Keith and Mike's Indy 500 Trip

[churros]

POTC - only Disney gives all the bells and whistles!

And I think there is a little but too much mind wandering. You need Della to keep you in check!

[ajp]

I assume you have seen the Indy field Keith. Going to be a strong race. Briscoe and Power both through, although sounds like Briscoe had to fight for it. Dixon also through (not bad for a Kiwi I suppose). Hope you have a big Aussie flag to wave for the boys.

[KeithS]

I assume you have seen the Indy field Keith.

Yep - it is big news here at the moment - I've seen it on TV every night, and ESPN are replay classic Indy 500s from the past

Currently in San Francisco - tomorrow we are heading over to the Castle Air Force Base museum, then San Francisco again on Thursday.

Keep smiling everyone!

[KeithS]

Day Five - visit to Castle Air Force Base Museum, Atwater California.

Today - we were heading to Castle Airforce Base Museum in Atwater - just a bit east of Modesto California (2.5 hours out of San Francisco).

Some backstory - back in 2005 when Della and I first came to the US, we were on a tour to Yosemite when I saw an air museum out of the train window - and I could tell in a second that it was somewhere I had to check out - given it had an SR-71 Blackbird out the front. I quickly took a photo and when I got back to Australia, I used Google Earth to find out where the museum was (I was on a fast train remember) and what it was called.

So this year, when I decided to come over here with Dad, I just had to go and visit this museum...

...and I'm glad I did, as it was the best air museum I've ever been to!

Some aircraft they had included (girls, you can skip this bit...)

SR-71 Blackbird
F-4 Phantom
F-15 Eagle
F-14 Tomcat
F-111
B-24 Liberator
B-25 Mitchell
B-52 Stratofortress
B-47 Stratojet
B-17 Flying Fortress
B-29 Super Fortress
B-36 Peacemaker

Plus many more

Ladies can start reading again.

Anyway - the drive from Half Moon Bay was fantastic. It started with a climb into the mountains sound of San Francisco - then down through Silicon Valley to San Mateo - we passed lots of computer company headquarters. Then we crossed the magnificent San Mateo Bridge to Hayward - this bridge climbs and climbs into the air, then drops down to become a low level bridge over the water - it is 7 miles long - the biggest bridge I've ever been on! From Hayward, it was freeways all the way to the museum. We noticed how every farming town and a massive shopping mall beside the freeway - way bigger than the big shopping malls here, so another thing I'll have to check out one day (next trip?!)

When we returned to Half Moon Bay, we had dinner at Joe's at Half Moon Bay - a local Italian joint where the food was terrific. I had the Chicken Scallopini and Dad had the Salmon with lemon and caper sauce. It also came with a minestrone soup appetizer and fresh bread. I was completely stuffed, but Dad decided he had enough room to stick in a slab on boisenberry pie as well. We left feeling very satisfied!

Tomorrow, we are driving across the Golden Gate Bridge in the morning to Sausilito, then catching the ferry across to Fisherman's Wharf for a day in SF (that'll save us looking for parking in SF, and gives us a harbour crossing to take photos of the bridge and Alcatraz).

Lots of Disneyland adverts on the TV here at the moment advertising The Little Mermaid and Star Tours - woohoo!

[ajp]

Wow some classic planes Keith.

[churros]

Thank you for the skip directions

[mushu mama]

Thank you for the skip directions

LOL.... yep...

although, I'm wondering if I might have an 'auto skip' when it comes to that stuff, cos I only read the skip directions after I read that we could start reading again and went back to see what I was supposed to skip.

Loving the updates, sounds like an amazing journey so far

[Mel]

Some aircraft they had included (girls, you can skip this bit...)

*ahem* some of us girls may have studied Aviation at university!

I'm loving the details of your travels in California. It's one of the options for us in 2015.

Are you going to be at Disneyland for Star Tours and Little Mermaid, or will you be a little early? You might be able to catch some soft openings anyway.

[KeithS]

*ahem* some of us girls may have studied Aviation at university!

I apologise profusely Mel - I must make an effort to ask you about that in more detail at the next meeting!

I'm loving the details of your travels in California. It's one of the options for us in 2015.

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous at the thought of hiring a car and just driving around - but now we are here, it is totally brilliant and I'd hire a car again anyday. The GPS has been invaluable too - no way would I have found half the things I was looking for without it!

Are you going to be at Disneyland for Star Tours and Little Mermaid, or will you be a little early? You might be able to catch some soft openings anyway.

We might just get a soft opening. The official media opening for the Little Mermaid is next Thursday afternoon, so I should be in DCA to see the song and dance that they put on for that - it is my last day there. The official openings for the public are Friday - the day after we leave.

Anyway - onto Day Six!

We got up this morning - and yes, it was bright and sunny again. A little cooler today perhaps.

After breakfast, we got in the car, programmed the GPS, and headed north along the coast. Before long, we got into the suburbs of San Francisco and after a few turns, we were on the Golden Gate Bridge in the sunshine! After crossing the bridge, we drove down into Sausalito - a small arty community with little quirky shops, restaurants and bed & breaksfast establishments - it is a very nice little community. We parked the car at the ferry car park (it was 10:30 and there was hardly anyone around!) then bought return tickets from a vending machine for the trip to the San Francisco Ferry Terminal.

The trip across the bay was great - we sat outside on the top deck and watched the Bridge and Alcaraz drift past as we made our way towards land. Once we arrived, Dad said he wanted to go along to Fisherman's Wharf, so we hopped on a tram and went the mile up the road to where the wharf is.

We spent a good three hours hanging around that part of SF - having lunch at Pier 39 and looking at the sea lions on the pontoons there. We bought some Ghiridelli chocolates and some souvenirs for people back home. We wandered up to Hyde street to see the Cable Car turnaround - watching the cars coming down the steep hill, then being turned around for their return journey. We didn't go on this time as we were pressed for time and they take forever to load.

