Plane & Simple on Southwest

Flight 921, 2386 8/18

PHX - LAS

My flight this morning worked our pretty perfect… It took me less than 40 minutes to get from my front door to sitting on the plane. I wish it worked out that way every time! Because I got to the airport in such great time, I caught the earlier flight to Vegas. When I arrived at the gate they were just finishing up boarding so I didn’t waste any time at the airport.

The flight was great. I debated taking a nap since I only got three hours of sleep last night but decided against it. Our flight path was pretty cool - we followed along the roads between Phoenix and Vegas, which I don’t believe I’ve seen before. Unfortunately, I’ll be doing that drive a lot more starting in November… but I’ll post more about that at another time.

LAS - PHX

When I got to the airport, I found out that Phoenix was having another haboob (giant dust storm) and so flights to Phoenix were delayed. I spent some time with my mom and her friends before I was told my flight had made up time and was ready to go… so I hauled butt up to the gate and barely made the flight.

As for the flight itself, I was extremely tired. Halfway through the flight I was so close to falling asleep when we hit some CRAZY turbulence. That woke me up! The pilot announced that we were flying through some lightening and asked the flight attendants to get ready to prepare the cabin for landing. The ride into Phoenix was interesting to say the least… we had about four miles of visibility as the valley was covered in the remaining dust from the storm.

Once we landed, we ended up spending a half hour on the tarmac because every gate was full. The airport was closed for a while so there was quite a bit of back up. Needless to say, I was very grateful to get home safe and sound.

Great job to the Southwest pilots that kept us safe - You guys are the best in the business!

Flight 2217, 1425 3/1

PHX - LAS

The flight today was calm for the first half and bumpy the second half. Wasn’t expecting that but I enjoy a little bit of turbulence. I spent the entire flight reading through the new SPIRIT magazine. I was fascinated by the featured story about how newborn babies communicate - especially since one of my best friends just had a baby two weeks ago. I also tried doing the dollar origami elephant but got so lost halfway through I gave up… What can I say, I have a short attention span when I get confused.

I spent the day with my mom and sister going over wedding plans. And trust me, I’m exhausted.

LAS - PHX

Before I go into the flight, the airport was a ZOO. Southwest Airlines system went down nation wide - which means there was no automatic printing of boarding passes, no automatic scanning of boarding passes, no automatic checking of bags… nothing. When I got to the airport, I found out that my flight had been canceled - which most people would be irritated about, but I made the best of it. I spent the first hour waiting for my flight visiting with my favorite airline agents. The next hour I spent at the gate working on homework.

The flight was full - which was funny because it was listed that there were only 30 or seats taken the night before. It was full because there were many canceled and delayed flights throughout the day. I got a window seat and was able to finish up my homework assignment on the plane. Although I was slightly annoyed with the passenger in front of me… he decided to rapidly decline his seat almost crushing my laptop.

Please, if you’re going to recline your chair, be sure to check behind you and make sure the coast is clear - whether the person behind you has a laptop or is tall and their knees are already hitting the back of your chair - be aware and courteous to your fellow passengers.

Hang in there fellow fliers!

Plane & Simple Interviews! Part 2

It’s been a while since I last did some interviews and I’d like to start it up back up again!

Do you want to be seen on Plane & Simple (and perhaps get more views on your own personal blog)?

I’m kicking off my travel interviews today! Whether you travel weekly or once a year, I’d love to post your responses on here.

If you’d like me to include your photo (or photos you’ve taken while traveling), email me with your answers as well as your photo(s). planensimpleswa @ gmail . com

And if you’d just like to have your questions posted without photos, reply to this post (or email me).

Thanks guys!

What’s your name (feel free to include the websites/blogs/etc. that you run)?
Where is your favorite place to travel and why?
What’s your favorite airport and why?
What’s your favorite travel memory?
Where would you love to travel?
Do you have anything else you’d like to add?

Have you traveled to a ‘Most Extreme Airport’?

After watching the Most Extreme Airports on the History channel tonight, I’m thankful to say I’ve only flown into one most extreme airports - San Diego, CA.

Here’s the list of the top 10 Most Extreme Airports according to the History Channel:

1) Lukla
2) Tegucigalpa
3) St. Barths
4) St. Maarten
5) Gibraltar
6) Hong Kong
7) Courchevel
8) Eagle County
9) Madiera
10) San Diego

Have you traveled to a most extreme airport? Send Plane & Simple your story and I’ll post it!

Email: planensimpleswa @ gmail . com
Twitter: @planensimpleswa

Plane & Simple Interviews!

Want to be seen on Plane & Simple (and perhaps get more views on your own personal blog)?

I’m kicking off my travel interviews today! Whether you travel weekly or once a year, I’d love to post your responses on here.

If you’d like me to include your photo (or photos you’ve taken while traveling), email me with your answers as well as your photo(s). planensimpleswa @ gmail . com

And if you’d just like to have your questions posted without photos, reply to this post (or email me).

