I'm outta here!
I just landed in Dallas Fort Worth. Thought I'd watch a DVD. To my surprise, thye have wireless connectivity. Too cool! My flight out of Columbus was nice - uneventful. I was able to see my house from high above. That certainly makes my little world seem so insignificant.
Dad was right on time s usual and we left my house right on queue, 6:01am. We had to deal with 670 being closed between west columbus and downtown, but after a little diversion, we were back on track.
Anyway, waiting in Dallas for my connection to depart to Portland. Tah tah
I woke up early (410am) and felt even better than I anticipated. I was excited and ready to begin my journey. But before my journey would begin, I had to exercise, walk Ykraps, and go for a run. The early morning sky was crystal clear exposing millions of stars. And while the sky was beautiful, it was still really cold!
By 445am I was out the door for a crisp morning run. There’s something really special about getting a run in before most people even dream of waking – no pun intended. While running, a very bright light in the western sky caught my casual eye. Without my glasses or contacts my vision is a little blurry—especially at 500am. The light kept getting brighter and my imagination was going wild. So much so that it sent shivers down my spine. With in a few seconds reality set in and I could see flashing red lights at its side. It was an airplane. More importantly though, below to the right, I caught the beauty of a shooting/falling star. Rare, but the second one I’ve seen in the past three months. I consider them gifts.
Back from my run around 525am, I had a little more than an hour to shower, eat, and address any other last minute tasks prior to departure. After a quick shower and grooming session, I was over the stove making an egg and cheese sandwich—something to hold me over through the first leg of my flight.
As I was woofing down my Jim McSamich My dad arrived. He arrived a little earlier than I thought he might, but come to think of it, he’s never late and often early. I am a lot like that too. Hmmm? We chatted as I made final preparations; shut down my PC, secured all the windows, and took one last walk-about through the house. We were out the door at 631am, only 1 minute off schedule.
On our way, we happened upon an unexpected I-670 detour. It only slowed us down by about 8 minutes. We took Goodale Blvd. to High St, then Long St to Cleveland Ave, before picking I-670 back-up in front of Columbus State Community College. We were at the airport at 658am, a few minutes later than I had planned but still no problem. Plenty of padding in my preparations! We exchanged some pleasantries then I was off!
Once in the airport it was easy to find my check-in line, I just walked to the longest, busiest line. It’s always that way when I travel. I’m not kidding. There wasn’t a line longer than three people at any other counter. Mine, however, was about 35 people deep. Still, not a big deal. Instead, just one of those “go figures”. I was done checking in, through security, and at my gate by 735am. I had about 50 minutes before take-off. Not bad! As I watched the sun come up I decided to give Mindy a call. She was just getting up, or just being nice. Maybe I shoulda let her sleep??? We chatted for just a couple of minutes before the boarding process began.
”Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard flight 2421 with direct service to Dallas and continuing service to Los Angeles”. After some preventative de-icing, we were off. Because the sky was so clear, I got a great view of my home from the air. Now that’ll rattle the ground and everything you think is so important! Life below seems so insignificant from 10000 ft. Our flight took us over Dayton then along the Ohio River. I could see Caesar Creek State Park and Cincinnati very clearly. From there we followed the river to the confluence with the Mississippi River. That was about the time I took a short nap. It wasn’t long before we were prepping for landing in Dallas. Dallas is a BIG city but not very impressive, having visited before. Their airport is very big in comparison to Port Columbus. Once in the terminal, I went right for my next gate which required taking the railway from concourse “C” to concourse “A”. I had an hour to kill so I pulled out my laptop and loaded a DVD, Christmas Vacation – a favorite movie of mine! I noticed while loading the DVD that I had wireless connectivity, which is something I didn’t expect, but decided to take advantage of. I was able to IM with a friend I saw on line (Vicki B.), publish a couple of paragraphs to my blog, and send an email to Mindy. That was cool! I thought about logging onto ESPN.com to catch OSU/Michigan updates, but didn’t really want to spoil the outcome given that Glenn was supposed to be recording the game for me.
