Erk's 2014 Pacamerican Circle

[erkpod]

My points/SC for the LAS - SFO sector have just posted - about 6 days after the flight. Not bad.

My points for my Vegas accomodation have also posted via Agoda. Interesting to see that I only got the silver bonus points & not the gold to match my VFF SG status.

 

[erkpod]

Aqua Duck



One of many segway tourists around Fishermans Wharf





Two of many cable car photos I've taken




Just in case I forget the time & date when I took this photo in San Jose

 

[erkpod]

I'm so happy with my new Canon Powershot G16 in various conditions including night shots









One thing I have been doing is to include the lane markings in photos. It's fun for me to get the word BUS (for instance) on the road in the shot as well as a bus (bus) or another vehicle (not a bus).

 

[erkpod]

San Francisco, Day 14
Tuesday 14 January

Final day in San Francisco today. I headed to a postal centre to send a parcel home. The USPS figure was in the high double dights &'everyone else (UPS, FedEx etc) were well into the triple figures. The guy said that it would be slowest way to send the parcel home via USPS with expected delivery in 2 weeks. I'm not going to home anyway so no big deal. It was a good way to compare prices in the one location.

Next stop was to hire a Go Car. Basically a 3 wheeled motorcycle, I rode one last year & it was a lot of fun. This year was no exception. The red one I got this year was supposed to have a bigger engine but I'm not sure that was the case. I headed around Little Italy, Chinatown & the Castro.

Looking at my phone, I had 45 minutes to get from the Castro back to Fishermans Wharf. One heart stopping moment when I didn't see a red light at around 30mph & sailed through the intersection. Evasive action taken & crisis averted. Made it back a few minutes late.

Lunch at Dennys & then a lot of the afternoon at the cable car museum & photography in nearby streets.

On the way back to the hotel, I could hear sirens & see lights. They approached quickly & we were overtaken by a SFFD ladder truck. Very spectacular. Better yet, it stopped near the cable car I was on. Mid car, I was able to squeeze of the cable car & got some BRT shots. Turns out it was a medical call & an ambulance soon arrived. The slope of the hill & the length of the ladder truck, oh man!

An Asian man was loaded (walking) into the back of the ambulance. Hope he has travel insurance! Firefighter work done & the patient in the back of the bus (as paramedics here often refer to their ambulances) & I returned to the hotel.

The shuttle is booked for a lunchtime departure from the hotel. Tomorrow I fly F on VX SFO - PDX.

San Francisco, it's been fun...

 

[erkpod]

Quite clearly taking a selfie, some people actually did stop their cars thinking I was telling them to stop.



Lots of fun on the Go Car. I had the red one.








At the cable car museum

 

[erkpod]

Driving advice for the cable car driver, officially a gripman.



Sometimes the cable car needs a push


Cable car stop sign near Chinatown



Hanging on for dear life

 

[erkpod]

 

[smithy]

Great TR. Keep em coming. San Francisco is one of my favourite cities. Did you see the old w class Melbourne tram?

 

[erkpod]

Great TR. Keep em coming. San Francisco is one of my favourite cities. Did you see the old w class Melbourne tram?

Saw it briefly on this trip on Friday. But I did ride it last time I was here this time last year. It certainly looks different to many of the other streetcars. Not many of the overseas streetcars seemed to be running on this trip.

One thing I didn't know until last year was that you can only start driving the streetcars after a few years of bus driving. So if they are running short on bus drivers on a particular day, you can be sent back to drive a bus & that streetcar you were going to drive doesn't run.

 

[erkpod]

Day 15, Wednesday 15 January
San Francisco - Portland

After a stinking migraine sent me to bed early, I'm nearly fully packed to leave San Francisco. I'm about to get some breakfast but I still have just under 3 hours before my noon check out & shuttle to SFO.

It will be my first trip on F to PDX on VX this afternoon so that will be cool. I was happy with my last VX trip in Y so it will be interesting to see what F will be like.

Tonight, I've been invited to a trivia night if I can make it. I know a lot of people there & I can't wait to see them.

I hadn't seen the Portlandia TV series before my previous trip there last year. But it is fairly accurate to my experiences & those people I know.

 

[erkpod]

Day 15, Wednesday 15 January
San Francisco - Portland

Full flight report to follow but the VX F cabin is way better than the VA J (737) cabin. Boarding in F was easy & the cabin was stunning.

Unfortunately for me, I think I handed the CSM my boarding pass to be thrown away when I had to throw away from fries packet. My seat buddy in 1C was an uptight suit but the safety demo got him to laugh. Well done, VX, well done.

I asked the gate staff at PDX if they could print me a new boarding pass for VFF purposes but as the flight was closed for boarding, they couldn't. I did ask to see if my VFF SG number was there & it was. I saw it with my own eyes.

Bags were first off, I suspect the other guys in F were HLO.My original plan was to get the Maxx light rail to the hotel but I quickly got a shuttle instead.

It was the PDX PM rush hour & people here aren't known for their driving. The shuttle driver got around the traffic the best he could & I made contact with my local friendly quizmaster.

Dumping my bags in the hotel, I was out the door 3 minutes later with a plan thanks to Google Maps. Lucky for me, I'm on the PDX Streetcar route (not to be confused with the Maxx) & a bus stop to downtown is at the front door. The 3 bus drivers (2 driving, 1 deadheading) were helpful & I made it after changing buses. In fact, I made it to the pub 10 minutes after the quizmaster - she got caught in the traffic also.

