Greetings, Everyone!

After a long two months of not traveling, it was very nice for my girlfriend and I to once again go out of town. Also, it would be nice to get away from a very cold and snowy Minnesota, even just for a few days  

Christmas Eve dawned and we put the finishing touches on our packing before heading out for the short ride to MSP. We had some snow the night before, so I was a bit nervous about possible delays, so we arrived at around 8:30 a.m. for the 10:15 a.m. flight.

Terminal 1 was packed! Even though I had checked in online, it took us a long time to get our lone bag checked in, and then we proceeded off to security.

Our flight, Delta #3301 would be departing out of C13, so we headed off down the C concourse after a quick breakfast at French Meadow. I highly recommend that restaurant!



Friday, Dec 24
Delta Airlines # 3301
MSP - RDU
10:15a.m. - 1:47 p.m. (sched.)
12:40 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (actual)
CRJ-900
100% Full in F & Y; Seats 15 A/B

We arrived at the gate at about 9:15 a.m., and waited around as the gate was occupied with a very delayed flight to Columbus. With no sign of boarding, it began to look like we wouldn't be leaving at 10:15. Finally, a gate change was announced, so we headed over to C14…a long walk   A CRJ-900 came in, and as it was being catered, it began to look like we'd be boarding soon. At around 10:00 a.m. the agent announced a mechanical delay, and the estimated departure time switched to 11:30 a.m., then 12:00 p.m., then 12:30 p.m. The gate agent gave no word as to what was causing the delay, but at around 11:30, a gate change was announced for C15. Well, a flight to MEM occupying that gate was delayed as well, and I mentioned to a Delta agent that the flight to MEM was delayed for 12:40 p.m., so there was no way we'd be able to leave at 12:30 p.m. at this gate! She agreed, and about 10 minutes later, we were finally told to head to C12, yet another gate change. 4 gate changes is remarkable!


The CRJ not bringing us to RDU!


Finally, our aircraft!

The CRJ-900 operating our flight came in from Edmonton, and they began servicing it at around 11:50/12:00 p.m. Boarding began FINALLY, at 12:10 p.m., and we were soon on board.

Boarding music played, and the stage was set for a nice flight after all the stress of the morning. It is amazing watching the CRJ-900 fill up; it doesn't take so long, but you do really notice when every seat is taken! Definitely a bit cramped…



We pushed back at about 12:30, and began the taxi for takeoff. With no traffic in front of us, we were soon airborne. The Flight Deck came on shortly after we lifted off, followed by a welcome by one of the Flight Attendants, informing us of the service to be expected on the flight to RDU.

I sat back and relaxed; after a morning like that, I was pretty tired!


View at cruise

Drinks came around about 1 hour into the flight, and I grabbed my staple Tomato Juice. It was nice to have some peanuts as well.



Most of the flight was uneventful, and I didn't really pay much attention to the outside, until we were beginning our descent into Raleigh.




Views before landing ...


We touched down at a pretty deserted RDU, and had a very short taxi before we pulled into the new C terminal gates .... I spotted an AA 763 that was receiving catering, and I’m assuming it was off to London that night. Otherwise, there was hardly any other traffic! We pulled in and deplaning did not take very long. The new RDU Terminal is beautiful inside! The all-modern interior has a lot of very neat architecture, consisting of medium-colored wooden beams and stainless steel. It reminds me very much of the Wright Brother’s memorial in Kitty Hawk; I wondered if they modeled some of the interior from there. After heading down to baggage claim, we were soon all ready to go on a little vacation!

Wednesday, Dec 29, 2010.

On Wednesday morning, Dec 29, we arrived at the Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) at around 9:45am for an 11:41 am flight to Atlanta, and then on to Minneapolis. We had a wonderful stay in NC seeing family, and visiting the amazing Biltmore Estate, so getting back to the airport was bittersweet. AVL is tiny, and like other small airports in the US, it is very easy to move in and out in a short amount of time! We were the only ones checking in, and having no one ahead of us for security, we were through in a matter of minutes. The gate area was empty! It was nice to walk around a bit, and then my girlfriend and I found some rocking chairs (other airports, take note!   and relaxed a bit while we waited for our CRJ to arrive from ATL. At about 11:10am, our CRJ-200 operating the turn-around flight to ATL arrived. Within a few minutes the passengers were disembarking, and we began get ready for boarding. Our flight this morning was completely full, and some passengers who had “seat request” cards were a bit nervous about getting on.


Gate 3 at AVL






Awaiting our CRJ from ATL


Arrival!










Delta Connection (ASA) #5584
AVL-ATL
11:41am-12:43pm
11:41am – 12:35pm
CRJ-200
100% Full, Seats 9A/B.

Boarding began at around 11:20am, and we were soon stepping onto the CRJ. I haven’t flown one in a while, and I always forget how low down the window is when you sit down! There wasn’t much activity to see, but still nice to have a window to my left side. Our lone flight attendant helped passengers get situated, and very soon, the door was shut and we were ready to go. With no one ahead of us, we taxied right out, and headed down to departure on Runway 34. I read that the runway was 8000 feet, and it seemed to me like we used almost all of it on our departure before we rocketed out over the NC mountains!


View from # 9A


US Airways to CLT (later in the morning)


Minutes from takeoff ..

Our flight to Atlanta was only about 30 minutes, so shortly after takeoff, our flight attendant announced she was not able to serve beverages on a flight this short, and to just sit back and relax during the short flight.



We began descending after around 15 minutes, and everyone began preparing for the arrival. The landing was very smooth, and we soon turned off and headed towards the D concourse. We had about 45 minutes to make our connection, so we began getting ready for a fast exit. After we arrived at D33, we headed out to the concourse to check our MSP gate .... which was A28. After a quick tram ride and grabbing something for lunch, we arrived at A28. This was my 2nd time to Atlanta this year, after our trip to Liberia, CR back in February.

Our flight to MSP began boarding only minutes after we arrived, so it was good timing! We were soon on-board and enjoyed the boarding music as we got settled in ..... I always enjoy flying on the MD-88; it’s a very spacious aircraft in Delta’s configuration, and after flying on one in October going to Chicago, it was nice to get on another one. We were back in 20D/E which is right in front of the wing, so we had some nice views that were relatively unobstructed.






To STL



After what seemed very little time, we were pushing back from A28. Here’s a Delta MD-88 at the next gate bound for CMH, and an A319 for STL. As we began the taxi to the runway, the Flight Deck announced the flight time, and that we had only 3 aircraft in front of us! Not bad for an ATL departure ...  
Never heard of this airline before .. EnerJet?

After takeoff, we sat back and got into some new books that we received at Christmas. The flight back to MSP was 2 hours and 7 minutes, but with a good book, it seemed to really go by ... We were over dense clouds most of the flight, so there wasn’t much to see except for in the beginning around Atlanta.


Atlanta, GA




At Cruise

Beverage service began about 20 minutes into the flight, and the flight attendants were very friendly, and chatted with the passengers throughout the whole service.


At about 2:45pm CST, we began the descent into MSP. The clouds were pretty thick, so we didn’t see much until we were minutes from touchdown!





We zoomed over the Richfield, MN Dog Park before coming in for landing. Our taxi was fairly short as well, and we were soon docked at the F concourse.

Overall, 3 more very nice flights with Delta. Looking forward to more trips in 2011!

Comments and Suggestions are welcome! Happy New Year!

Matthew (767747)


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