Thanks guys! <3

What’s your name (feel free to include the websites/blogs/etc. that you run)?
Where is your favorite place to travel and why?
What’s your favorite airport and why?
What’s your favorite travel memory?
Where would you love to travel?
Do you have anything else you’d like to add?

Greener airplanes

MIT and NASA combine forces to create greener airplanes

Pretty cool ideas coming from MIT and NASA!

With this new design, airplanes will emit 70% less fuel - and if airlines factor that into their pricing for tickets, ticket prices should be lowered!

Flight 3240

SJC - PHX

My flight tonight was pretty nice. I had some company - my boy - so that was great. I always enjoy flying with friends/family. One of the funny parts on the flight happened as the pilot turned off the seat belt sign - it was smooth sailing until he came on the intercom and that was when we hit some turbulence. A couple passengers (including the pilot!) laughed along with me.

This weekend my family got together in Santa Cruz. We had an awesome hotel a block from the beach. We spent of time on the boardwalk playing games at the arcade and riding rides. My favorite ride was a ride that made it feel like you were flying - you lay down on your stomach and the ride lifts you up about 20 feet in the air and spins you around. It was great!

I wish I could fly like a bird! haha

Flight 1509, 256

PHX - LAX

On this lovely flight, I got seated next to a super young, super impatient and super rude mom. She was on the plane with her 16 month old - who, as to be expected, was crying, moving around and just being a 16 month old! Needless to say, I felt bad for the poor young one. Halfway during the flight, the little girl fell asleep. She was super adorable. I took this picture of her passed out:

I wish I could fall asleep like that.

Oh, and the weirdest thing happened. The last person to board the plane was this older dude and HIS DOG. Yep. His dog. And no, his dog wasn’t in a doggie holder… his dog was in his arms. Not entirely sure how that was allowed… but it was.

LAX - SJC

While I was hanging out in LAX, @ChrisFaver came up to visit. We chatted for a couple minutes. It’s pretty sweet having Southwest friends in different cities. We looked up the Florida One plane and found out that it would be in Phoenix tonight - OF ALL NIGHTS! I missed it by less than 6 hours. Super bummed about that.

My flight to San Jose was delayed by 30 minutes - which ended up being 40 by the time everyone was boarded and ready to go. My “middle seat trick” worked so I was able to take the aisle seat.

The flight was pretty average… except for the guy that was sitting next to me. He kept watching me play games on my iPod touch and then would proceed to tell his wife about them - like I didn’t know he was doing it. That was pretty humorous.

I was debating if I wanted to pull up something weird or scary or controversial and see what he would do - but I didn’t - cuz… well, I don’t really have anything like that on my iPod. Unless you consider a picture of me at one of the Obama rallies. He might’ve freaked out that he was sitting next to an Obama supporter. :)

My airplane t-shirts (with tutorial)

Now that this semester is over, I had some time to burn yesterday… so I painted these airplane tees!

If you’d like a tutorial on how to make your own shirts like these, I’ll provide one at the bottom of this post. :)

So now for the tutorial! :) (I’ll use the pictures I took when I made a t-shirt for the Plane & Simple blog!)

What you’ll need:

• A printed out image/logo/etc. of what you want stenciled
• X-acto knife (or something similar)
• Freezer paper
• An old magazine
• Iron
• Paint brush
• Acrylic paint
• Plain t-shirt

So let’s start out with your image - if you’re just starting off, use a relatively simple image with just two colors. The more complex your image, the more cutting and difficulty. Also, letters are incredibly time consuming and difficult to do - so I only recommend letters if you have the time and patience.

Cut out a sheet of freezer paper that will cover your image completely, then tape the freezer paper (shiny side down) on top of the image. It’s important that the shiny side is down (you’ll see why in a second)…

Place an old magazine underneath your image so that your knife doesn’t cut through and damage whatever you’re cutting on.

Now (carefully!!!) use your X-acto knife to trace around the image like so…

When your image is completely cut out, you’ll have your stencil!

Remove the original sheet of paper so you only have the freezer paper in hand. Take that freezer paper and place it on your t-shirt where ever you want it.

Plug in your iron and set it on cotton setting. It doesn’t have to be fully heated up in order for this next process to work.

Place your iron on the stencil that is placed on your shirt. If the iron is warm enough, it will make the freezer paper adhere to the t-shirt.

Wait for your shirt/stencil to cool before you start painting.

Remember that old magazine you were using when you cut out your image? Take that same magazine and place it between the front and back of the shirt (where your body would be). This prevents the paint from bleeding through the shirt.

You’ll want to use acrylic paint. You can find this in any craft store.

When you begin painting, be sure your paint is situated close to your stencil to prevent any drops landing on your shirt. You don’t need any special paint brush - just a cheap one that’ll do the job!

When you’re done painting, it should look something like this -

Now let the paint dry.

If you’re using white paint, I recommend letting the paint dry and then paint another layer on. In fact, I always recommend a second layer of paint no matter what color - but if you’re short on time, one layer will do.

After your paint is dry, you can peel up the stencil.

Vola!

