result. Cathedral of the Madeline, Salt Lake City.

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From my spotting trip to SLC. The Wingpointe Golf Course is a MUST if the lighting is right.

Fear not ladies and gentlemen the rest of my flight review shall be here shortly.

-Chris

[Will_Power]

So Chris, how was it? SLC is fairly spotter friendly; you didnt get asked to leave did you? Wingpoint is the best in the afternoon, only when the planes are approaching from the south though. Its one of my favorite places to spot here in SLC.

And those are some real neat nature pictures. :-)

[jazzyspreetsingh]

wow!

stunning photos, great job! :clap:

[z740]

So Chris, how was it? SLC is fairly spotter friendly; you didnt get asked to leave did you? Wingpoint is the best in the afternoon, only when the planes are approaching from the south though. Its one of my favorite places to spot here in SLC.

And those are some real neat nature pictures. :-)
I absolutely loved my vacation. It was something I will remember for my whole life!

My dad and I did get kicked out by an officer for some private security company. We were behind the GE Healthcare building where there is apparently some radioactive material. It's a shame as there was a nice gravel mound in the shade that gave me a great view of the airport. Other than that, I had several airport employees, including an airport police officer wave at me as they exited the gate by the rocks at the golf course.

I also see you have caught up in our little race. I have 10 in the queue now with lots more to follow. You also have a thread in your honor somewhere in the OTF.

Thanks for the photo compliments.

wow!

stunning photos, great job!
Thanks man!

-Chris

[Will_Power]

I absolutely loved my vacation. It was something I will remember for my whole life!

My dad and I did get kicked out by an officer for some private security company. We were behind the GE Healthcare building where there is apparently some radioactive material. It's a shame as there was a nice gravel mound in the shade that gave me a great view of the airport. Other than that, I had several airport employees, including an airport police officer wave at me as they exited the gate by the rocks at the golf course.

I also see you have caught up in our little race. I have 10 in the queue now with lots more to follow. You also have a thread in your honor somewhere in the OTF.

Thanks for the photo compliments.


Thanks man!

-Chris

Im glad you really enjoyed your trip.

And Im glad spotting at SLC was fun, I have been asked by police to leave twice. All you have to do though is give the airport a quick call explaining what you are doing and they will let you continue. There was a dutch man who came to spot here and he was called in by a random civilian. We never herd from him again.

But anyways... I found that thread, thanks for the heads up! I wouldnt have seen it otherwise. :) Lately I have been just looking when I get on the forums if I get on at all.

[z740]

Im glad you really enjoyed your trip.

And Im glad spotting at SLC was fun, I have been asked by police to leave twice. All you have to do though is give the airport a quick call explaining what you are doing and they will let you continue. There was a dutch man who came to spot here and he was called in by a random civilian. We never herd from him again.

But anyways... I found that thread, thanks for the heads up! I wouldnt have seen it otherwise. :) Lately I have been just looking when I get on the forums if I get on at all.
As long as you don't completely leave us.

-Chris

[z740]

My apologies for the delay folks but my life has been crazy as of late.

Date: August 5, 2008
Flight: Delta Air Lines-DL 140
Aircraft: N638DN Boeing 757-232
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SDT: 9:55 MDT
ADT: 10:15 MDT
Departure Weather: Cloudy, mid-80s
SAT: 16:45 EDT
AAT: 17:20 EDT
Arrival Weather: Partly Cloudy, mid-80s
FlightAware Tracking (http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL140/history/20080805/1619Z/KSLC/KJFK)


