Ah the Comfort and Joy of Home!

Not to give away the ending or anything, but we did arrive home, finally, last night. However there is still much to be shared in the continuing saga of THE TRIP.


Picking up from where we left off yesterday . . . 


Upon arrival at the SLC airport, we trudged to the security gate. Let me state at this point, that I now understand the decline in traveling couture. Years ago, people dressed up to travel. It was a sophisticated adventure, and we all wanted to look the part. In our post-9/11 world, we are all too busy schlepping all our own luggage, practically undressing to get through security, and having to arrange food and beverages on our own for the flights, to bother with what we look like. Comfort is key if you're going to survive.


But I digress . . . 


Once at the security gate, we began unpacking the required objects, removing jackets, shoes, pens, money, etc. from our bodies. While I was "turbo scanned" in San Francisco as we were leaving, I avoided it in SLC. Dh went through the standard metal detector and had his luggage x-rayed. No problems. I went the through the metal detector -- fine. As I waited for my luggage to come through the x-ray, I realized that the TSA officers were pointing at and studying something on the screen. Based on the timeline, it had to be my bag. Uh-oh. Another TSA officer came over and picked up my bag, asked if it was mine. When I assured him that it was, he asked me to follow him. Now those of you who know me well know that I travel with "buddies". The companions vary, but Yolie always goes. This time Twitch went with us as well. So the TSA officer asks me if there is anything in my bag that might harm him in any way AS HE'S PULLING YOLIE AND TWITCH out of my bag. He gets to my makeup bag, which has Tinkerbell on it (yes -- I am 4 years old!), and that's when I remember the Swiss army knife. I carry it with me all the time. I had already been through 2 previous security checks with no problems. Think of the dozens of people I could have massacred with my miniature Swiss army knife! I told the officer what was in the bag; that I had forgotten I had it; and that I had previously cleared security with it, not once, but twice. He was not amused by that little tidbit. 


He was very nice and allowed me to get an envelope and stamps so they could mail it back to me. As you can imagine, dh was less than thrilled by this delay, but once that was taken care of we were on our way again.


Did I mention that the people in SLC really like to keep it warm in their buildings and cars? By this point I was about to roast. I tracked down a large diet Coke with lots of ice! And then began the waiting. Again. It probably wasn't that long a delay, but by this point, everything seemed to take forever! We took off about 30 minutes late. The fly in the ointment this time, was we only had 35 minutes to between arrival and departure once we got to Detroit. The flight attendant assured us it would be no problem. Yeah, right! 


This flight was uneventful, however once we landed (20 minutes late), things got wonky. Dh and I had agreed that he would do the "OJ Simpson" and rush to the next gate. So he plows over the woman next to us as soon as the plane stops, and then comes to a standstill in the aisle -- a standstill that lasted for 25 minutes! Yes that is correct. Everyone stood in the aisle, chattering on their cell phones and debating who would/would not make connecting flights. I still don't know what happened. The flight attendant (who had assured us is it would be "no problem") actually said, over the intercom, "I have no words. Thank you for your patience." I don't know if the key was lost, the door was jambed, or the ground crew was just all on a coffee break. Once we were released, big surprise, we had missed our flight!


Welcome to the Detroit Airport! Large, roomy, airy, comfortable temperature, and practically empty. The next flight to Nashville was at 9:50 PM -- 4 1/2 hours in an airport that doesn't offer free wi-fi. So we wandered. I charged my laptop and iPod. We played word games and solitaire and Sudoku. We drank tea and hot chocolate. We waited. The plane that was supposed to depart at 9:50, arrived at 9:43. Do any flights arrive or depart on time anymore!?!


Once more through the boarding process. Dh and I are across the aisle from each other, but at this point, who cares. I just want to go home! And that's when the gift arrived.


The plane wasn't full. Dh and I each had 3 seats to ourselves! Yes you read that correctly -- 3 seats. Prop your feet up, lean back, cover up with a blanket and read or sleep or just sit and stare knowing no one is going to crawl over you! Travel nirvana! This has only happened to me once before and it was a blessing that time too. 


A dear friend picked us up at BNA and drove us home, where we were greeted with cold weather, happy dogs and dd (ds was asleep). I brushed my teeth, took my pills, filled the humidifier and went to sleep.


Coming home IS the reward!

Pleasure Travel?

It's lunch time on Monday and I am on an airplane somewhere over Utah. This was not in my plan for today. As some of you may recall, last Thursday I posted about a lovely trip my dh and I were taking to San Francisco. Dh had some business to attend to on Friday, so we left Thursday morning, planning to extend the trip through Sunday. 


We had a lovely time staying at The Argonaut on Fisherman's Wharf. Pictures will be coming soon. We wandered the wharf and ate good food and generally had a really nice time. Admittedly we did have to fly through Minneapolis (?) to get to San Francisco from Nashville, but all in all it wasn't a bad trip. I avoided the dreaded scanner in Nashville and was not chosen for a "complimentary pat down".


Unfortunately, our departure from San Francisco has become a comedy of errors!


We left our lovely, tranquil hotel at 9 am (west coast time) on Sunday. We arrived at the airport around 10 am, after an uneventful ride on the F bus to the BART station. The BART ride to the airport was fine, if rather loud! We arrived at the SFO in plenty of time; got to our gate; picked up a sandwich to eat on the plane; and waited. And waited. And waited some more. The flight into SFO was late, due to icing problems. Then there was a maintenance issue that had to be dealt with. Then cleaning and restocking the plane. We finally left an hour and fifteen means after our original departure time. The good news was we had a 2 hour layover in Salt Lake City. Or so it seemed. Turns out SLC had an incredibly thick fog bank swallowing the city, so when we got there ATC asked us to circle for a while. No problem as we had plenty of fuel. After 45 minutes to an hour of circling, they decided to redirect us to Vegas. Uh-oh. After a 45 minute flight, they let us land and told us things had cleared up in SLC, so we would be refueling and flying back! No deplaning. No options to get us on through to Nashville. So back to SLC with a limited beverage and snack cart; tired attendants and passengers. Thankfully, everyone seemed to be handling it with aplomb.


We finally landed in SLC a little befor 8 pm (mtn time) and began the attempt to find a connecting flight home. Oh did I mention that when we got off the plane there was no one to help us from Delta. We all dutifully as little sheep got in the Delta line and waited 10 minutes or so before we were told no one at that desk could help us. We should all go to "bravo-3". We dutifully trudged over there and waited in line another 10-15 minutes at which point we were told it wasn't her job to help us. We were sent to an unmanned kiosk to the left of the gate. Seriously? Would have killed them to have someone standing at the gate where we disembarked to give us some of this information?


Dh got on his cell phone to talk with a Delta agent, while I found a plug to charge my phone and check on the kids. Next I contacted the local Embassy Suites and found it was only 10 minutes from the airport and did provide a shuttle service. Dh lined up a flight for Monday morning at 11:10 (mtn time) to -- not Nashville, oh no -- how about Detroit! That makes sense don't you think?


After a sandwich, a little tv and some sleep we woke this morning ready to face the day. Did you know that the sun doesn't rise in SLC until 7:45 am? How does anyone get anything done with so little daylight? I have a new respect for these people! LOL!


Anyway, a lovely breakfast and an overheated ride to the airport was followed by more excitement once we arrived, but I think I'll save that until tomorrow.


Till then, happy travels!