{"id":11614,"date":"2014-06-08T07:26:37","date_gmt":"2014-06-08T12:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=11614"},"modified":"2014-06-08T07:26:37","modified_gmt":"2014-06-08T12:26:37","slug":"journey-to-punta-cana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=11614","title":{"rendered":"Journey to Punta Cana"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The trip to Punta Cana was smooth and uneventful. Other than that it was our first time flying in first\/business class seats, there were no major hiccups or surprises. Since it&#8217;s a first, I naturally have to document it. LOL.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14357419224\"  title=\"image by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2922\/14357419224_e6526e6b46_z.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" alt=\"image\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This is Brian making sure that our passports are put away. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14171673168\"  title=\"20140606_054621 by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3913\/14171673168_5526b70113_z.jpg\" width=\"480\" class=\"pic\" height=\"640\" alt=\"20140606_054621\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When you are flying out of the country they check your passport at the gate. We didn&#8217;t think we would need it for the domestic leg (ICT to ATL) but they actually asked to see our passports when we were boarding. It makes sense. If you have forgotten your passport it&#8217;s better to know before you&#8217;re hundreds of miles away from home. If you don&#8217;t realize it until you&#8217;re at your connecting airport with only minutes to spare, what are you going to do? I&#8217;m sure there&#8217;s many other reasons why they check your passport from the start even when you&#8217;re still in the US, but I&#8217;m thinking that avoiding angry passengers who are unable to make their connection because they forgot their passports at home is probably a big one.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14356828492\"  title=\"20140606_060346 by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3852\/14356828492_a1d68500ca_z.jpg\" CLASS=\"pic\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" alt=\"20140606_060346\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Brian picked our seats so we were in the very first row. Bulkhead seats are great if you want lots of leg room. There is no under-seat storage, however; so factor this in if you want easy access to your bags.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14355031371\"  title=\"20140606_055820 by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2904\/14355031371_bdc057614d.jpg\" width=\"480\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"20140606_055820\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Oh, and notice the pillows and blanket. Throughout my years of flying I have experienced where you got food and blankets on economy\/coach (it was standard back in the day) and then over the years service dwindled to where you rarely even get peanuts. On one of our recent trips (we flew coach because we are too cheap to pay for upgraded seats) I was cold and I asked the flight attendant for a blanket. The flight attendant told me they didn&#8217;t have any. I guess they were just too nice to say, &#8220;We don&#8217;t have any FOR YOU&#8221; because everyone in first class got a pillow and a blanket on our recent flights.<\/p>\n<p>Actually it probably depends on the airline. I remember asking for a blanket on coach once and the flight attendant gave me one. I&#8217;m sure they probably just took one from first class or maybe they had extras. But then they wouldn&#8217;t have enough for everyone so maybe that&#8217;s why they quit doing it. Who knows?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14172417027\"  title=\"20140606_062336 by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5485\/14172417027_160ed5be8c.jpg\" width=\"480\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"20140606_062336\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here are some aerial views of Wichita.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14358073744\"  title=\"20140606_062323 by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3922\/14358073744_62f65c56d6.jpg\" width=\"480\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"20140606_062323\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The extra leg room came in handy. I&#8217;m actually short enough that I can stretch out completely. They just need little pegs on the wall to hold my feet up. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14358915015\"  title=\"image by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5476\/14358915015_d557f3611b.jpg\" width=\"480\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"image\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The perks of first class also include free drinks. They didn&#8217;t have any champagne on our ICT to ATL flight and it was a little early for a screwdriver so I just got plain OJ. You can get OJ in coach too, but it&#8217;s served in a plastic cup instead of a regular glass like this one.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14358052674\"  title=\"image by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2916\/14358052674_7bd1946c84_z.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" alt=\"image\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a picture of us on our ATL to PUJ flight.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14336213866\"  title=\"image by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2939\/14336213866_72eb5aaf50_z.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" alt=\"image\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This flight had champagne and they offered us mimosas before we could even get our luggage put up in the overhead bins. I&#8217;m not turning down mimosas. I got two. Just kidding. The other one is Brian&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14174726960\"  title=\"20140606_101702 by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5038\/14174726960_5355d6fb09.jpg\" width=\"480\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"20140606_101702\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lunch enroute to Punta Cana was actually not bad.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14368870765\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3859\/14368870765_fcfaa559c1.jpg\" width=\"480\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14365542371\"  title=\"  by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2901\/14365542371_2d407b15be.jpg\" width=\"480\" class=\"pic\" alt=\" \"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The inflight entertainment included Veronica Mars. Neither of us had seen that movie. We hadn&#8217;t seen any of the TV show either but we&#8217;d heard of it. The movie made the three hour flight go pretty quickly.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14368863875\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2924\/14368863875_986c790888.jpg\" width=\"480\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here are a series of pictures that I took from the air. Hurrah for window seats!<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14182238919\"  title=\"  by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2924\/14182238919_4d564dee2d.jpg\" width=\"480\" class=\"pic\" alt=\" \"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14345767876\"  title=\"  by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3890\/14345767876_7b1bc164df.jpg\" width=\"480\" class=\"pic\" alt=\" \"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/14365539411\"  title=\"  by Ching Brubaker, on Flickr\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3860\/14365539411_6925e6713a.jpg\" width=\"480\" class=\"pic\" alt=\" \"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The trip to Punta Cana was smooth and uneventful. Other than that it was our first time flying in first\/business class seats, there were no major hiccups or surprises. Since it&#8217;s a first, I naturally have to document it. LOL. This is Brian making sure that our passports are put away. When you are flying [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21],"tags":[2338,2337,2336,2488],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11614"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11614"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11625,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11614\/revisions\/11625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}