All too soon, we caught a tram back to the ferry terminal, looked around the local markets near there, then boarded for the return trip to Sausalito.

When we got back to the car - there was just four minutes remaining on our parking spot and the parking inspector was waiting beside our car! Her face fell when we got there

We then headed off to the lookout that overlooks the Golden Gate bridge but the road to that was closed for resurfacing - of all days! Anyway - we had a great time in the City. It is a much more relaxed atmosphere than Los Angeles - and the city looks great on a bright sunny day like today. Last time I was here with Della, it was overcast all the time, so I was glad to be able to see it in the sunshine.

Tomorrow is a transit day. We have to get up early in the morning and drop off the car at the airport before flying to Denver, then Indianapolis.

Just a couple more days to the big race!

[Mel]

I apologise profusely Mel - I must make an effort to ask you about that in more detail at the next meeting!

I wouldn't bother Keith, it sounds way cooler than it actually was. More to do with running an airline/airport than checking out cool planes. Besides, I didn't finish my degree

Your day today sounds perfect! I wasn't a big fan of San Francisco on my one visit, but you make it sound so wonderful we may just have to give it another try

[churros]

It looks like people are getting on Star Tours according to various blogs

[KeithS]

Day Seven - Disappointment, Tension, and Success!

Wow - I was expecting to only type a little bit about my Friday transport day - after all, I was just expecting it to be a simple inflight day...

We woke up early in the morning, had a quick breakfast and put all our luggage in the car. Then we headed towards San Francisco airport and the rental car drop off. Now I must say something here about Alamo Car Rentals - they were fantastic! The most efficient operation for car rentals I have ever experienced - and they were cheap, the car was terrific, and the rental return was simply a case of unloading the bags and the guy saying "have a nice day!". I would choose them again without hesitation (and as a Disney-link, they are the official car rental company of the Disneyland resort!)

Anyway - after dropping off the car, we caught the Air-Train to domestic terminal 1 and headed to the Frontier Airlines check in desk a couple of hours early. We went up to the girl behind the counter and said we were checking in for Indianapolis via Denver. The lady said unfortunately the flight from SFO to Denver was running an hour late due to bad weather - which I knew would mean we'd miss the ongoing connection from Denver to Indianapolis. She looked up the next flight from Denver to Indy and said that it was full! Nooooooo......!!!!!!! We'd have to go on standby... She still checked our bags through to Indy, so we knew we'd have to get there some how!

Dad was freaking out and I said not to worry - we might be able to come up with other solutions. We went through security and went to a news stand to buy a map of the US. We looked at other cities close to Indianapolis and decided we could hire a car from Chicago, St Louis, Louisville, Cinnicinati, or Dayton - so we'd try and get two tickets to either of those cities once we were in Denver.

Our flight from SFO finally took off and when we landed, they said the Indy flight was still on the ground, so they let us off the plane first and we ran to the gate, only to find that the flight had closed and they were pushing the plane back...

So I headed to the Frontier airlines desk and explained what was happening. Every staff member we spoke to from Frontier was excellent - they really tried to elp us from the people in SFO and all the people in Denver (it wasn't their fault the flight was delayed by bad weather). Anyway - the Frontier girl in Denver checked the evening Indy flight but it was still 100% full, but she said we were number 1 and 2 on the standby list. It was 2pm in Denver and we had to wait until 7:10 for the evening standby. She then looked at all the nearby cities where I could drive from, but there were no flights with two seats available (it is a holiday long weekend here for Memorial Day). The girl gave us a hotel emergency booking number in case we missed the standby and had to stay the night in Denver - which was looking highly likely.

I left the Frontier desk then started to visit each of the three terminals at Denver, seeking airlines that had two seats to Indy or a close city - but not one of them had seats available! So we realised that we'd have to wait on standby and see what happens.

At 6:10pm (after a very tense four hours), the flight desk opened at the gate and I went straight up to them and explained the situtation (again...). The staff there said they'd try the best, but it was highly unlikely as the flight was full. So we sat there watching everyone get on the 7:10pm flight. Then suddenly, they asked to see passengers Simpson and Simpson. I jumped up and the lady said she had two seats! I could have jumped over the counter and kissed her! Not only did we get tickets, I was in row 1, and Dad in row 3! So we were at the front of the plane and could get off first.

So we ended up on the Indy flight - which touched down in Indianapolis at 12:15am!

Amazingly (and this never happens...) our bags came off the plane together and first! We were able to pick them up and walk over to the ground transportation area where we had hotel transportation as part of our Indy 500 package. I checked in with them, and little did I know, it was a full stretch limo service - but we were so tired, I didn't even get a photo!

We finally got to the hotel and checked in - and we were in bed at 2:15am! We were meant to have a 7am start to go to the raceway to see the driver's briefing, but there was no way we could make it. We had hardly eaten or slept in 36 hours. I did get up at 7 this morning, but just to go downstairs and pick up my Indy 500 package details.

So we arrived, and now we are resting in the hotel. The Indy 500 parade comes past our hotel at midday today, so we'll go watch that.

Tomorrow is the big day! Woohoo! Weather forecast is for sunshine and heat.

[churros]

If the American's just did direct flights we wouldn't have all these missing connecting flights stories on the forum.

[ajp]

Just from your writings Keith, I can nearly smell the fuel from here. Have fun at the race!

[KeithS]

Here we are! Reporting live from trackside at the Indy 500! Race start is in one more hour. Our seats are brilliant, high in the middle of turn one. The atmosphere is electric. Will update you again at the conclusion of the race. Look for me in the crowd, I'll be wearing the blue shirt