Time Travel

My husband is responsible for the computer systems of the Ball Corp. plant in Springdale AR. Normally we drive, which takes about 7 hours from our home in Ft. Worth, TX, but this time Merle wanted to try flying instead. I don't know that it saved us any time. We left home at 7am and didn’t get out of the airport in Harrison, AR until about noon and we still had an hour drive to Springdale. (It is possible to fly to Northwest Regional Airport, which is closer, but a lot more expensive.)

We booked through Mesa Airlines. It felt more like time travel…going back 30 years. Instead of entering our plane through a jet-way, we walked across the tarmac and up the steps to the plane, like in the old days. We flew on a 19-seater, with only 7 passengers including us. Of the 19 seats available, 4 were emergency exits. We both had a window seat. We both had an aisle seat. (In case you weren’t paying attention, that means there was one seat on each side of the plane.) I didn't want a seat over the wings, because I wanted an unobstructed view, but basically all the seats were over the wing, or engines (even worse), except the very back row. We sat in the 8th row, with only a partially obstructed view, one row in front of the back seat row which had three seats. There was no stewardess so the co-pilot gave the welcome and emergency info. No beverage. No snack. No tray tables to return to their upright and locked position. No carry on bins overhead to secure before take off.

Here we are, walking across the tarmac, and up the stairs.

We both had a window seat. We both had an aisle seat.

We were scheduled for a quick stop in Hot Springs AR for about 10 minutes and picked up several passengers there. We could feel the plane jostle as the newcomers’ luggage was placed in the compartment directly underneath our seats and we could hear the guy singing as if he was in the row behind us. I'd have sung along, but I didn't know the song, so we all just grinned at each other. We watched them refuel the plane's engines through our windows.

Then we flew on to Harrison, AR. Again, we walked down the steps and across the tarmac.

The Boone County Airport terminal in Harrison, AR.

The terminal building was smaller than a McDonalds. It was the smallest airport I've ever been in. They had a tiny room walled off with glass for their security and baggage handling facility. In the open part of the room were two 6 foot counters: one for rental cars, one for passenger ticketing and check-in. They hand carried in our luggage, in fact the same person was checking in passengers, delivering luggage and servicing the rental car desk!! There may have been about a dozen padded chairs to sit in. We had to wait until all the luggage was carried in, and then, for some reason, our car rental reservation wasn’t easy to locate (imagine how hard it must have been since we were the ONLY passengers on that flight renting a car), but we finally got a car, which was parked about 20 steps outside the front entrance of the airport building.

I wondered what I was going to do in AR. We were allowed 2 pieces of luggage each, but no carry on, just a personal item. I didn’t have room to pack a project to work on. I could go shopping, but what good would that be, since I wouldn’t have room to take anything home?

I did go to some antique malls anyway. I bought two things. We were eating dinner and I told Merle “I only bought 2 things.” I said, "one for you and one for me." And from my little purse I pulled out 2 little action figures, a Superman and a Batman and stood them on the table and said "do you want to play?" That cracked him up. I actually bought them to put in the toy box at home.

On our return trip, we got up at 4:30 am to drive the 40 minutes from Branson, (where we’d spent the weekend) down to Harrison to catch our 6:50 flight to Dallas. We noticed that there were three TSA agents to check in 8 passengers. Overkill? They were obviously bored because all four of our bags had the note informing us that bag had been searched. It really seems a little absurd, since what terrorist is going to waste his life on 8 passengers?

All went well until we made our 10 minute stop in Hot Springs to pick up a couple of passengers. Then they wouldn’t give us clearance to take off again. They said it was due to weather in Dallas, but Merle brought up the radar on his fancy little Blackberry, and it was just rain, so we don’t quite understand what the problem was. We sat on the plane for a while, taxied out to the runway, then back to the terminal and de-planed. They told us to leave our personal items on the plane to make security recheck easier, so I left my purse in my seat. I asked if I could take my book, and was granted permission.

We sat there for a few hours, so I was glad I had my book. I borrowed Merle's Blackberry to call my Mom. The extent of the food available in the Hot Springs terminal (which was marginally larger than Harrison’s) was one Coke vending machine and one snack machine, but my purse with all my money was on the plane parked outside. Luckily, Merle had some change in his pocket, so we decided to split a bag of peanuts. He put the money in, pushed the buttons and the bag of peanuts moved right to the edge, but then got hung up and wouldn’t drop! Luckily, another passenger also wanted peanuts. She put her money in and ours toppled down along with hers. Everyone cheered! So we split a bag of peanuts and a can of Dr. Pepper.

The terminal at Hot Springs, AR.

We could have driven and gotten home faster. In fact one passenger opted to rent a car and drive to Dallas. (Hot Springs boasted two rental car desks!) The two passengers who were joining us in Hot Springs were pilots on their way to work at DFW. One had already missed the flight he was scheduled to pilot by the time our plane was given clearance to leave, so he didn't join us after all. They finally said we should all go back through security and get back on the plane. (The whole security thing was laughable, since I think there were only a half dozen, if that many, people who entered the airport doors during the hours we sat and waited, yet we had to go through security again...rules are rules, you know.)

When I put my shoes in the tub, the security man asked to see my photo ID. Hello? We were told to leave our personal items on the plane, and I'd been a good girl and did as I was told. "My photo ID is in my purse, on the plane." Of course, I was the only passenger with this problem, because I was the only woman who followed directions, the rest (4 others) took their purses into the airport, and the remainder were men. The guy at security said “we’ll see what we can do.” “What’s your name?” I told him, and he answered, “it’s your lucky day! You’ve guessed the name of one of our passengers!”

We finally arrived at DFW and remember I said we didn’t use a jet way? Yep, that meant walking across the tarmac in the rain. We had an umbrella…IN THE SUITCASE….checked luggage, of course. Reminder to self: place the umbrella in the personal item when flying on small airlines. We had to stand in the rain until everyone de-planed, and claimed the personal items which were too large to put under the seats, then walk over to the terminal, following the man sent to lead us in like ducks in a row. When we got to the stairs we found the water draining from the roof pouring splashing out a spout making a good sized waterfall. Since no one wanted to take a shower right then, we walked back over to a Jet way set of stairs and finally got inside.

Our luggage was already inside waiting for us (one advantage of a small airline.) Yes, we are home again. Finally. Believe me, I slept well in my own bed last night. Would I pay $228 to fly to AR again? No, but the experience was priceless.