Well the day began like any other on our trip, eat our morning bowl of Cheerios, get our stuff together and load up the car. We said goodbye to my grandma and then drove the five minutes to the airport. We were dropped off by my grandpa outside the check-in area and we said our goodbyes. We were directed to 3 different check-in lines before we finally said forget it and got in our own line. We were in line for about 20 minutes before we got our boarding passes and headed for security. We waited in line for our screening for about 10 minutes and then went through without a problem. We went to our gate and then I wandered off to a different terminal to see if I could get any decent shots despite the cloudy conditions. I didn’t have much time and I didn’t see any good shot opportunities so I met my parents back at our gate and we bought our lunch and waited for boarding to begin. We boarded a few minutes later and soon realized that it was going to be a long flight. When the a group of around 10 kids behind you are already wanting to get off you know its not good, but when their mom has to do roll call to make sure everyone is here, then you know it’s bad. We quickly pushed back and taxied for a slightly delayed departure from runway 16L. The 752s Pratt and Whitney spooled up to takeoff speed with what I can only describe as a mechanical growl in only a few seconds and we were off into the great blue sky. We passed over the Great Salt Lake a few minutes later and we soon climbed through the clouds into the blue sky. I plugged in my headphones to the new Delta AVOD entertainment system and listened to music for the remainder of the flight in between peeks as the map to figure out where we were and when we were going to arrive at JFK. I had my peanuts, Sprite and chicken Caesar salad for lunch and took a well-deserved nap to drown out the noise from behind. We soon passed over Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario, Pennsylvania, New York, then back into Pennsylvania, over New Jersey, then into JFK. Though we did some S turns on the way there, not sure why though. The approach was a tad bumpy, probably from all the hot air the people below us seem to be full of. We made a nice touchdown on 13L, passing over the cargo area. We then taxied around the airport and waited for our gate to open up. Then we had to wait for the ground traffic to clear as the runways had been switched. About an hour after touchdown we arrived at the gate. We deplaned and wandered around looking for some food.

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At the gate.

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AVOD system.

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Maryland One passing by on her way to 16L.

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Passing over the Great Salt Lake.

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Somewhere over Wyoming.

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My new avatar, taken over Nebraska I believe.

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At FL390.

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Passing by the Evergreen facility before touchdown.

I got some shots from the trip accepted earlier today, click on my banner to see them.

My flight home will come tomorrow.

-Chris

[z740]

Date: August 5, 2008
Flight: Delta Air Lines (Comair) DL-5364
Aircraft: N589SW Bombardier CRJ-100ER
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SDT: 19:10 EDT
ADT: 19:34 EDT
Departure Weather: Partly Cloudy, mid-80s
SAT: 21:06 EDT
AAT: 20:38 EDT
Arrival Weather: Mostly Cloudy low-80s

After wandering around Terminals 2 and 3 in search of dinner we finally found something and found ourselves a nice little corner and ate. After witnessing exactly how rude some people can be, we awaited boarding. We boarded our little CRJ from gate 7K and waited for departure. Realizing how scratched my window was I out away my camera and just tried to enjoy the flight. We taxied around the airport and took off from runway 22R. On the way to the runway we passed by Wunala Dreaming. I must say, I have never seen such a beautiful aircraft. After takeoff and eating my peanuts and drinking my Sprite, I decided to take a well-deserved nap as it had been a along day. I woke up just as we begun our decent into hot and humid Richmond. We made a nice smooth landing on 34 and proceeded to our gate. We walked up the stairs to the terminal and went to baggage claim. We got our bags, got in our neighbor’s van and drove home. We opened or door and realized that our AC had broken. The temperature outside was cooler than inside. A wonderful ending to a great trip…

No pics from this legs guys, sorry!

I will make sure to have pics from my trip to KY this weekend though.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed my review as much as I enjoyed writing it. There is no way to put into words the beauty of what I saw on my trip. If you ever get the chance, go out west and enjoy the beauty of our great country.

-Chris

[Electric-Jet]

A well laid out review. You also have some very nice non-aviation photos.

[uy707]

The sectors covered by aircraft types all different from each other make up for a nice first pick. Thanks again for this well documented and illustrated invitation to share your vacation.

[rohank4284]

I know I'm really late in posting this reply, but always wanted to read this trip report and couldn't find it later on. Thank you Chris for providing the link to it.

Nice job on the excellent trip report. It was very well laid out and interesting to read, nice pictures by the way.:D I'm glad that you enjoyed your trip to the Rocky Mountains and Delta seems like a good airline, it's nice to see that they still offer free snacks in Economy and they have PTVs, oh I how I wish that United Airlines could be like them. :lol:

Those PW engines on the Boeing 757 are really something and I completely agree with your description of the mechanical growl. The Boeing 757's climb rate is really something, it does really climb like a rocket.

I liked how you described what you did on your trip and it's nice to see that you had excellent trips to Colorado and the entire Rocky Mountain region. Are we likely to see any more trip reports in the summer of '09?

ATL is a huge airport and I have heard that many people have problems connecting there, I have never flown there, so how was your experience?

Regards,

Rohan