August 19 -- leavin', on a jet plane

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On the 19th I headed out, for the corporeal part of the 60th anniversary festivities.

The new(ish) Northwest terminal at Detroit Metro is very nice. Sweeping. Soaring. Light. (Very long indeed, from one end to the other).

This fountain is in the "entry/lobby" (my words, not theirs), just as you enter the very long north/south building with all the big-plane gates.





Why is it that when you have 10 minutes to get to your plane you always have to hustle to a gate the far end of the terminal, but when you have two hours, you get one of the closest gates?

I was dropped when it was convenient for my better half to go on to work. Earlier than I needed to be there, so, naturally, I left from gate 49, which is very close to the entry/lobby, in the north half of the building.

I decided it would be good to walk allllll the way down to the end. If you don't use the slidewalks, it takes 8-ish minutes to walk down there. Striding right out, but not hurrying..........





On the way back, I decided to park for an hour or so in a nearly-vacant section, rather than in the more-crowded area near gate 49 (where the crowd included a mother with three small kids, and the mother was coughing..........).

Trying to show how looooooooong this building is, but it's so long it's hard to see how long it is............... (as always, click on any pic to embiggen)





This was just to the right of the prev.

I like the reflections on the floor (and am grateful I am not the person in charge of keeping that floor clean and shiny!).





It rained down, hard, for a while. I read my novel and waited for it to be time to go back to gate 49 and board my plane.

We boarded right on time.



And then waited for the better part of an hour as the captain was "in the airport, all the way down at the south end of the terminal." He had to make it to our gate and then do "paperwork." We had been on the plane for nearly an hour when we finally left.



Here's another attempt to show how long that building is.






And another. This is the south half of the building. Plane-size, it doesn't seem so big, but person-size, pretty big.





I like the lines on the pavement.........



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