Well you folks have covered what happened in the east. Here is my experience.

I have been in the PNW since the first of the month. Spent some time visiting family, some time in the North Cascades and sometime salmon fishing.

Flew out of Sea-Tac on 11 Sept. The flight left at 6:00 am. It was clear. The sun was rising over the Cascades; you could see from Hood to Baker. Glorious sight. We flew across central Washington. The pilot said we are passing Spokane and we could see it on the right. As we neared the Idaho border. The pilot came on and said that there had been a terrorist attack in New York and we were required to land immediately. We went to Spokane. People on the plane began using cell phones to find out what was going on. By the time we landed we had a good idea.

After 30 min in the airport, we were told that we had to collect our baggage for security matching. Then they closed the airport and we had to go outside and stand in the yard [so to speak]. A few hours later, the airline brought in buses to take us back to Sea-Tac. After a 5 or so hour drive, and a stop in Ellensburg, we were back at Sea-Tac. A whole day to return to where we started. The airline system was total chaos. We are still booked on flights through next week. This morning they opened Sea-Tac but didn't open the airspace, which meant no planes could fly; they corrected that after noon. By luck we got onto one of the few flights that left and made it home. It was very strange. When we left Sea-Tac, there were no other planes leaving. We saw no planes on route; when we landed at Saint Louis, there were no other planes coming in.

The airline was very nice. They paid for our meals and rooms. I am tired and I am going to sleep.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), September 14, 2001

Answers

By-the-by:

One thing that I forgot. When we returned to Saint Louis, we had to pick-up our car. The lot asked us when we had intended to return. We told them and they only charged us for the that time; not the actual time our car was there. It was like the hotel, that dropped their rates to serve stranded people. All very unusual, but I saw a lot of this.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), September 14, 2001.

WWHHAAAAAAA,... Poor Baby!

-- afan (helenrules@socool.com), September 14, 2001.

A very long trip. You left from one USA and returned to different USA.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), September 14, 2001.

Z,

Good to hear from you. I remembered that you said you be in the PNW, not the Northeast, but I did wonder about you. Glad you're OK.

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), September 14, 2001.

Z, good to hear from you. You're off to so many places so often that I couldn't remember where you were this time.

-- helen (no@end.now), September 14, 2001.

You coulda called. Or emailed. I have been worried about you. I knew you were out here but not when you were going back or where you were going back to as I don't remember you mentioning exactly where you lived.

Sorry you got stuck, but glad you were here and not on the east coast and that made it home ok. Where you on the first flight out of SeaTac? Was that you on the aircraft they were interviewing?

-- Cherri (jessam6@home.com), September 14, 2001.

Cherri:

How are you doing? No, the first flight was a Delta to Atlanta. Mine was the second flight [3 hr later]. My hand did get on a Channel 4 take. I was talking to a policeman and petting his dog when the camera man from Channel 4 stuck a video camera in the dogs face. The dog gave serious thought to eating the camera and, perhaps, the camera man. If they ran it, my hand would be the one on the dogs head. :)

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), September 14, 2001.