Before long it was time to board for Portland. It was a relatively long flight from Dallas too. About 3hour and 35 minutes. Hell, I can barely sit still for one hour, let alone almost four! To pass the time I slept, read, and gawked out the window. Then, after that was done, I did it again. Once again the views were spectacular. Having traveled much of the country as a young adult, I am familiar with many landmarks and terrains. I could see Denver and the Rockies coming up on my left from probably 100 miles out. Denver is one of my favorite cities. We ended up following the Rockies up through Wyoming and finally crossing over into Idaho. I had never seen Idaho before with such clarity. The weather was perfect for scenic viewing. Idaho was surprisingly beautiful, with lots of mountainous terrain and lush lakes. Suddenly off in the distance the Cascades came into view. That meant that we were closing in on my destination. I could see Mt Bachelor, The sister mountains, Adams, and then finally Mt Hood! They are so prominent in the sky and just so damn majestic! Again, the clear blue skies offered up a fabulous venue for a landing and viewing like never before. While Portland is known for its cloudy, rainy weather, especially this time of year, that wasn’t the case today. No sir! ABSOLUTELY beautiful!!!! Everyone should see this view some time in their life. The mountains, the Columbia River, and the city sky line all basking in the glory of the sunshine.
After touching down I had such a wonderful feeling of euphoria. I was on vacation. A week in Washington/Oregon with Glenn represents rest, relaxation, fun, and action all rolled into one. To my dismay, Glenn wasn’t outside the gates waiting but then again, he often isn’t. Typically he’s hanging out in baggage claim. A quick walk there proved fruitless too. He was nowhere to be found. Not to worry, I thought, worst case is I’ll take a cab.
After ten minutes, I decided to walk back up to the gate area just in case I missed him since I did sneak through rather quickly. That, coupled with the fact that we were about 5-10 minutes early. Still no Glenn. So, back to baggage claim I went. Just as I was contemplating my next move ( it had been ½ an hour now since landing), I noticed his Honda right outside baggage claim. A double take assured me that it was indeed him. So, I grabbed my two suitcases and my carry on and went outside to greet him. Within minutes, we were on our way to his place. I forgot to mention that while looking for Glenn, I had aVM come through on my Cell phone. Thinking that it might have been him I checked it without giving it much thought. It wasn’t, it was Dodie giving me the OSU score. So much for the element of surprise. The good news, of course is that they won. I could detect the excitement in her voice. And, as it turned out, Glenn told me that the game wasn’t broadcast in the local area. I doubted him at first. I mean, shit, who in their right mind wouldn’t show the Buckeye/Michigan game? J Although, they could care less out here. This is civil war country (Oregon/Oregon State & Washington/Washington State), and both games were being played today, and both on television, too.
Back at Glenn’s I cracked a Jubilee Ale to kick off the holiday season. A quick look around, things are much like I left them a year ago. Some of the same stuff lying around (even my dad’s popcorn tin he bought on our TG trip last year).
Our plans were to do somewhat of a Vancouver pub craw for the evening. We started out at a Tai restaurant right around the corner from Starbuck’s at Ester Short Park. They have small bar that Glenn wanted to visit. There we had one beer and caught some football scores. Next, we moved on to the sparkling new downtown Vancouver Hilton bar. It was handsomely appointed but like the Tai bar, the crowd was sparse. There we had one beer. After the Hilton, we moved on to the only Martini bar in town (no name - sorry). I ordered some martini with citrus associations. By now I was getting extremely sleepy. While it was only 8pm-ish here, my body knew it was really 11pm, and I had been up since 4am and had been on a plane for almost 8 hours—a recipe for jet lag! Glenn insisted that we head over to Salmon Creek, Vancouver’s lone downtown micro-brewery. There we ordered some dinner, and I had another beer, an IPA. It was good but I was yawning, had the hiccups, and was longing for the comfort of a pillow and mattress. You know the feeling. We finished up our beer and food and hit the door. I couldn’t wait to get back. Glenn did a drive by the Tip Top Lounge (real close to his house), but lucky for me it was so dead that even he didn’t feel like patronizing it tonight. Instead, we were finally headed to his place. No sooner did I get in the door I plopped my ass down in a recliner and fell asleep. I was exhausted! GOOD NIGHT Irene!!
