Travelling to Ithaca

[beccastareyes]

Well, I managed to avoid going overweight on my checked baggage (two bags, about fifty pounds each). My carry on was selected for a random screening (perhaps all the computer equipment I keep in it puzzled the security guys) and thankfully they could get it closed. You may think 'Oh, Rebecca brought a lot of stuff because she's moving'. No, I normally travel like this. Yes, it annoys the ever living daylights out of my family. Lincoln's airport is small enough that you can show up an hour before the flight takes off, have all of that stuff happen, and still have twenty minutes for tea and muffins
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So I have a three hour layover in Chicago. Did you know that O'Hare doesn't have wireless internet in its terminal? I was actually willing to pay for it, too. Instead I read my comic and reread the first three chapters of one of limyaael's draft, which I should have returned to her a while ago. I also had a hot dog and chips, and sold my soul to Starbucks for a cookie, a scone and a muffin, which should last until I go grocery shopping tomorrow.

Getting out of Chicago was another matter. First our plane was delayed by twenty minutes because New York's weather was looking iffy. We sat at the gate for another fifteen then, as our delay screwed up takeoff orders. Then we moved to another spot in the airport, as some other plane needed the gate. We sat there for a half hour before takeoff. Somehow all of this added up to only a fifteen minute delay once we got in the air -- I'm guessing airports pad their arrival times because they know stuff like this happens. Either that or pilots redline the planes.

The sky is beautiful about half an hour from New York -- high clouds are keeping the pinks from the sunset, though it's dark and cloudy below and a brilliantly orange moon is rising. This is only the second time I wish I had my watercolors with me on the plane -- the first was a lightning storm over an Iowan city, with clear sky and Scorpius in the background. The clouds look like a rock formation I once saw in a cave somewhere. Beautiful. New York at night is also a pretty place to fly into.

So, I get to New York. By the time I get off the plane (deplane -- fun word) it's ten minutes until my plane is supposed to board to Ithaca. I spend it figuring out how to switch terminals since the shuttle bus stopped for the night (I had to take the airport bus). Once I get through the terminal and go back through security -- no lines at 9:30 at night, even in New York -- there is seven minutes before departure time. I run through the terminal like a looney (something I've only done through Denver, for much the same reason) and get to the gate to listen to a man from somewhere in the Russian area (passport in Cyrillic (I think) and accent) argue with the clerk about his ticket. The plane isn't even there yet. I could have probably walked. As usual. This is how my airport luck works -- I have good airport luck, even though it has a sadistic sense of humor.

So, we get on the plane, which is one of those 20-seaters with an honest-to-god propeller. Cool! Half the plane seem like they are grad students or undergrads of one type or another. The plane itself was okay, if a little bumpy on descent. My baggage was actually there (yay!) and I was able to get a taxi who didn't midn hauling baggage that probably weighed as much as the passenger.
So I come to my apartment complex and log onto the internet. The end.