Your shirt should look something like this -

For this shirt, I hand painted (in red) the letters that had spaces in them such as the P, A, & and O. I also covered up that little drop that landed to the left of the left plane.

Now, the final and most important step is putting your shirt (inside-out) in the dryer on high heat before you wash/wear it. By putting it in the dryer, it sets the paint - which will make your shirt last longer. Craking in the paint is to be expected - after all, it’s a homemade thing. But it looks awesome nonetheless.

If you have any questions, feel free to message me!

Enjoy!

Flight 3849

LAS - PHX

Well it just dawned on me that this could’ve been possibly my last flight to Phoenix as a visitor… because I’ll be moving here in less than two weeks. Crazy.

Anyways. I got to the airport early tonight because my sister had a birthday party to attend to. As I was going through security I noticed that one of the bag screeners was down - so I asked the TSA agent what happened. Apparently, someone brought a cooler through security that had a bag of ice that had melted - and that water spilled all over the inside of the bag screener. haha! It made me chuckle just a bit - you can’t bring through bottles of water but no one said coolers full of water!

After security I got my boarding pass and found out that one of my friends was working at the gates so I went to visit her. My flight was delayed 15 minutes so I had some extra time to chill. It was 7:05 and my delayed flight was scheduled to leave at 7:20… so she checked her computer and told me that the plane had already boarded. GREAT.

So I hustled my bum over to my gate and got on the plane!

There was a pretty sunset as we were in air so I enjoyed that. Everything else about the flight was pretty normal. Overall it was a good flight!

See the making of Florida One!

Not only is this video awesome to see how airplanes are made, but it also shows the intriate painting detail on Southwest Airline’s new plane, Florida One!

Check out the video here!

I created a Facebook group for Plane & Simple

If you’re on Facebook, check it out and join here!

Or copy and paste the following link into your browser: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/group.php?gid=110291889012354

Oh! And invite your friends too. :)

Thanks guys!

Flight 600

LAS – PHX

I’m just going to come out and say it…

I’m awesome.

You might be asking yourself, “Why is she awesome?” Well, I’ll tell you why.

Tonight I attended a banquet hosted by the college I attend. My friend and I decided to carpool to the place because she was going to give me a ride to the airport afterwards. So the banquet happens, it’s nice, good food, etc. We decided to leave the place around 7:45. Now keep in mind, the place where the banquet is being held is about 10-15 minutes further from the airport than my house.

My flight was scheduled to leave at 8:30pm. That’s 45 minutes to get to my house and then to the airport. So we haul butt and get to my house around 8:00pm. I drop off my stuff from the banquet, change clothes in the parking lot (classy, I know) and hop back in the truck. Now it’s 25 minutes till my flight leaves.

My friend asked me if I was going to make the flight and I told her I wasn’t sure… I wasn’t too worried though because there was another flight later tonight going to Phoenix. I told her I just loved the rush of and challenge of seeing if I could get to the plane on time. She told me I was “sick and twisted”. haha

By the time we got to the airport, it was 8:17… thirteen minutes till my flight left. I jumped out of her truck and went to grab my stuff out of the truck bed. As I was leaning over to grab my suitcase, she began to pull away – totally forgetting that I had bags in the back. I pounded on her back window and she screeched to a stop. I was laughing hysterically at the situation and when she rolled down her window I could hear her laughing hysterically too. I love that girl. Anyway. I grabbed my suitcase and backpack and was on my way.

I ran to the nearest kiosk to print out my security document, and then rushed up to security. There were a couple people in line ahead of me but luckily no one took too long to get their stuff through security.

Now usually when I’m leaving Vegas I fly out of the C gates. Not tonight. Tonight, I left out of the B gates – which, to those of you who have never been to the Vegas airport, basically means a lot more walking. So I grab my stuff off the security belt, throw what I can in my pockets and go. Now keep in mind, I didn’t have time to throw my belt buckle on, so in one hand I’m pulling my suitcase and in the other I’m holding my pants up! I hope at least one person in the security checkpoint area was humored. I imagine I looked pretty pathetic. 

When I finally got up to the gate I was out of breath and sweating. Luckily, they hadn’t closed the door so I was able to get on the plane.

Want to know what time it was when I got on the plane? 8:27. Three minutes to spare.

That’s what I call PRO STATUS!

My friend said that I should have a reality show where cameras follow me around on all my traveling adventures – there’s rarely a dull moment! I think that’d be a hilarious show.

Oh, and my flight was relatively average. Although I did find a trashy magazine in my seat back! And the chick sitting behind me kept kicking my chair. That’s about it.

From Formspring:

I don’t have to ask you anything, but i met you on a flight from reno to la in march and i have tried to join repeatedly!!! Anywhoo congrats on the engagement!!! Hope to see you on another flight!

Aww, thank you so much for still reading my blog! On that flight I was sitting next to a man in the aisle seat and a woman in the window seat… are you the gal that was flying to see her boyfriend in LA? I’m not sure when my next flight from Reno - LA will be but hopefully I’ll see ya! Thank you again! :)