Travel Diary

Friday

I was all set to take a half day off work and then got the message: we were being given the afternoon off. Ooh! Nice. I saved a half day of vacation! So Friday afternoon, I drove out to San Jose airport. Despite all the trips I had taken over the years, I had never flown out of there before, so the parking situation would be all new to me. I had researched a few off-site lots, but in the end, I decided that it wasn’t too much more to park in the main economy lot, and that, darn it all, James! This was vacation! No time to be cheap. Besides, I’d rather have my car close and safe.

I arrived at the airport around 3pm (traffic was light) and entered the Economy lot, which was nearly full. It was a good reminder to always leave very early on holiday weekends. No, not just early, but very early. Now, I probably would have had enough time to find another lot, but that wasn’t first on my to-do list. So finding a parking space was a relief. There were maybe five left.

I spent some time in my hot car (locally, the weather was getting intense), and read a script for a play I had been auditioning for (“Jekyll and Hyde”) and then waited for the shuttle. It came in five minutes. I still had to check in as there was some error preventing me from doing so online. No matter. I checked in, and checked my bag, and all was well. With Alaska Airlines, I can check a bag free due to a credit card with them. It’s a great perk. No longer do I deal with the stress of the overheads being full and having to stampede into the line once my section number is called. Plus, the amount of time it takes for the baggage carousels to load up has significantly decreased over the years. It’s often waiting for me when I reached that point.

My flight was full of course. A day prior, I logged in online and there was a window seat with an open middle seat, so I changed my seat in hopes that no one would take the middle. I mean anyone buying a ticket then would be hundreds of dollars more. I figured there was a good chance no one would want to pay so much.

Well, I figured wrong.

It was occupied. Worth a shot I suppose. At least there was no false hope that it would be empty for the trip, only to have the last person boarding the plane saunter over and plop down into it. Nope. It was gone from the get-go. The flight also had not one, not two, but three, yes three (!) screaming and crying children behind me. I mean, they were full of sobbing hysterical life--complete professional criers. Simply no end to their siren-like energy. I had my ear buds with me and they of course saved my life. With a tablet movie, I was out of the danger zone. Though I felt bad for anyone unprotected. Being onboard without ear protection in that situation, one is really going to ponder the penalty for opening an emergency exit door before takeoff.

We landed in the Emerald City and my friend Lesly soon picked me up. The weather was a lot cooler up there. I had left a near heat wave of close to 90 degrees, but the PNW is rarely known for being too warm. We arrived at the house and since everyone else had eaten, there were no plans for dinner. They had consumed Chick Fil-A. Fast food! Horror! Oh, the atrocities people commit! I was a bit famished though so Lesly said we could drive out and grab whatever food I wanted.

Which was Chick Fil-A.

Hey, when you’re that hungry, it all sounds good.

The evening was low key. We watched a bit of the tele and then everyone crashed. It was going to be a long Saturday getting to Victoria, Canada.