Road Tripping

Minnesota to Philadelphia to Delaware to Pittsburgh and back to Minny again --all in the span of three days. Good times. You asked and you shall receive; here are a few highlights from the road trip…

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Because I didn’t want to check any luggage, I became “that guy” who couldn’t fit his carry-on into the overhead compartment or under the seat in front of him. The AA flight attendant was understandably less than happy about helping me find a spot for my carry-on. It’s not like it is part of her job or anything. I mean, she’s obviously got enough on her plate perfecting that annoyed look on her face. And with all the “put your tray table up and turn off your ipod” speeches, how could she possibly find the time to help a passenger find a safe and secure spot for a carry-on bag? She shouldn’t have felt the need to help me and luckily for her, she didn’t.

While rolling her eyes and exhaling loudly, she told me to find a spot for my bag “in the back of the plane” which was both amusing and confusing. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to get off the plane and find some room in the trunk, or head back to talk with somebody who might have some space under their seat. I ended up going to the back row and asking a couple of teenage kids if I could perhaps put my bag behind their seat since there seemed to be enough room for it. They were confused and I think a little afraid of me, but they let me put my bag back there, so it was all good. In my defense, this plane was tiny and my carry-on has never not fit into the overhead before. Still, I probably should have checked a bag instead of jamming everything into the carry-on.
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Ever see a large black bear cross all four lane of interstate traffic in less than 5 seconds? We saw it happen on the Pennsylvania Turnpike just west of the mountains. Coolest black bear related thing I have ever seen – this bear was moving fast and cleared a five-foot concrete dividing barrier like he was clearing a hurdle in the 100-meter. I have seen deer, raccoons, even possums cross the road, but never a black bear. Wow, I hope I am never being chased my one of those things – talk about big and fast.
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The people who take tolls for a living can be either the nicest or meanest people in the world. We met all types of toll-takers. There was the woman who yelled at us when we asked her for change for a dollar “I’m not a bank” and the woman who couldn’t have been nicer about the change request, practically running after our 1990 Chevy S-10 Blazer when we asked if asking for change at a toll booth was out of line “no not at all -- you all need some change?!”
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Because my flight from Minnesota was delayed 40 minutes, I was running from the arrival gate in Chicago to my departure date so I wouldn’t miss my plane to Philly. As I got to the gate, the door was closed and nobody was around. It was 1:50 p.m. and my flight was set to take off at 1:55 p.m.

An AA ticket taker popped out from behind the fake wall and looked at me in disgust. I love flying these days, the airline employees are the nicest folks around. Two other guys came running up to the gate behind me. Because I was connecting from another flight, the woman said I might be able to get on if they haven’t already closed the door to the airplane. She dialed some magic number on her phone, the gate door popped open, and I was on the plane.

I did the walk of shame from the front of the plane to the middle of the plane toward my seat, pushed my giant carry-on into the overheard compartment (bigger plane this time) and sat down next to a woman who couldn’t have been more disappointed because she just downgraded from having an open seat next to her to having me next to her in the span of 30 seconds.
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The people of Pittsburgh love the Steelers but they couldn’t care less about the Pirates. I had no business getting box seats to a relatively new stadium, but there couldn’t have been more than 15,000 people at the game. Well…it wasn’t a game, it was more of a “let’s eat and drink and wait for the rain to stop” event…but still.