The flight is cancelled? What is plan B?

Deborah Kade
Aug 27
8 min read

Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix.

Yesterday, August 25th, Michael received a notification that our flight scheduled from Phoenix to Zürich was cancelled. The Swiss plane we were to take from Chicago to Zürich had mechanical issues in Bangkok and was grounded until the problem could be fixed.

Michael got on the phone and talked to a man at Swiss Airlines in Zürich. First of all, the person said he could get us on a flight on Thursday. Michael said no and asked for other options. Well.. we could fly on Tuesday if we flew to San Francisco and waited 6 hours. We went with plan B. While the person changed our flight, he and Michael got into a conversation about Switzerland. Michael told him this was our 27th year going back there. Michael told him we stayed in Unterseen. Well... this person used to live in Unterseen.

I would rather fly from San Francisco to Zürich instead of changing planes in Chicago! I don't mind the wait as the Polaris Club is a wonderful place to have something to eat and people watch.

Last night we had a haboob, dust storm, roll through the Phoenix area. Michael and I were running errands and got caught in it. Luckily, the force of the storm subsided some by the time it got to North Scottsdale. It was still intense, though. The dust was followed by heavy rain and wind.

This morning, it was sauna weather. You would think you were in Venice, Italy or Miami, Florida as it was sticky humid out. My straight hair even had curly ringlets.

Some pictures of the Phoenix area.

The road runner on a Frontier Airline's tail.

Downtown Phoenix and the Diamond Back's baseball stadium to the left of the picture.

Tempe Town Lake and the Phoenix area.

"Tempe Town Lake is Arizona's second-most visited public attraction. The more than 2-mile long lake was created by damming a portion of the dry Salt River and adding water. Today, the lake continues to act like a river to convey rainwater and snow run-off by lowering the dam when needed and raising it again to maintain the water within the lake.

Tempe Town Lake is located in the heart of Tempe, running from west of McClintock Road to east of Priest Road between Rio Salado Parkway and Curry Road. A system of paths allow people to walk, jog, bike and more along its edges. It's also a great place for electric, wind and human-powered boats."

"In March 1989, Tempe adopted the Rio Salado Master Plan which represented the culmination of more than 20 years of environmental land planning. Studies of water quality and usage the Mill Avenue Bridges and ASU recreation ensued and programming began. A groundbreaking ceremony near Tempe Beach Park marked the beginning of construction of the river channelization. The Rio Salado Master Plan showed a Town Lake concept with a continuous body of water between the north and south shores. Previously, the lake concept included islands; this concept was modified to meet the flow capacity of the river channel.

In 1995, the city added more staff to the team dedicated to the Rio Salado project and began construction of a mile long bike path along the south bank of the river. The path features public art at a number of spots along the way. The city began the Town Lake design report and completed another financial capacity study and landscape designs for portions of the parks. The next year, the consultant completed construction drawings for the Tempe Town Lake and the city designated 800 acres (3.2 km²) of area including the lake as Rio Salado Park. On March 19, 1997, requests for bids were sent out for the lake construction. The city awarded contacts for construction of the lake on June 12, and groundbreaking ceremonies were held on August 8.

Water from the Central Arizona Project(CAP) started flowing into Tempe Town Lake on June 2, 1999, and by July 14, the lake was declared full. On November 7, Tempe Town Lake was opened to the public."

"Annual events at Tempe Beach Park include the Fiesta Bowl New Year's Eve Block Party, Circle K Tempe Music Festival, Oktoberfest, APS Fantasy of Lights, Fourth of July fireworks show, and AVP Pro Beach Volleyball (now held in Glendale as of 2007).

There are numerous charity walks and events at Tempe Town Lake, including the AIDS Walk Arizona & 5k Run and the Walk to Save Animals.

The lake is the host of multiple triathlon events, including the Tempe International Triathlon, Life Time Tri, and Ironman Arizona Triathlon. The Ironman Arizona Triathlon each November. The 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim portion of the race is held in Tempe town lake.

Several regattas for rowing, sailing, and dragon boating occur throughout the year. There is also the annual Rowers Triathlon, which consists of a 4,000 meter erg piece, body circuits, and a five kilometer run."

"The lake was completed in 1999, using inflatable rubber barriers in the riverbed to confine water within its boundaries. It is nearly two miles (3.2 km) long, with an average surface area of 224 acres (0.91 km²), and an average depth of 16 feet (4.9 m), for a total average volume of 977 million US gallons (3,700,000 m³). The maximum depth of the lake reaches 19 feet (5.8 m). The lake was initially filled with one billion US gallons (3,800,000 m³) of water purchased from the Central Arizona Project. Evaporation and other water losses of 1.7 million US gallons (6,400 m³) per day are compensated through additional purchase of CAP water, exchanges of reclaimed water, and long-term storage credits. Seepage losses are virtually nil, thanks to a system that recaptures virtually all seepage and pumps it back into the lake.

