Lime Green Flying Machines

At 34,000 feet the glare of fluffy white clouds hid the view of Baffin Island and whatever else we flew over. It was about 5pm back home and I'd been on the move since my brother took me to the airport at a very early hour that morning - thanks, Alan.  I still had a few hours of flying before I got to Seattle and could relax properly. Fortunately several naps on the way over meant that when I finally arrived in Missoula it felt like early evening local time, not 2 in the morning UK time.

The wonders of air travel are not without their trials. At my first attempt at check in back in Birmingham I discovered that while Air France uses Servisair to represent it at airports, the code share flight with Flybe employs a different company. So while I explained that the Servisair man I spoke to yesterday said I could take a laptop bag as an accessory in addition to my carry on bag the lady at the check in wanted one of them in the hold and at extra cost.  

I opted to redistribute my things and ditch the laptop bag as it was old and not worth much - safely, of course as you don't leave anonymous bags lying around at an airport. After going to town on the excess weight in my suitcase and cramming yet more items in my already heavy hand luggage I went back for take 2 of the check in.  

This time a different lady was happy with the arrangement and sent me over to pay for the extra weight in the suitcase. The lady who took the money said I could indeed take the laptop bag with me so I paid up for the excess in the hold, redistributed my things once again, and took the bag with me. Admittedly the total weight of hand luggage was still kind of over the limit... OK a lot over the limit... but nobody asked to weigh it.  

Airports have a thing about cameras. At Birmingham the staff at the x-ray machines carefully took out my cameras and wafted a swab on a plastic stick over them and inside the bag while I put my shoes back on and fastened my trouser belt. Two check ins, two repacks, and the good fairy with her wand had eaten into the time I had to get to the plane - which I soon discovered was parked miles away. A long, fast walk with seriously heavy equipment gets the pulse racing but I made it with a few minutes to spare.   

I'd cooled down by the time we landed in Paris but was surprised how spread out Charles de Gaulle airport is.  We seemed to taxi for an age and still end up needing a shuttle bus to reach the terminal. I went to get screened again.  

At Paris, when they ask you to take electronic items out of your bags and pop them onto plastic trays for the x-ray machines they mean more or less everything, and I was carrying loads of them. After the scan I had to repack again. I'm going to find myself a plastic belt for air travel - all this juggling of bags while keeping your trousers in place is not dignified.   


Eventually I arrived in Seattle and did the immigration thing - the official was a pleasant lady and there was no hassle or awkward questions. After one last x-ray scan, which only required the laptop to be taken out of the bag and allowed me to keep my belt on, I had time to relax, eat, and admire the colourful range of planes that were landing and taking off. Most noticeable was a lime green plane - think Kermit the Frog with wings. There was even free wifi so I could check up on emails and see what the world was up to as I waited. 


I'd gotten through the hard parts and there was only one small flight to go. I started to relax. That final flight was the most enjoyable - watching the mountains from one of the lime green flying machines I'd seen earlier was fun and I even took a few pics to prove it. Best of all was knowing the plans of the past year had become a reality.