LAX Pt. II

I seem to be a glutton for west coast flying lately. You could say it really is a dream come true for me. I've spent years "planespotting" with my camera at LAX. So getting to actually fly in there is really cool. I don't expect you to understand. But know that it is very exciting for me.

With that said, I will be flying trips out of LAX for the entire month of May. Not out of Atlanta, like I've been doing. Out of LAX. I will be an LAX-based pilot for one month. :-) Crew planning recently released a request for 10 CRJ first officers to bid for temporary duty in LAX for May. After weighing all the factors, Allison and I decided it would be a great opportunity.

The best and worst part is that will be it. After May, ASA will no longer be flying out west. Not out of LAX or ATL. So this is my last chance to do it. At least until I move on to another company. For now, I'm all over it! :-)

Last week, I had my 2nd trip out there and it was absolutely awesome. My trip was Friday the 13th (Ooooo!) to Monday the 16th. We arrived into LAX around 6pm local time on Friday. My dad returned from Oslo, Norway around 7:30pm and Allison's flight from Atlanta arrived around 7:50pm. After picking them up, we had a bite to eat at Baja Fresh, which Allison and I hadn't been to since living in Dallas.

The next morning, I had to be up early (4:45am) for a 6:15 duty-in to do a round trip to San Francisco. And that was it. Dad, Mom and Allison were stationed near runway 25L on the southside to watch me arrive at 10:15am. Unfortunately for them, we were assigned 24R, on the northside. Cool thing for me though because that brought us right over the "famous" In N Out.

They picked me up at terminal 5 around 11am and we had the rest of the day. So, of course, we got some In N Out from the location at the Costco parking lot from hell. Those of you who know that parking lot know the story. Then we took that to the Marina del Rey beach, picnic-style. Mom and Dad sat in beach chairs while Allison and I lounged in the sand on a blanket.

Then it was naptime for the boys while the girls chatted about girl stuff. I tell you, that was one of the greatest feelings in the world. The cool breeze, the warm sand, family, In N Out, the beach, falling asleep with my hat over my face. It doesn't get much better.

(Note to Ellen and Steve: There were no, repeat NO cameras present on the beach and therefore no pictures. I know you're both disappointed.)

After a while, the boys woke up and Allison and Mom went to Cow's End for some java. Then we left our setup and wandered the beach. There was a bunch of stuff washed up, which none of us had ever seen there before like this. Included in the stuff were 2 complete starfish, an orange traffic cone thing which I proudly erected in the sand, a flip flop, 2 cellphones, and more seaweed than you can imagine.

Dad recounted his story about attracting LA lifeguard attention while on a sailboat once. Apparently, even though there wasn't a soul in the water nearby, he was sailing "too close" to the shore. These lifeguards were serious too. The truck came racing to him with full sirens and used it's big speaker to scold him from a distance. Then a lifeguard boat came over to tell him the same thing. Guess they were hard up for something to do.

Later on, we enjoyed chicken and sausage from the home barbeque and played some Rummikub. Then I pretty much passed out from lack of sleep just so I could wake up early and do it again on Sunday morning. This time, Allison woke up early with me and came to the airport to head back to the ATL. I flew my one leg to SFO and was at the hotel by 8:30am.

Originally, I planned on taking the BART from the airport into downtown San Francisco. Unfortunately, I hadn't packed properly. The temperature was nice, but the wind was blowing. Hard. So I wimped out and went for a walk near the hotel, took a few pictures of airplanes landing at SFO, and then spent the rest of the day watching DVD's on my player.

It was a great trip and I can't wait until May when I get to it again and go to some west Mexico destinations as well.

As always, I have a few pictures for you to enjoy. These are heavy on the "taken from the cockpit" factor as I didn't take my camera out on our adventures.

Click here to view them on Shutterfly. Enjoy!