MORE ABOUT AIRPORT

On my way to Churchill, Manitoba. I was meeting my New Jersey friend in Indianapolis. From there we were flying to Churchill together on a Northwest flight.

My original flight was racing down the runway all ready to lift off when suddenly the pilot slammed on the brakes! What a jolt that was. I didn’t know a plane could stop that fast. Coming on the speaker, the pilot said some kind of a red light had come on and we had no lift power, so we were returning to the terminal to have the mechanics take a look at the problem.

Parked back at the gate, the pilot said they were calling Atlanta for instructions on how to fix the problem. That really makes one feel confident !

But a little less than an hour later we were again taxiing down the runway. I actually crossed my fingers and closed my eyes as we lifted off.

Nearly everyone on the plane was making connections in Atlanta. I just figured I’d miss my plane and was thinking in my head how I was going to get a message to my friend that I had been delayed. As we started our descent into Atlanta, the stewardess announced connecting gate info. The good news was that I only had about 10 gates to go on the same concourse. Normally Atlanta is so crowded that I literally ziz zag down the concourse to avoid running into people. I deplaned quickly as I had less than five minutes before my connecting flight took off. I still think I sent off an aura that said get out of my way, because I belined it down that concourse in a straight line arriving at the gate, out of breath, just as they were about to close the plane’s door! I was the last person to board the plane---but I made it, and now did not have to worry about trying to contact my friend.

That leg of the trip was uneventful and I arrived at our Northwest departure gate first, having about 40 minutes to wait for my friend.

     When my friend and I were going to Mexico to the Sea of Cortez we 


 made arrangements to meet at  LAX and have lunch before our trip south. 


 I left early and made my connecting flight with no problem. We no more 


than reach cruising altitude when the pilot came on the speaker asking for

 a doctor.

 

      When it was confirmed that a fellow had had a heart attack the pilot


 informed us he was jettisoning fuel and that we would be returning 


to the airport. We made an unscheduled flight  somewhere so the fellow 


could be off loaded where medics and an ambulance were waiting. The 

plane refueled but I was a good three hours late arriving in LA.I hustled 


from one terminal to another and all along the way people said to me, 


“Your friend is waiting at your departure gate.”

 

  

      It seems she waited at my arrival gate as long as she could and then 


told people that when the saw an older woman in a maroon running 


suit to give me her message. I arrived at Aero Mexico gate with only

 five minutes to spare before they would let my seat go to a stand-by


 traveler. We hadn't had our lunch but we spent a delightful week 

on a deserted island in the Sea of Cortez and another few days 

traveling home on the Copper Canyon Railroad.

       When I came back from China I came through Chicago's O'Hare airport. 


Weather had closed the  airport for a couple of hours before we landed. 


After I had gotten through customs, I put my bag up on the security belt

 enroute to my connection gate. It had been a long day and I was tired and


 a bit cranky, but certainly not prepared for the nasty female attendant 


who decided she needed to open my carry-on bag, then proceed to open 


every box that I had carefully packed to see what was in them. I noted

 that the scanner had no problem with anything. After she opened the


 boxes it was up to me to repack them and eventually repack the bag. 


Maybe she was bored with nothing to do for the preceding couple hours.
 

      When she got to the two TP cardboard inserts that I had taped end to end I


 had had enough. Inside the rolls was a rolled up fragile scroll that our guide


 had made for me. I insisted that she stop right then and call a supervisor. 


Reluctantly she did and I explained the situation. By looking in the end of the


 roll she could see there was nothing of concern and she told the attendant


 to let me go. BUT I had the whole bag to repack and we all know that there 


was no way it was going to end up the neat way it had originally been. My


 two-hour transfer time  now had been narrowed down to 10-minutes!

Lastly in the summer of 2007 I had 22 flights. All went well except on


 one flight in Salt Lake City  for a three-hour delay for an engine problem.

 

Flying to one's destination these days is seldom fun and often filled with delays and inconveniences, but what delights and adventures await at the end of the passage!

TRAVEL WREATH

When traveling I like to bring home a neat souvenir of my trip. Years ago I hit upon an easy way to be able to decorate my tree at Christmas time. But finding Christmas deorations is not always an easy thing to do. Besides they are often big and breakable. My 22' rollon has limited space.

It is easy to find keychains that remind me of the trip. They are small, durable, colorful  and meaningful. When I get home I remove the keyring and in its place add a gold or red ribbon.

As the years went on and  grandchildren grown it was a really big chore to have to dig out the tree and the big box of ornaments  from years past. I bought a full green wreath with  a hanger attached to the back. On went all my keychains. During the year it hangs in the closet and mid November comes out to hang in my hallway for a couple of months.
I love being able to look at it and remember all the wonderful trips and people I've met along the way. I enjoy showing it to friends and answering their many questions. It is a big hit and fun for all.

Happy Holidays to all of you out there in blog land!