9:51 a.m. - October 23, 2007
The Long Nights Journey Into Daze
Well, Sunday was a day.
Der�
But it was some �fun� traveling. Fun as in, �Oh, Lord! WHY?�
Ok, not that bad either.
I settled into the gate area in Indianapolis reading The Year Of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs about trying to live for an entire year using the rules listed in the Bible. It�s good airport reading.
The flight to Minneapolis wasn�t bad at all. It ran on time. It was crowded, yes, but that�s par for the course. I sat next to a young lady who was flying up to become a pilot for a regional airline that�s tied into Northwest. Neat.
I got off the plane, thinking it would be easy for me to change terminals to catch my flight to Atlanta.
Um, no.
First I got totally turned around, and backtracked over the same set of gates about four or five times.
Then, I realized that I had to go through security at the other terminal, and I wouldn�t just be able to hop over. Drat.
So then I had to figure out how I was to get over to the other terminal.
Well, it said that I needed to take the light rail. In order to take the light rail, I�d need to take the tram from baggage claim.
So I hoofed it down to baggage claim lugging my garment bag with six days of clothes in it, and my briefcase with my computer and three books and all of the other electronic equipment (cell phone, iPod and the various chargers).
I think caught the tram, and then followed the signs to the light rail station.
Not so bad � and it�s free to go from one terminal to the other on the light rail.
It was a two minute train ride, and then I started to walk to the terminal proper from the station.
And walked.
And walked.
And walked.
Through a parking garage, where the chilly wind was whipping through, and the puddles of water from the recent rains were making it a challenging walk.
And walked.
And walked.
It seemed like a mile to reach the terminal, and then I had to get in line for security.
By this time, I was famished, and thirsty, so I went to a restaurant, ate a bacon cheeseburger and gulped down water, and then found my gate.
AirTran has just two gates in Minneapolis, and of course they were the furthest from the security area. So I hoofed it again.
I was definitely feeling the burn.
The plane was delayed. So I dove into the book to kill the time. I wasn�t going to lug my luggage around again looking for a newspaper.
Finally, the plane arrived, an hour late. Since Atlanta was my final stop, it wasn�t so bad for me. But others had a very tight connection time. I really felt for them.
The plane was crowded, but I had an aisle seat. Next to me was a precocious moppet who was flying alone. This was his 72nd time that he flew alone, and he had a lot of activity books, etc. to get him through. Of course, his stuff was spreading out everywhere.
I wanted my personal space, and that�s odd for me to say, since I�m generally a huggy / touchy guy.
So I breezed through the book and finished it. Done. Good thing I brought three books on the trip!
We were all polite and let the people with connections zoom out of the plane, and then I hoofed it to the place where I met my shuttle to the hotel all the while carrying my bags.
I am strong and powerful now thanks to my suitcase carrying regimen. Fear me!
So I was rather much wiped out physically and mentally and feel I�m still in that state. Yawn.