I'm outta here!
I just landed in Dallas Fort Worth. Thought I'd watch a DVD. To my surprise, thye have wireless connectivity. Too cool! My flight out of Columbus was nice - uneventful. I was able to see my house from high above. That certainly makes my little world seem so insignificant.
Dad was right on time s usual and we left my house right on queue, 6:01am. We had to deal with 670 being closed between west columbus and downtown, but after a little diversion, we were back on track.
Anyway, waiting in Dallas for my connection to depart to Portland. Tah tah
I woke up early (410am) and felt even better than I anticipated. I was excited and ready to begin my journey. But before my journey would begin, I had to exercise, walk Ykraps, and go for a run. The early morning sky was crystal clear exposing millions of stars. And while the sky was beautiful, it was still really cold!
By 445am I was out the door for a crisp morning run. There’s something really special about getting a run in before most people even dream of waking – no pun intended. While running, a very bright light in the western sky caught my casual eye. Without my glasses or contacts my vision is a little blurry—especially at 500am. The light kept getting brighter and my imagination was going wild. So much so that it sent shivers down my spine. With in a few seconds reality set in and I could see flashing red lights at its side. It was an airplane. More importantly though, below to the right, I caught the beauty of a shooting/falling star. Rare, but the second one I’ve seen in the past three months. I consider them gifts.
Back from my run around 525am, I had a little more than an hour to shower, eat, and address any other last minute tasks prior to departure. After a quick shower and grooming session, I was over the stove making an egg and cheese sandwich—something to hold me over through the first leg of my flight.
As I was woofing down my Jim McSamich My dad arrived. He arrived a little earlier than I thought he might, but come to think of it, he’s never late and often early. I am a lot like that too. Hmmm? We chatted as I made final preparations; shut down my PC, secured all the windows, and took one last walk-about through the house. We were out the door at 631am, only 1 minute off schedule.
On our way, we happened upon an unexpected I-670 detour. It only slowed us down by about 8 minutes. We took Goodale Blvd. to High St, then Long St to Cleveland Ave, before picking I-670 back-up in front of Columbus State Community College. We were at the airport at 658am, a few minutes later than I had planned but still no problem. Plenty of padding in my preparations! We exchanged some pleasantries then I was off!
Once in the airport it was easy to find my check-in line, I just walked to the longest, busiest line. It’s always that way when I travel. I’m not kidding. There wasn’t a line longer than three people at any other counter. Mine, however, was about 35 people deep. Still, not a big deal. Instead, just one of those “go figures”. I was done checking in, through security, and at my gate by 735am. I had about 50 minutes before take-off. Not bad! As I watched the sun come up I decided to give Mindy a call. She was just getting up, or just being nice. Maybe I shoulda let her sleep??? We chatted for just a couple of minutes before the boarding process began.
”Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard flight 2421 with direct service to Dallas and continuing service to Los Angeles”. After some preventative de-icing, we were off. Because the sky was so clear, I got a great view of my home from the air. Now that’ll rattle the ground and everything you think is so important! Life below seems so insignificant from 10000 ft. Our flight took us over Dayton then along the Ohio River. I could see Caesar Creek State Park and Cincinnati very clearly. From there we followed the river to the confluence with the Mississippi River. That was about the time I took a short nap. It wasn’t long before we were prepping for landing in Dallas. Dallas is a BIG city but not very impressive, having visited before. Their airport is very big in comparison to Port Columbus. Once in the terminal, I went right for my next gate which required taking the railway from concourse “C” to concourse “A”. I had an hour to kill so I pulled out my laptop and loaded a DVD, Christmas Vacation – a favorite movie of mine! I noticed while loading the DVD that I had wireless connectivity, which is something I didn’t expect, but decided to take advantage of. I was able to IM with a friend I saw on line (Vicki B.), publish a couple of paragraphs to my blog, and send an email to Mindy. That was cool! I thought about logging onto ESPN.com to catch OSU/Michigan updates, but didn’t really want to spoil the outcome given that Glenn was supposed to be recording the game for me.
