Thursday,
September 26, 2013
Don’t usually wake up at 0445, but Sheila’s alarm sounded,
the lights came on and the water started running; so after 20 minutes of
pretend sleep I was up 10 minutes ahead of my alarm. Having packed last night
there was little to do other than tend to ourselves, pack the car and be on our
way.
To my surprise there was activity on Ivy Lane before 6 AM.
Lawn sprinklers were on, early birds were leaving for work, pre-dawn risers had
exercised and were returning home but what I assume to be somewhat unusual,
this morning the typical quiet was punctuated with the hollering of a local
domestic dispute; yes even on Ivy Lane. A quick visit by the KH police quelled
the shouts and threats and by 0615 peace and quiet had been restored.
Meanwhile, the car had been packed and we were ready to go.
Traffic was light en-route to Norfolk and after the traditional stop at the
Wawa for gas ($0.48/gallon cheaper than in KH and $1.29/gallon cheaper than California)
we arrived for our flight. Carrie dropped us at the United Airlines departure
area and within a few minutes we had checked in and were headed for security.
Nothing exciting with TSA this morning though there did seem to be an
inordinate amount of confusion amongst a few of the travelers. In any case it
was on to Gate 28 after stops for drinks, papers and snacks for the flight.
Lucky us, for the 1.5 hour flight from Norfolk and Newark we
had 1/C seats on a propeller driven Q400, no big deal there, if only those
seats had been for the longer EWR-SFO segment. Air traffic was light and with
everyone aboard, we waited at the gate because of a rule about not taking off
more than 10 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time, that’s a first for
me as best I can remember.
Arriving at Newark (Special Note: Sheila beaming to be back
with her “Jersey peeps”) with a two-hour layover we ambled to the next gate,
picked up lunch for the long haul to SFO and proceeded to wait. What to our
surprise we see a friend waiting in the same gate area. Sitting at the
departure gate counter was none other than D.J. Kitty.
Around 1320 we boarded our United B737-800 and proceeded to our exit
row aisle seats, stowed our bags and made ready for the longest non-stop flight
we’ve taken since the AUS/NZ trip of 2012, training for next February I
suppose. For the next six plus hours we enjoyed the creature comforts of a
packed single aisle jet with 160 of our newest friends or at least closest
(physically) friends inside a hollow tube with repetitively running TV ads and
infomercials on the miniature screen at eye-level. Lunch today consisted of a
chicken Caesar wrap for Sheila and a salami and cheese sandwich for me. This
trip was a clear reminder of what were often monthly flights between EWR and
SFO in the late 80’s and 90’s.
Was a good day for flying, smooth sailing for the entire
trip across the U.S., no “short-landing” at SFO for us, looks like we landed
about a ¼ way down 28R. After deplaning we strolled though the terminal to
baggage claim taking in a sampling of local artwork on display in the United
terminal. With bags in hand we were off to get our car, a GMC Yukon not so
different that our own Tahoe. With the car and all bags accounted for, we
headed to the hotel for a quiet evening.
With all the great restaurants in San Francisco, for tonight
we finished off lunch leftovers in our room while watching Mariano Rivera throw
his last career pitches at Yankee Stadium, all the while hoping for a Rays victory
and series sweep. Now we prop open our eyelids, stay up late and attempt to
acclimate to the Pacific Time zone overnight. In any case I expect to be awake
at about 4 AM local time. It will give us an early start to our day in the
“city by the bay”.
Well there’s a change of plans, “…let’s go down and have a
glass of wine and/or “Arnold Palmer”, “Okay, let’s go!” One of us lasted 5 minutes;
one of us stayed and watched the Niners beat the Rams. Okay, that’s it, the
night is ending, and it’s after midnight East Coast time. But I need to hang on
for another couple of hours, well maybe not. Say goodnight.
Okay, “Goodnight!”
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