How's this for an introduction to flying for a newbie that had never flown before:

I find out that my father is terminally ill in a southern New Mexico hospital and I need to fly down there ASAP. So, 5am Saturday morning on Oct. 27 I get dropped off at the front of Sea-Tac with a one-way ticket to El Paso Texas. It was the next closest hub to Las Cruces New Mexico where my father was.

Nobody fly's straight to El Paso from Sea-Tac so I had to change planes in Vegas before continuing on to El Paso. From El Paso I paid $42.00 for a shuttle bus ride to Las Cruces NM.

The first plane was a new 737-800 model that looked brand new inside and out. The second plane for the short leg from Vegas to El Paso was a really old 737-200 model which had seen better days.

Southwest Airlines has festival seating on these short hops and on both flights the attendants wanted me to sit by the exit door to open it in an emergency. Apparently cause I was a whole head taller than anybody else on the plane. So on both flights I was 2 seats away from the window over the damn wing.

11 days later I get to fly home on a private flight on a Lear Jet 35. What a freaking rush that was. We were requested to wear earplugs during takeoff because of how loud it was with the engines right behind our heads. My step mom and I sat all the way in the back on fold down seats at the rear of the cabin. Once we reached 40,000 ft it was quiet enough to talk in pretty normal voices. The view from that height was incredible. Especially when we were flying into Washington as the sun was setting in the west.

The accommodations were sparse due to it being a utility craft designed for medical transports.
Even though the circumstances were so tragic, it was still an incredible experience.

(Jesus, i need to get out more)

A close family friend who had also flown down to help out, drove my parents mini-van home for them. It took us 3 hours to get back on the Lear. It took him 4 solid days of driving to get back with their van.

RM I saw your post on the photo page. Very sorry about your father.
Welcome back as well.

Very sorrry to hear of your loss. Your father will be in our prayers tonight...

Now you know why 1st class is as far away from the engines as possible. Those jumpseats and bulkhead seats are fine for about 30 minutes then you really notice the inability to recline.

Sorry to hear about your dad.