Before long it was time to board for Portland. It was a relatively long flight from Dallas too. About 3hour and 35 minutes. Hell, I can barely sit still for one hour, let alone almost four! To pass the time I slept, read, and gawked out the window. Then, after that was done, I did it again. Once again the views were spectacular. Having traveled much of the country as a young adult, I am familiar with many landmarks and terrains. I could see Denver and the Rockies coming up on my left from probably 100 miles out. Denver is one of my favorite cities. We ended up following the Rockies up through Wyoming and finally crossing over into Idaho. I had never seen Idaho before with such clarity. The weather was perfect for scenic viewing. Idaho was surprisingly beautiful, with lots of mountainous terrain and lush lakes. Suddenly off in the distance the Cascades came into view. That meant that we were closing in on my destination. I could see Mt Bachelor, The sister mountains, Adams, and then finally Mt Hood! They are so prominent in the sky and just so damn majestic! Again, the clear blue skies offered up a fabulous venue for a landing and viewing like never before. While Portland is known for its cloudy, rainy weather, especially this time of year, that wasn’t the case today. No sir! ABSOLUTELY beautiful!!!! Everyone should see this view some time in their life. The mountains, the Columbia River, and the city sky line all basking in the glory of the sunshine.
After touching down I had such a wonderful feeling of euphoria. I was on vacation. A week in Washington/Oregon with Glenn represents rest, relaxation, fun, and action all rolled into one. To my dismay, Glenn wasn’t outside the gates waiting but then again, he often isn’t. Typically he’s hanging out in baggage claim. A quick walk there proved fruitless too. He was nowhere to be found. Not to worry, I thought, worst case is I’ll take a cab.
After ten minutes, I decided to walk back up to the gate area just in case I missed him since I did sneak through rather quickly. That, coupled with the fact that we were about 5-10 minutes early. Still no Glenn. So, back to baggage claim I went. Just as I was contemplating my next move ( it had been ½ an hour now since landing), I noticed his Honda right outside baggage claim. A double take assured me that it was indeed him. So, I grabbed my two suitcases and my carry on and went outside to greet him. Within minutes, we were on our way to his place. I forgot to mention that while looking for Glenn, I had aVM come through on my Cell phone. Thinking that it might have been him I checked it without giving it much thought. It wasn’t, it was Dodie giving me the OSU score. So much for the element of surprise. The good news, of course is that they won. I could detect the excitement in her voice. And, as it turned out, Glenn told me that the game wasn’t broadcast in the local area. I doubted him at first. I mean, shit, who in their right mind wouldn’t show the Buckeye/Michigan game? J Although, they could care less out here. This is civil war country (Oregon/Oregon State & Washington/Washington State), and both games were being played today, and both on television, too.
Back at Glenn’s I cracked a Jubilee Ale to kick off the holiday season. A quick look around, things are much like I left them a year ago. Some of the same stuff lying around (even my dad’s popcorn tin he bought on our TG trip last year).
Our plans were to do somewhat of a Vancouver pub craw for the evening. We started out at a Tai restaurant right around the corner from Starbuck’s at Ester Short Park. They have small bar that Glenn wanted to visit. There we had one beer and caught some football scores. Next, we moved on to the sparkling new downtown Vancouver Hilton bar. It was handsomely appointed but like the Tai bar, the crowd was sparse. There we had one beer. After the Hilton, we moved on to the only Martini bar in town (no name - sorry). I ordered some martini with citrus associations. By now I was getting extremely sleepy. While it was only 8pm-ish here, my body knew it was really 11pm, and I had been up since 4am and had been on a plane for almost 8 hours—a recipe for jet lag! Glenn insisted that we head over to Salmon Creek, Vancouver’s lone downtown micro-brewery. There we ordered some dinner, and I had another beer, an IPA. It was good but I was yawning, had the hiccups, and was longing for the comfort of a pillow and mattress. You know the feeling. We finished up our beer and food and hit the door. I couldn’t wait to get back. Glenn did a drive by the Tip Top Lounge (real close to his house), but lucky for me it was so dead that even he didn’t feel like patronizing it tonight. Instead, we were finally headed to his place. No sooner did I get in the door I plopped my ass down in a recliner and fell asleep. I was exhausted! GOOD NIGHT Irene!!
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