Quick trips that Aren't (quick, that is)

If anyone read Erika’s blog, you might remember she made a quick trip to Chicago last Monday and Tuesday. I made a quick trip to Woodbury, MN (near Minneapolis/St. Paul) on Wednesday, but the travel gods abandoned me and my trip home on Thursday was not so quick!

In preparation for my trip home, I asked a colleague at the Woodbury office to print a boarding pass for me. I began to suspect I might be in trouble when she handed me the pass and said my flight was already delayed by 10 minutes! Ever optimistic, I headed off to the airport thinking “Ten minutes isn’t so bad- I have more than 1 and ½ hours to make my connection in Detroit.” I arrived at the airport to find that the 10 minute delay had stretched to 20, but I still wasn’t worried. That didn’t happen until the delay had reached to over an hour! The airline staff were trying to soothe everyone by suggesting that connecting flights would be held up in Detroit anyway, due to the bad weather - not in Detroit- but in Chicago! We finally left MN, and as we approached Detroit, the Captain made some announcements. Much to the delight and relief of the 30 some high school students on board our flight, their flight to Paris was being held for them. The flight to Albany was also being held, which made my seatmate happy, and there were a few more announced, but I listened in vain to hear that the flight to Ithaca was being held. When we touched down in Detroit, I quickly looked up the status of my connecting flight on my trusty Treo only to find that it had left the gate EARLY, about 5 minutes before we arrived in Detroit! Oh well, I thought, I’ll just get a hotel room in Detroit and go home tomorrow. I had already made friends with a woman traveling to Portland, ME, and she missed her connection as well, so we commiserated as we waited for the airline personnel to rebook us on different flights. We both were rebooked leaving just after 6AM, and by now it was 10:30 PM. We debated the merits of finding a hotel so late at night when we would just have to be back at the airport by 4;30 AM or so, and we decided to tough it out overnight in the airport. So we spent the night talking and catnapping in the airport, and treated ourselves to a big breakfast as soon as the first restaurant opened at 5AM. We went our separate ways to catch our early flights- mine wasn’t a direct flight to Ithaca- I was booked to Philadelphia where I had to switch airlines and then continue on to Ithaca.

As I was heading to my gate, I checked the status of my flight, but since it was the first one of the AM, I couldn’t imagine that there might be a problem. Wrong! The board indicated a 10 minute delay! Here we go again, I thought! When I got to the gate, I asked the attendants why the flight was delayed. We need to wait for an in-coming flight, they said. ?!!? After we boarded the plane, we were told that we had to go get de-iced. The Captain explained this should take about 10-15 minutes. I fell asleep as soon as I got settled on the plane, and slept through the whole de-icing process. I woke up as the plane started to move away from that area, and I was a little annoyed to think that I had only slept for about 10 to 15 minutes. Wrong again! When I looked at my watch, I realized that I had been sleeping for over an hour, and the plane was still on the ground! Needless to say, I was not happy at the thought of being stuck in Philadelphia! Thankfully, we arrived in Philadelphia ½ hour ahead of my next flight. Of course the arrival terminal was on one side of the airport, and my departure terminal on the other. When I got off the plane, I did not see the normal signs to all the other terminals and gates. I seemed to be in a dead end. Beginning to panic, I asked a TSA worker wandering by how to get to terminal F, and he pointed to an exit sign and said go through there and follow the corridor around the courtyard. I did as told, and began to run. And did I mention that I was lugging my computer as well as a carry-on and purse? A little voice in the back of my head was protesting “But wait- if I go through an exit- won’t I have to go through security again?” As I ran through a long glassed - in corridor, I noticed that spring had arrived in Philadelphia because I could see green grass and blooming daffodils and hyacinths, and I consoled myself that if I was stuck in Philadelphia, at least I might enjoy a walk outside. I finally found terminal F, and I did indeed have to go through security, which meant taking the computer out of its case, and finding ID and boarding pass. I think the staff in attendance could tell I wasn’t happy! Naturally the gate I needed was at the far end of Terminal F, so I again ran, and made the flight with about 1 minute to spare! In talking to some of the other passengers around me, I found out that there should have been a shuttle bus to take from terminal to terminal, thereby avoiding the security lines. So much for help from the TSA!

