On the way into Oak Ridge, I noticed a stretch of the main highway that was under repair, and which narrowed from two lanes to one. Others had noted it as well, and that it was on both sides of the highway. Thus, they recommended I leave for my 5:00 flight at 2:00p.
Of course, it took a mere half hour, flying along at speed, nary a brake light to be seen.
Arrived, dropped off the rental (a Taurus, rather an unpleasant green, and, alas, lacking a cassette deck, which meant my book-on-tape had been useless, leaving me at the mercy of country music, sports talk, and religious rants. I tuned in the latter as the least unamusing), and entered the terminal. I quickly discovered that the United desk had been moved from one end of the ticket area to the other, and checked in. Then I wandered into the book store.
The Knoxville airport (Tyson McGee is the official name, I think, and they have no website, oddly enough) actually is quite nice, pretty to look at, with fountains, rocking chairs, airy spaces, great views, and some very nice gift shops. The first, which is on the outside of security, is more of a book store and news stand, but it has an excellent array of regionally-themed cook books, which is always a favorite souvenir-for-Margie (unsurprisingly).
So, further laden with books, I wandered through security (friendly and courteous), and grabbed some lunch at the Ruby Tuesdays there.
And huzzah for them, because not only do they have low-carb/low-cal menu items (e.g., burgers as wraps), but they list the cals/fat/carbs/fiber of each menu item by the menu item. A fine, fine idea, which let me decide that a 400-odd calorie chicken wrap was probably a better deal than a 1300-odd calorie burger.
And washed it down with a Megarita, which gave me a certain sang-froid in the succeeding events.
Then I wandered over to the gate, with a good hour and a half to spare before the flight …
… or more. Because they very quickly announced that O’Hare was having ATC problems, and our flight had lost its slot, and our flight would take off an hour late — maybe/hopefully.
Finally got through to Margie (who was on a conference call) to let her know. And eventually we boarded the little commuter jet and were on our way. Well, after another twenty minute delay on the tarmac.
Meanwhile, in the seats across the aisle from me was a young couple with 14-month twins, girls, cute as buttons and really very well behaved. Needless to say, both I and the gent in the seats behind them had great fun providing them with entertainment during the flight, picking up toys and shoes and the like that were dropped on the floor, etc. It was really one of the first “I remember when Katherine was that age” moments for me, as she is truly no longer a baby, nor even a toddler now.
The couple is expecting another set of twins in November, God help them.
We landed, of course, off in the Computer Jet Boonies of the F-gates, and landed about 15 minutes before my flight to Denver (off in the Big Jet Digs of the C-gates). There is, fortunately, an express bus from one to the other, and I dashed to that, rode it across to C (the wrong end of the concourse, of course), and ran to my gate …
… to find that, of course, it had just pushed back.
They were happy to book me on the next flight to Denver, and certainly there’s no shortage in Chicago/Denver flights, the next being an hour later. Cool. Called Margie, kissed Kitten over the phone, threatened to buy Margie some southwestern jewelry (“Of course,” she observed, “since, after all, Chicago is the world center for southwestern jewelry!”), and then wandered down toward my gate …
… to discover that my original flight was, in fact, the only flight leaving on time from O’Hare, as every other jet I’m seeing here is delayed a half our or so, including mine (mine is waiting for its pilots to arrive on a different plane).
And, of course, neither O’Hare nor Tyson-McGee have wi-fi hot spots. *Sigh*
Ah, well, at least there’s a Cinnebon here (its plastic knives provocatively available to any potential terrorist who walks by, not just to the presumably safe purchasers of tasty treats).
fThe end of our story anon.
UPDATE: Got home with no problems. My Palm was on my car seat. I drove home, kissed Margie good night, and was asleep before Midnight.
And up at 5, since I have a 7 a.m. phonecon with the boss man. But, overall, not bad.