A park surrounds the area, along with office and residential high rises such as SouthBank, Grigio, Northshore Condominiums, Onyx Tower Condominiums, Rio West, Plaza Del Rio and Hayden Ferry Lakeside. The lake has fishing and boating (by permit and by day rental which can be purchased at the Tempe Public Library). The lake also hosts a small marina on the northern shore. Tempe Beach Park is home to several major annual events including Tempe's yearly Independence Day Celebrations and the Tempe Music Festival."

Flying over the ASU campus

Luke Air Force Base

Our plane weaved between clouds. What do these clouds remind you of? Can you see shapes and faces?

Anvil shape cloud leveling out.

Yes, that is the Colorado River

Airplane boneyard You may have to enlarge the picture.

Solar panels and wind turbines. What a crazy number of wind turbines!

Making our initial descent into the Bay Area.

Hangar One is one of the world's largest freestanding structures, covering 8 acres (32,000 m²; 3.2 ha) at Moffett Field near Mountain View, California in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The massive hangar has long been one of the most recognizable landmarks of California's Silicon Valley. It was built in the 1930s as a naval airship hangar for USS Macon and is now part of the NASA Ames Research Center.

"Designed by German air ship and structural engineer Dr. Karl Arnstein, Vice President and Director of Engineering for the Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation of Akron, Ohio, in collaboration with Wilbur Watson Associates Architects and Engineers of Cleveland, Ohio, Hangar One is constructed on a network of steel girders sheathed with galvanized steel. It rests firmly upon a reinforced pad anchored to concrete pilings. The floor covers 8 acres (32,000 m²) and can accommodate six 360-by-160-foot (110 by 50 m) American football fields. The airship hangar measures 1,133 feet (345 m) long and 308 feet (94 m) wide. The building has an aerodynamic architecture. Its walls curve inward to form an elongated approximate catenary form 198 feet (60 m) high. The clam-shell doors were designed to reduce turbulence when Macon moved in and out on windy days. The "orange peel" doors, weighing 200 short tons (180 metric tons) each, are moved by their own 150-horsepower (110 kW) motors operated via an electrical control panel."

"The hangar's interior is so large that fog sometimes forms near the ceiling.

Standard gauge tracks run through the length of the hangar. During the period of lighter-than-air dirigibles and non-rigid aircraft, the rails extended across the apron and into the fields at each end of the hangar. This tramway facilitated the transportation of an airship on the mooring mast to the hangar interior or to the flight position. During the brief period that Macon was based at Moffett, Hangar One accommodated not only the giant airship but several smaller non-rigid lighter-than-air craft simultaneously."

What is making that red color?

I'm not fond of driving on bridges like this.

Ever have a robot make you a cup of coffee?

Polaris Club

The peach infused water was so refreshing.

full bar

They have a dining room area, too. The buffet was enough for us as we will be fed once we take off.

Some of the featured dishes:

Cavatappi: asparagus, squash, peas, wine garlic broth

Citrus coconut roasted shrimp: sautéed spinach, summer squash, garlic broth

Sweet garlic soy seared chicken: vermicelli spicy noodles, pickled vegetables, cilantro

Confetti summer rice

Sautéed green beans roasted tomatoes

I sampled all of the above but the cavatappi was my favorite. I wish they would have shared the recipe as it was SO GOOD!!!!!

Peach infused water and ice tea

I tried both desserts. Tasty!!!

Salad bar ingredients were so fresh

Here is a first for us. Michael was so sweaty he decided to go downstairs to take a shower. You had an individual shower stall with a toilet and sink. They provided toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, slippers, towels, etc. If I had taken a shower, I would have taken pictures; unlike Michael.

I appreciated the large clean bathroom at the club. The hand and body lotion is a nice touch.

The time passed quickly for us at the San Francisco Airport.

Next, we have to look forward to a ten and a half hour flight.

Before the flight, the captain came back to speak individually to the 6 of us in first class. I told him about how our flight to Chicago was cancelled and how we were rescheduled on this flight. His line was, "If the flight wasn't cancelled we would never have met." Too funny!!! We both had a good laugh.

The pilot described our flight to Zürich. As I am sitting on the right side of the plane, I would have a nice view of San Francisco. We would be going over Lake Tahoe. There are thunder storms over the Rockies so we may get some bumps and thumps.