Back home safely

I'm back home after three and a half weeks away. The return trip was a bit of a nightmare, physically speaking, as the Boeing 757 flight from Anchorage, AK to Houston, TX via Seattle, WA was delayed for almost three hours in Anchorage by an engine problem. Passengers were 'de-planed' (to quote the stewardess who made the announcement), so we were able to walk around: but with my fused spine and nerve damage in my left leg, the extra waiting around wasn't very welcome.

We finally got going shortly after 3 a.m., and the flight to Houston was uneventful. I must admit, I enjoy traveling on the 757 - it seems a more stable aircraft than the slightly smaller latest-generation 737's, and I've always had comfortable flights on them. It was jammed full, though, as are most flights to and from Alaska these days. Airlines seem to prefer jamming flights to capacity (with resultant problems for standby and urgent travelers) rather than schedule additional flights to alleviate the overcrowding. Fortunately, I'd been scheduled for a three-and-a-half-hour layover in Houston before catching my connecting flight to Louisiana, and the delayed start (plus a faster flight to make up for lost time) meant that I arrived in time to change terminals and hop on my next flight without much delay. I've come to make such bookings out of habit, from experience of past delays, and this one paid off nicely. I made it in by late afternoon.

The biggest shock is coming out of Anchorage's mid-60 degrees temperature and moderate humidity back into Louisiana's almost 100-degree temperatures and almost 100% humidity. My body was most unhappy about that! My back and leg were also locked up pretty solid after about twenty-two hours in aircraft and airports. I got home, collapsed into a chair, and went out like a light! I woke up three hours later, and after a while persuading my back to allow me to move, managed to get to bed, and slept for a few hours more.

I'll post a few entries for tomorrow, then it's off to a hot bath to un-stiffen, and back to bed. Normal blogging will resume from now onward - including at least one, possibly two Weekend Wings posts about civil aviation in Alaska, which is a hotbed of flying activity. I also have several hundred e-mail messages to get through - the penalty of intermittent Internet access while I was away!

Peter