It’s an hour’s drive to Pasco. David and Bonnie had a new itinerary, scheduled to leave Pasco at 5:30am. Adding the recommended time meant that we had to leave the hotel at 3:30am to get them to the airport. Since I am the designated driver, I got up at 3:15am to start the whole process.
David is normally very unconcerned about just about anything, But he was somewhat concerned about getting up on time. When you can’t hear alarm clocks, oversleeping is a big risk. So he gave me a room key with instructions to come in and wake him up at 3:15 if he didn’t respond to a text.
He didn’t respond. I walked down to room 137, let myself in, and roused him. His alarm was beeping incessantly. We left the hotel at 3:30 and I was back at the hotel at 5:30 after dropping them off. Hopefully they will make it out of the airport this time.
I went back to bed but was unable to sleep. We both got up at just before 7 and had breakfast. Some of the remaining family was having breakfast also. When asked how he slept, Derek told us that he slept fine until about 3am, when someone’s alarm started blaring and went on and on. I asked him his room number, It was 139, right next to David. He didn’t consider it near so much an annoyance when he learned whose alarm it was. Nathan also, who shared the room with Derek, complained of an alarm going off in the middle of the night. We all had a laugh over this inconvenience.
We took a long walk, then packed up the remaining stuff in the room and left for the airport. It was kind of surreal, driving through the town of Zillah, knowing that there is a good chance that we will never come here again. Mom and Dad are buried here, and there are still some relatives here, including a brother, but the parental link is now gone. We may never pass this way again, but we will see Mom and Dad again, not in this life, but the next, and for that we rejoice.
Our flights so far have been uneventful, and we received notification that David and Bonnie arrived home on time, but others are still having some issues. Terry and Jill were delayed due to weather in Denver, but they actually flew the plane this time.
We arrived in Minneapolis at 9pm, just when all the food places were shutting down. This drove all the traffic, including us, to one place that served pre-packaged sandwiches. They were expensive, but they were decent. Seems like traveling and eating just go together.
So far we’ve had two flight segments and have just one more to bring us into Duluth, where the RV is parked. Those two segments had an entirely different feel to them. The first segment was on a smaller plane with two seats on each side of the aisle. Although many people poked at their phones or tablets, the shades were generally open and it was bright in the cabin. The second flight had built-in screens in the back of each seat. Nearly everyone settled in and watched movies the entire flight, and nearly all the shades were drawn. So it was dark in the middle of the day. It was like being crammed in a metal tomb where everyone was riveted on the seat in front of them and paid no attention to those around them. I’m not so sure that having screens in each seat is such a good idea. It’s very isolating.
Not having anything else to do, and being in a middle seat, I joined the throng and watched a movie.
We arrived in Duluth at midnight, which was exactly when we were scheduled to arrive. An on-time flight seems like the exception rather than the rule for many of us on this trip. Due to the lateness, we just threw our bags in the RV and went to sleep right there in long-term parking.
We got notification that the others who were traveling are also home. A few more are leaving tomorrow and traveling through Denver. Denver is supposed to have thunderstorms. Any bets as to whether they will be delayed?
No comments:
Post a Comment