Trivia was cool. I don't play it at home due to my work schedule but I'd happily play trivia here - helps when you're friends with the quizmaster. She reads my tweets & Facebook statuses in my accent.

My hastely thrown together team got hammered but it was a great night. The trivia & my pork chop were sizzling. Luckily my newly minted vegan friend (as he described himself to me a few months ago) didn't mind me eating pork chops in front of him. If there's a place that would mind, it's here.

A long conversation & a ride back to the hotel via a gas atation & my evening was done. It was time to quickly unpack.

 

[erkpod]

Plane pics from VX816 SFO - PDX


Gate display, SFO


Onboard luggage size guide sign with plane in the background, SFO. Hate the film on the glass - makes plane photography very difficult


How the window shade stayed the entire time. VX are very much into the mood lighting & all the shades seem to be down by default when boarding.


Map


Purple divider between row 1 & the F galley. Row 2 can be seen reflected in the divider. There's a similar divider in front of 1AC. There's another purple divider between rows 2 & 3.

 

[erkpod]

More pics from VX816 SFO - PDX


Seat 2A (after Mr 2A deplaned)


Purple divider behind 2A & mood lighting


In seat controls (seat 1C, after Mr 1C deplaned) for the lumbar support & moveable footrest. Note that it looks like a human!


You can fire a cannon through PDX on a cold Wednesday afternoon & not hit anyone.


PDX White courtesy phone

 

[erkpod]

I'm on a bus, not for the first time ever in PDX


First of many bus photos on this sector. Many people do use public transport here.


Typical suburban bus stop sign


I presume there's a fire station near my transfer point.


FREE CHAIR! Does anyone want one?

 

[erkpod]

If you're reading a map, turn right.


Made it to trivia!


Localish beer. I don't drink beer but it was bought for me so.... doesn't taste as bad as Fosters but not far off it


Portland's known for funny signs & passive aggressive behaviour. This was in the loo at the pub where trivia was.


Late night gas station visit. Here, it's illegal to serve yourself in addition to the usual (in the US) pre-paying for fuel.

 

[erkpod]

Flight report, VX816 SFO - PDX
Wednesday 15 January 2014



Plane: N530VA (A319)

Captain: Glen

CSM: Ed

Seat: 1A (F)

Priority Check-in: Yes. I went to the elite/F line. Was directed to the Y desk but ahead of the next Y desk pax. F desk unmanned.

Security: Through in about 20 minutes via priority (not TSA Pre) line. The regular line was moving faster until a second agent came to my line. Had a free patdown of my calves.

Vlounge: No. Would have needed to go to the VS Clubhouse. Not worth the hassle.

Boarding: Priority boarding worked. Boarded early so didn't watch Y boarding.

Seat: Awesome. VA need to steal this seat for 737 J. Can't comment re VA J on A330 as I haven't done it yet. Lumbar support & movable footrests. See earlier posts for pics.

Food: Didn't eat but looks comparable to QF/VA J based on posts I've seen here.

Safety demo: Y gets to watch the video on the IFE. F aren't allowed to have their movable screens up so F gets the traditional FA led demo as the audio plays in the cabin. I asked the (rather cute) FA if she was going to dance for us like they do in the video but she declined.

IFE: Movable screens in F. Watched some cable TV.

Crew: Captain Glen not only introduced himself but did his first welcoming announcement via the FA's workstation in the front which was nice - we could see him delivering the message. The FA who gave F the safety demo was dressed in a red jacket but she wasn't the CSM (VX use a different term that escapes me right now). Without jackets, the VX uniforms remind me of prison officer uniforms. Fairly similar to good VA service on a comparable sector.

Flight: Flight was smooth & about 15 minutes early.

Priority baggage: Tagged correctly & came out first. Suspect the other guys in F were HLO.

While this was a short flight, the F on VX was better than F on DL for similar sector length & type. If VX's limited network is running alongside DL & you live in the VA universe, go VX if coin & timings permit. If you don't go F on VX, aim for row 3 or row 10 (Main Cabin Select).

 

[erkpod]

Day 16, Portland OR
Thursday 16 January

It's cold here in the Pacfic Northwest right now by my standards. 2°C at 1850. It got to about 7°C during the day. Spent the day downtown & riding buses & streetcars.

Purchased a heavy jacket in Target (50% off) along with gloves & a beanie. Target had a rather cool escalator purely for shopping trolleys - reminds me of the San Francisco cable cars!

Lucky for me I've got a streetcar stop & a bus stop at my front door - got a weekly pass for $26.

I haven't seen any shops near the hotel - I'm getting dinner delivered to the hotel.

 

[erkpod]

Cart escalator, Target, downtown Portland

 

[erkpod]

There IS an Expo Centre at the Expo Centre station. It seems to be further away from downtown than I thought it would be.





Max trains (light rail)



One of many bus pics. Non commuter travel on public transport makes up 1 in 4 trips. 45% of downtown trips are by public transport. 1m trips a year are to or from PDX airport via the MAX (light rail) service. Interesting facts advertised in the vehicles by Trimet.



Inside a MAX train.

 

[erkpod]

Cold!



My view from the hotel room around 0930.







Steam powered Coke machine (LOL) this morning



Trying to capture my breath in the photo this evening.