As we got close to our scheduled landing time in Ithaca, the plane began to slow, and then the Captain came on and said something that was rather garbled, but I thought I heard “Elmira”. The noise level in the cabin rose dramatically as everyone was asking “What did he just say?” Eventually the flight attendant came on to say that because of zero visibility at the Ithaca airport, we were being diverted to Elmira, and would land in 10 to 15 minutes. We landed safely in Elmira, and enjoyed an hour’s bus ride back to Ithaca through the countryside that was blanketed by about 5 inches of new snow, left by the storm that caused the zero visibility!

As soon as we arrived back at the house, I headed off to catch up on my sleep. “All’s well that ends well” was my last thought before drifting off for a nice 4-hour nap!

Olny Srmat Poelpe Can Raed Tihs

We haven't posted anything in a while, and when I received this little message today in an e-mail from a friend, I thought it was worth sharing on the blog.

Enjoy!


The following short passage comes from a book by Dawson Church, entitled The Genie In Your Genes. I found it not only amusing, but insightful. I hope it gives you a laugh, as it did me. It seems that proper spelling is not as important as we think!

OLNY SRMAT POELPE CAN RAED TIHS.

"I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, maens taht it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.
Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? And I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! Now you can tlel tehm taht it inst!"

Enojy tehse eraly Spirng dyas!

- Oewn

It's spring in DC!

It is such a beautiful day here in the D.C. area- tell me again why I continue to live in upstate NY?

Although the leaves on the trees aren't quite out yet- they are ready to pop.....

and the crocuses are in full bloom.

I think Scoobie is quite comfortable with his "grandparents" - here he is relaxing after an exciting walk through the neighborhood.

We are also sitting outside, having a cool drink and enjoying the sun! The birds are singing, many people are grilling outside and the air is rich with the fragrance of steak & ribs, and there is a baseball game going on in the park nearby - we can hear the announcer and the crack of the bats!

And for those of you who read Erika's blog and have read about the possums in the yard- here is one "playing possum" that I couldn't resist.

Road Trip # ..............

One advantage of having kids in far-off places is that you get to go visit! Here we are arriving at Erika & Mike's house. We are here to visit with them briefly, but mainly to watch the grandpuppies while Erika & Mike go skiing in Colorado. It was snowing heavily when we left the cold & wintry wilds of NY, and we were so happy to see the sun here that it didn't matter that it is cold here too!


You know that we cannot stay away from water, so we took a day trip into Maryland and explored the area along the Potomac down to where that great river joins the Chesapeake Bay.
We like to explore every little by-road and peninsula that might hold a marina or two. We went first to Cobb Island, where we had lunch.

When in Maryland, seafood is the only way to go- so we stopped at this Captain's place (funny how all the seafood places are Captain somebody's). We could see that the food was fresh, as we caught these two fishermen bringing home their catch of the day.

The next little peninsula is called Colton's Point. This is a very historical area that needs to visited again when it is warmer, and when the museum and exhibits are open. There is an island off Colton's Point where the first English settlers landed in 1634. It was quite cold and very windy this day, so we did not go to the island.


This was a nice little state park at Colton's Point.

A museum which was closed...

We found a marina.......

And our favorite style of boat- a trawler! Luckily this one is NOT for sale.

We then went all the way to the tip of the peninsula to Point Lookout State Park. On the way, we went through Budds Creek, which is gaining fame and recognition as home to this race track. Interesting!


We were reminded that we were south of the Mason-Dixon line by the number of Confederate flags being flown by local inhabitants, and we also stopped to visit the Confederate cemetary and monument.

The Point Lookout State Park has lots of walking trails, swimming facilities, camping areas, a pet beach, and of course, boat docks. The area was also home to a prisoner-of war camp during the Civil War.

We took this photo because it is a great example of how the residents have made the most of their waterfront properties. The building in the foreground started out as a garage, and it appears that a second floor was added, as well as the glassed in walkway to connect to the main home!

On our way home, we stopped at one last area, the Piney Point Lighthouse and Museum.

Tom says we should have a great new year's celebration this year- we brought back a whole truckload of these!!!


The rest of our time here, we have been walking the dogs, shopping in the BIG stores, and being couch potatos.