O-Dark-30 to Oakland. Next Stop, Phoenix.

Phoenix Getaway Travelog #1
OAK Airport - Sat, 1 Apr 2023, 7:40am

We were up this morning at 5:30am— "O-dark-30," as some call it— to begin our weekend trip to Phoenix. This is the trip I mused Monday has been on-again, off-again, on-again. Obviously now it's on! We were on the road this morning by 6:30am, driving to Oakland as the morning sky was only beginning to brighten. Dawn wouldn't break until we were most of the way to the airport.

Now we're here at the airport, checked in and waiting at our gate to board our flight. Phoenix is just 1:45 scheduled flight time away, though that clock starts an hour from now. If all goes well we'll be on the ground at 10:30, getting into a car not long after 11, and able to arrive at the hotel before noon. If our room's ready we'll check in, stow our bags, and then get lunch. If the room's not ready we'll get lunch then check in and stow our bags. 😅 Either way, once lunch is done and bags are stowed, we'll change into swimwear and go splashing around at the hotel's waterpark.

...Okay, that's quite a plan... and it all depends on things running smoothly today. We'll see how it actually turns out. Hey, sometimes things actually go right!

Little bits of fun & not-fun getting to Phoenix

Phoenix Getaway Travelog #2
Around and about in Phoenix - Sat, 1 Apr 2023, 1pm

Although things were flowing well on schedule this morning as we waited at the airport we wound up taking off 20 minutes late from Oakland today. The crew opened the aircraft door again after locking it. They never open the door, not for me anyway. "Whoa, must be some super VIP late boarding," I figured. Then nobody came. I asked one of the flight attendants after it was closed the second time. "It was for baggage," she explained. What?

Running late carried through to arrival. We were about 15 minutes late there. And somewhere a few rows behind me was a child who coughed for the entire flight.

Hawk and I saved ourselves time in the schedule today by not checking a bag. We made that decision last night. Our original plan had been to take a large, checked bag, filled with our hiking gear. Then we decided, let's go gear-light and save ourselves the time and hassles of checking and retrieving a bag. I'm glad we did, because Oakland airport was heaving. And claiming the bag at Phoenix likely wouldn't have been fast, either.

One thing that has improved at PHX airport is the tram to the rental car center. Yes, there's a tram! It's still a long ride, but the tram is a vast improvement over the rattle-trap buses they ran for years. It's probably a loss for area dentists, who now have fewer patients needing to replace fillings that fell out.

Once we had our car we decided to go shopping. Yes, we traveled all the way to Phoenix to shop. ...But seriously, we figured the hotel may not be ready to give us a room at 12, and Hawk found a gem store nearby she wanted to visit. So we shopped there then ate a quickie lunch in the area. Now it's off to the hotel to enjoy the swimming pools!