It was smooth sailing from Oaktown into SFO for an 11:05am departure. I picked up a pair of casual carpoolers from my favorite Oakland Avenue pickup point to beat the mid-lot backup at the toll plaza. Traffic was a bit slow on the Bay Bridge for a Friday morning, but I had plenty of time to get to SFO. I abandoned the EP3 at the PCA lot and was shuttled to the international terminal. Check in for UA977 was a breeze at the 1P counter and there was a very short wait at customs. I had about 15 minutes before the 10:20am scheduled boarding time so I made a detour to the Red Carpet Club to down the world’s smallest bagel, a bruised banana, and some OJ before heading over to gate 93. I had a chuckle at the tiny A320 parked between a United 777 and an ANA 747. After boarding, I tuned in to Channel 9 from 8D. Other than a brief delay shortly after pushing back for the pilot to fix something, it was an uneventful flight. A serving of meatloaf and Batman Begins later, I was in Mexico.

Arrival into Mexico City was a spectacular urban sprawl. Just a mass of humanity as far as the eye could see. The horror stories about the air pollution were definitely overblown, but the ones about the traffic…well, 1 out of 2 ain’t bad.