We Made It !!
Monday, 10/18: The "rooster" went off at 4:30 a.m. this morning; unfortunately, I was awake at 4!! Things went well; got dressed, let the dogs out and even washed last night's dishes. We were out the door at 5:30 with Michael showing up just as we finished loading the car. Now on to the airport. I can't believe how many people are up and moving at that time of the morning. I know, I start work at 5 a.m., but I didn't realize there were so many of us up and about. Getting through airport security was okay, especially since Hunk and I don't travel much. I mentioned to at least two people that "I bet you can't tell we don't travel much," and they just smiled; I guess we were pretty obvious. Fortunately, the people at Southwest were all very kind and patient.
Hunk and I had regular tickets for the flight but Michael had standby. Although standby tickets are a wonderful thing;they have their problems too...because our flight was overbooked AND everyone showed up, he was unable to go with us to Phoenix today. Although Michael had a smile on his face when we left, I felt a pang in my stomach leaving him behind...always a mother I am, I guess. Fortunately, he can try again tomorrow and has been told he should have much better luck...let's hope so.
Hunk and I got to sit in the very first row of the airplane, which gave us triple the leg room compared to sitting elsewhere on the plane. I had a window seat, Hunk was in the middle, and college-age young man got the aisle. He must have been a body builder cause he spent the trip reading "Muscle Magazine," and he was in pretty good shape (not that I noticed). As I always say, I may be old, but I'm not dead. Just between you and me, Hunk passed him the phone number of a well known unattached female in the family...kidding, just kidding You-Know-Who-You-Are!
Flight went well, very smooth, sunny half the time and fluffy clouds the other half. Did you know that people in the northern part of the Midwest plant crops in squares, midway down crops are in circles, and in the southern part rectangles. Couldn't figure that one out. Wanted to take some pictures on the plane but Hunk hid my luggage in an overhead compartment, and those darn stewardesses are up and down the aisle so much and I didn't want to disturb anybody; I also didn't have my book, my snack, or my gum. That's what I get for being such a pacifist.
Phoenix is such a different place. As we came in for a landing, we flew over many neighborhoods. They were packed in like sardines. Lots of trailer parks, too. No one had much of a yard; not that it was worth having a yard. Many people have rocks for landscape; pretty but very boring. Lots of cacti and I want to bring one of those home but haven't figured out how to do that yet. The boulevards are very pretty; bushes with gorgeous lilac or pink flora, trees with smooth, green bark and yes, those prickly pear and barrel cacti. All the shopping centers we've seen and heck just about everything they build down here, look like pueblos. I know, I know, we are in Arizona, but have you ever seen a McDonald's that looks like a Taco Bell? I have. We found a Home Depot right across the street from JoAnn's!! Had lunch at an Italian restaurant. Hunk said we could go Mexican, but I told him I wanted to wait and have dinner one night with Michael, 'cause then I could enjoy the meal with someone who also enjoyed the meal. I mean really, Hunk found Red Lobster, Burger King, McDonald's; need I go on? What can I say, I love the guy. There's a "What a Burger" or something like that and a Popeye's, so maybe I'll have to load up on some Tums and go to a gut bomb place. Fair is fair...right?!
Our hotel room is very nice. It's an older establishment but seems quite clean and homey. We went to the local Albertson's grocery and bought a few things for the mini kitchen we have. Haven't been able to find any Karo syrup or Mello Yellow, so guess I won't be moving to Arizona. There's a restaurant attached to the hotel and I guess we get a free breakfast there every day, so will partake of that. Hope they have good food.
Talked to Susan a couple of times today. I guess Jeannie came through her ear surgery quite well and gets to go home this evening. In 30 days, hopefully she'll be able to hear out of both ears and wouldn't that be a wonderful thing!!
Hunk and I had regular tickets for the flight but Michael had standby. Although standby tickets are a wonderful thing;they have their problems too...because our flight was overbooked AND everyone showed up, he was unable to go with us to Phoenix today. Although Michael had a smile on his face when we left, I felt a pang in my stomach leaving him behind...always a mother I am, I guess. Fortunately, he can try again tomorrow and has been told he should have much better luck...let's hope so.
Hunk and I got to sit in the very first row of the airplane, which gave us triple the leg room compared to sitting elsewhere on the plane. I had a window seat, Hunk was in the middle, and college-age young man got the aisle. He must have been a body builder cause he spent the trip reading "Muscle Magazine," and he was in pretty good shape (not that I noticed). As I always say, I may be old, but I'm not dead. Just between you and me, Hunk passed him the phone number of a well known unattached female in the family...kidding, just kidding You-Know-Who-You-Are!
Flight went well, very smooth, sunny half the time and fluffy clouds the other half. Did you know that people in the northern part of the Midwest plant crops in squares, midway down crops are in circles, and in the southern part rectangles. Couldn't figure that one out. Wanted to take some pictures on the plane but Hunk hid my luggage in an overhead compartment, and those darn stewardesses are up and down the aisle so much and I didn't want to disturb anybody; I also didn't have my book, my snack, or my gum. That's what I get for being such a pacifist.
Phoenix is such a different place. As we came in for a landing, we flew over many neighborhoods. They were packed in like sardines. Lots of trailer parks, too. No one had much of a yard; not that it was worth having a yard. Many people have rocks for landscape; pretty but very boring. Lots of cacti and I want to bring one of those home but haven't figured out how to do that yet. The boulevards are very pretty; bushes with gorgeous lilac or pink flora, trees with smooth, green bark and yes, those prickly pear and barrel cacti. All the shopping centers we've seen and heck just about everything they build down here, look like pueblos. I know, I know, we are in Arizona, but have you ever seen a McDonald's that looks like a Taco Bell? I have. We found a Home Depot right across the street from JoAnn's!! Had lunch at an Italian restaurant. Hunk said we could go Mexican, but I told him I wanted to wait and have dinner one night with Michael, 'cause then I could enjoy the meal with someone who also enjoyed the meal. I mean really, Hunk found Red Lobster, Burger King, McDonald's; need I go on? What can I say, I love the guy. There's a "What a Burger" or something like that and a Popeye's, so maybe I'll have to load up on some Tums and go to a gut bomb place. Fair is fair...right?!
Our hotel room is very nice. It's an older establishment but seems quite clean and homey. We went to the local Albertson's grocery and bought a few things for the mini kitchen we have. Haven't been able to find any Karo syrup or Mello Yellow, so guess I won't be moving to Arizona. There's a restaurant attached to the hotel and I guess we get a free breakfast there every day, so will partake of that. Hope they have good food.
Talked to Susan a couple of times today. I guess Jeannie came through her ear surgery quite well and gets to go home this evening. In 30 days, hopefully she'll be able to hear out of both ears and wouldn't that be a wonderful thing!!
Patrick says "what a burger" is very delicious, so you should try it! Love your blog....remember to eat something local and not the usual!! Can't wait to read tomorrow's!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the flight went well and you arrived safely. I want to know why you were looking for Karo syrup in Arizona...
ReplyDeleteKaren, the green Karo syrup isn't available in MN -- it's great on pancakes and stuff -- her and the other kauffman ladies grew up on it, so whenever anyone goes out of town, they look for karo with the green label to bring home. Mello used to not be in MN for a while either, and you know how mom gets the shakes without it! ;-) karo has blue label and pink label in MN, but not the green.
ReplyDelete