Day 7: Travel day
Welcome
Yesterday we flew from New York City to Denver, Colorado.
Our morning engagement was a brunch with Todd and Alec from Carpark Records, along with our friend and fellow Carpark artist Chelsea Jade.
I ordered the Chilaquiles which were tortilla chips tossed in salsa verde with scrambled tofu eggs, vegan sour cream, red onion, radish, avocado, and coriander.
It was a beautiful day in NYC and we were sorry to leave but we had a flight to catch and were determined to catch it better than we ever had before. Bidding farewell to our friends we piled our mountain of gear into a pair of Ubers and headed off to La Guardia on the i278.
Crawling along Flatbush Avenue on the way to the interstate.
With no smartecartes® in sight on arrival we enlisted the help of the Prosegur who I assumed to be some kind of airport concierge but after some research seems to be a security guard moonlighting as a porter. In any case he had a cart and that’s what matters.
As we made our way up to security after a smooth check-in we passed this goldmine. We were sad to have missed the opportunity for a free lunch but still happy to see these guys off the leash.
Queuing up to go through TSA it was hard not to admire the flash new scanners guzzling the endless flow of hand luggage. The Analogic ConneCT Checkpoint Security System uses CT imaging technology partnered with advanced threat detection software to produce Full 3D, high resolution imaging for superior threat detection and low false alarms. Its 15cm/s (0.33554 mph) conveyor speed allows for a throughput of up to 600 bags per hour (0.166666666 suitcases per second). What that meant for us out there in the real world was that we didn’t have to remove our computers from our bags.
With these $300,000 machines chewing through everyone’s carry-on luggage at the same speed and efficiency that a CFM56 high-bypass turbofan engine chews through a bird strike it was no surprise that we made it out into the terminal C concourse with time to spare. This gave us plenty of time to enjoy the facilities of the recently renovated terminal and admire the view of the East River and Flushing Bay.
Liz was kind enough to give me her window seat for the flight and the view on the climb out of La Guardia was spectacular. We took off to the northeast and then made a wide climbing turn to the west over The Bronx which provided a breathtaking view of Manhattan Island.
Looking South with The Bronx in the foreground and Manhattan in the distance.
New Jersey in the foreground, then the Hudson river and Manhattan.
The flight was about four hours and permitted the observation of a number of distinctive landscapes - from the green grid pattern of Ohio and Indiana, to the circular paddocks of Iowa and Nebraska, and eventually the expanse of tundra in Colorado.
We landed at Denver International Airport at 7pm local time and it was a pleasant sight to see the tenty points of the terminal roof basking in the soft light of golden hour, looking resplendent in front of the snowy peaks of the Rockies they bear so much resemblance to. Liz found us a smartecarte® in the pickup area and we headed off to the hotel in a pair of Ubers, enjoying the view of the sun disappearing behind the mountains.
Then it was time for dinner and a rest, being sent off into our slumber by the thrilling exploits of the world’s finest shark scientists.