Heels Up Before Wheels Up to Harrisburg
Mar. 28th, 2026 07:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerSpring Family Visit Travelog #1
SJC Airport · Sat 28 Mar 2026. 7pm.
Tonight we're headed out to visit my inlaws near Harrisburg, PA. We're taking a red-eye flight from San Jose to Baltimore (BWI), where we'll rent a car a drive ~90 minutes up to Harrisburg. Why not fly to Harrisburg? It's because despite being the state capital of Pennsylvania it's got a podunk airport. There's only connecting service there through a few hubs. It makes more sense, logistically, to fly non-stop to Baltimore (or Washington-Dulles, or Washington National, or Philadelphia) and drive. It's a lot cheaper, too.
And why take a red-eye? Especially because it was kind of a rough trip when we did it in November, leaving us so drained I slept in our car a parking lot like a borderline homeless person later that day. Well, aside from the fact that this red-eye is the cheapest and most direct flight available, I figure this time it'll work out a bit better because we specifically did not plan a busy schedule tomorrow. We've just got to drive to Harrisburg in the morning, then we're at my inlaws' house the rest of the day, where we can crash with a nap as necessary.
All that is hours away, though. And even boarding our flight is hours away. We chose to arrive at the airport plenty early this evening. Partly that's because we figured we'd get dinner here, rather than eat dinner and home and start to worry about timing. And partly it's because we didn't have much else to do today. We're both retired now, so we have free time! We didn't worry about losing a precious vacation day with this being a Saturday night red-eye vs. Friday night. We go when we want to go, come home when we want to come home.
SJC Airport · Sat 28 Mar 2026. 7pm.
Tonight we're headed out to visit my inlaws near Harrisburg, PA. We're taking a red-eye flight from San Jose to Baltimore (BWI), where we'll rent a car a drive ~90 minutes up to Harrisburg. Why not fly to Harrisburg? It's because despite being the state capital of Pennsylvania it's got a podunk airport. There's only connecting service there through a few hubs. It makes more sense, logistically, to fly non-stop to Baltimore (or Washington-Dulles, or Washington National, or Philadelphia) and drive. It's a lot cheaper, too.
And why take a red-eye? Especially because it was kind of a rough trip when we did it in November, leaving us so drained I slept in our car a parking lot like a borderline homeless person later that day. Well, aside from the fact that this red-eye is the cheapest and most direct flight available, I figure this time it'll work out a bit better because we specifically did not plan a busy schedule tomorrow. We've just got to drive to Harrisburg in the morning, then we're at my inlaws' house the rest of the day, where we can crash with a nap as necessary.
All that is hours away, though. And even boarding our flight is hours away. We chose to arrive at the airport plenty early this evening. Partly that's because we figured we'd get dinner here, rather than eat dinner and home and start to worry about timing. And partly it's because we didn't have much else to do today. We're both retired now, so we have free time! We didn't worry about losing a precious vacation day with this being a Saturday night red-eye vs. Friday night. We go when we want to go, come home when we want to come home.
