Yes, this is the route I traveled today!
LAS – SAT
My morning started off at 445am! I did my usual morning routine – made sure I looked professional and such – made breakfast - and then headed off to the airport. Oh, and in my nervousness I wasn’t paying attention when I was making breakfast… and the knife in my hand and sliced open my thumb. I should pay better attention next time.
Anywho. For whatever reason I decided to stop at the grocery store on the way to pick up a meal bar and a couple apples. This was vital to my success later on in the day.
I got to the airport, waited in line and got my “must ride” pass. *Oohhhh* If you’re not familiar with the term, don’t worry, I wasn’t until a couple days ago. What it means is that you’re flying free and you must be on the plane – so they can’t pull you off the plane if there is a revenue paying customer or someone higher in rank than you.
There were 35+ employees trying to get on this flight – and not all of them were able to get on. Luckily I was able to get a boarding pass – despite the fact that there were a ton of employees trying to get home.
So our flight left around a half hour late because there were some maintenance issues and they were also waiting on a flight attendant. Everything about the flight was pretty routine until we got above San Antonio. I noticed we kept making all of these right hand turns… we were circling around the airport. There had been flash flooding in the area. When we finally landed, the pilot informed us that we were the first plane to land in 3.5 hours. Crazy!
I figured even though my flight was an hour late, I’d still get into Dallas with enough time to make it to my interview. Because the aircraft was going on to Dallas, I didn’t have to get off the plane and ended up getting the window seat in the emergency exit row with extra leg room. Woot.
SAT – DAL
So as we’re sitting on the plane waiting for the San Antonio passengers to board, the pilot announces that it’s going to be a little while longer because of bad weather. Apparently the storm that caused massive delays in San Antonio wasn’t as large as the storm over Dallas.
So we sat there. And we sat there.
After numerous “updates” the passengers were finally able to get off the airplane and get a bite to eat – I didn’t because I wasn’t sure if I’d make it back on time (since I didn’t know the airport well). Instead I had a meal bar and an apple… oh and some of the cinnamon cookies they gave out on the flight. I made friends with the gentleman sitting next to me so we chatted while we waited.
By the time we ended up leaving the gate with everyone on board, we were around 2.5 hours late. The flight out of San Antonio and into Dallas was *so* bumpy. I’m very grateful that Southwest Airlines has the best pilots around because there is no way your average pilot could’ve easily maneuvered around that.
When I landed a sighed a HUGE sigh of relief. I had been on the plane for 6 hours.
The Dallas airport was a ZOO! There were canceled and delayed flights - which left everyone running around like ants trying to find a way to get to their destination. I was just glad to be at the Dallas airport!
Because my flight was so late and I didn’t want to miss my flight out, the lady interviewing me and I decided to have my interview in a room downstairs in the Dallas airport. I’m very grateful she was able to meet up with me at the airport.
The interview went great. I was super nervous when I left my house this morning but by the time I we landed in Dallas my nerves were gone. I think things went really well. I’m hoping I get this internship!
After the interview was done, I went into the bathroom and changed out of my business attire. I could only handle wearing it for so long – plus after flying in it all day, I just wanted to be in something comfortable! So I quickly changed into my shorts, t-shirt and flip flops and went to the gate where my flight was departing out of. My timing was perfect because they were boarding the A boarding group.
DAL - AUS
The flight to Austin wasn’t full and I was able to get a window seat. When I got to Austin, I was able to get a bite to eat! WOOHOO! I got “Salt Lick” – I had never heard of it before but it was delicious! Unfortunately I was only able to get a bite to eat because the flight from Austin to Vegas was delayed an hour. Oh well. I’m happy I got to eat!
AUS – LAS
This flight was completely full. I’m very grateful that the gate agent in Dallas printed out my boarding pass for this flight so I was able to get a window seat. Within five minutes of leaving the ground, I was asleep! I napped for a good hour before the terrible turbulence hit. It was a good 20 minutes of hardcore turbulence. I spent the rest of the flight playing tetris and solitaire on my iPod. Let me just say, I rock at tetris. :)
So I’m home now. I’m exhausted. My adventure ended up lasting 14 hours from airport to airport – if you factor in travel time before and after, it was about 16 hours. I pretty much traveled the entire length of the US in one day. I’m proud of that.
And I’ll tell you what, it was so worth it. I hope I made a great impression… I have the warrior spirit they’re looking for!
