I didn’t sleep very much last night. It was probably a combination of things that was responsible. First, I got a little bit of a nap, so I didn’t drop immediately to sleep when I lay down, like I am used to. Not falling right asleep, I started worrying about what would happen if I overslept. Since I was slated for the last shuttle out, probably nothing good. It would have cost around $150 for a taxi to Richmond. Then, of course there was the chainsaw snorer in the bunk above mine. Whatever the reason, I didn’t get more than twenty consecutive minutes of sleep all night.
At quarter to five, I’d had enough and just got up and got dressed. I walked down to the dining hall, where all they had today was donuts and coffee. Neither one appealed to me, so I went back and finished packing up and headed for the bus that would take me to the shuttle bus.
The bus to the bus rolled out right on time at 6:00 am. The 8:00 shuttle to the Richmond airport filled up and left at 6:42 am, and the one behind it in line started filling up.
We disembarked at the airport just before 8 am, and I went past the check in area without ever seeing it. I was not the only one either. A whole group of us got to the security line still holding the bags we wanted to check and had to get directions back.
After I checked in my big heavy bag (it weighed in at 38 pounds; I had worried a little about if it was over the 50# limit, and had considered leaving some things behind; glad I didn’t), I found myself with almost 10 hours before my flight left.
So I left the airport and walked to the Virginia Aviation Museum that I had seen just before we arrived. It had an SR-71 parked in front, which was a big attraction for me. After I took pictures, I discovered that the museum didn’t open until 9:30.
I wondered for a while what to do next. I could see a couple of restaurants and 3 motels across the road, and my first instinct was to find a place to sit down and use someone’s free wi-fi to post my blog entries. When I said ‘across the road’ though, what I meant was across a road and two divided highways and three drainage ditches. I tried walking parallel for a while, in search of a crosswalk, but after four blocks, I gave that up as unproductive. The traffic wasn’t that heavy, and it was actually more difficult crossing the ditches without getting wet than crossing the highways.
Aunt Sarah’s Pancake House seemed the most promising of those I walked by, so I doubled back to it. They served a delicious mushroom and Monterrey jack omelette, but didn’t have wi-fi. I wasn’t really hungry, but I didn’t have any problem finishing either.
By the time the bill came and I settled up, the museum was open, so I headed back across the obstacle course. I’d say I did it without getting wet, but the grass was still damp from the overnight thunderstorms.
The museum was not very large, but it had a lot of history packed inside. I very much enjoyed the almost two hours I spent there.
I hiked back into the terminal and through security. Fortunately, the airport didn’t seem to be that busy. I remembered to disconnect my insulin pump and tuck it into my coat before I went through the line. This saved me from the dreaded, “Please step to one side, sir,” comments, along with the accompanying wanding and frisking. I usually forget until too late.
I sat at my gate a little after noon, along with six others from the Jamboree staff, who had a wait of at least a couple more hours. My flight doesn’t start boarding until 5:35 pm. But, I did determine that RIC has free wi-fi, so it is now time to update the blog again.
Clearly, the fates are conspiring against me. We started hearing announcements before three that Dulles was rerouting planes to Richmond because of thunderstorms. They arrived here just before 6. If our plane from Houston had arrived on time, I’m sure we could have made it out ahead of the storm, but it didn’t and we didn’t. Once there was lightning in the area, we couldn’t board the plane, nor would they fuel it up, so we didn’t get off the ground until well after 8:00. The flight was two hours late getting to Houston, and so I missed my connection.
I stood in line at the service desk trying to figure out how I’m going to get home. They booked me on the same flight tomorrow, departing at 8:50 pm. They gave me a discount coupon for a local hotel, and recommended I come back tomorrow. When I asked about getting my checked bag so I would have clean clothes, they said it would take a couple of hours for it to come by on the carousel, because they only had one guy still working in baggage.
!?!
So another passenger and I sat and waited and waited in the baggage claim area. Finally I saw there was a baggage office and I went in to ask how long it would take for our bags to show up. They said there wasn’t anyone still working in terminal B. I could go over to terminal C and see if maybe they could find it for me.
So I did. It was a long time coming. Then I called the hotel they recommended and had them send me a shuttle to pick me up. By the time I checked in, got ready for bed, and updated the old blog, it was 3 am.
At least this time I can sleep in without a 5:30 round of alarms.
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