I volunteered for a trip over new Years Eve since it's a 3 day trip at an all inclusive resort on the coast of the Dominican Republic and I only have to fly one leg for 3 days of pay. The first day, today, just consisted of the company flying me down so I decided to go early on the red eye last night and do a stop in Miami for a day on the beach. I figured I could sleep on the plane. The flight was full so I settled into the jumpseat up front and after the initial climb I took the two jumpseats apart and made a bed on the floor of the cockpit. An hour into the flight though, the plane lost two hydraulic systems and things got busy. I had to spend the next three hours helping the guys and we ended up diverting to New York. Even had to manually extend the landing gear and land with no thrust reversers or nosewheel steering. Good times...We swapped planes and finally headed down to Miami. I still had 6 hours until the flight and it was such a beautiful day that I changed clothes in the rampers crew room and headed on foot out of the airport to the beach.
It's a lot longer to get to the beach than it looks from the air. Dang. 84 degrees today and it about killed me, but what a great run. It's also a good time going through security in sweaty running clothes and no bags. I just had enough time to grab a shower and get to the plane. I have a whole day tomorrow to get in a good run in the DR and maybe even get the chance for a quick trip to Haiti. Running through some of those neighborhoods is one of the most eye opening things you can ever do. Every American should be forced to do it once in their lifetime! | 