Home again, home again… Day 11.

So, it’s come to this! The last day of my sordid tale of escape and debauchery – light on the latter. (grin)

Roxan and I got up stoopid early, to make sure I was at the airport in time to check in and get through security and such. And by Stoopid Early, I mean 4:15 am. I drug my tired behind downstairs, made sure I had everything, swiped a diet coke to help wake up, and then we were off to San Jose – or, as those in Santa Cruz call it “over the hill” – which is a different hill then the one Frazier Park is on, that I heard referred too often as ‘I’m off the hill, call you when I come home.’ or ‘we’re headed back up the hill’ etc. California, apparently, is full of hills. At least they’ve finally stopped calling them ‘mountains’!

The San Jose Airport is another little podunk airport that’s now among my favorites (LAX terrifies me. *L* It’s so BIG) and it took us about 45 minutes to get there. Or it should have – it seems we passed through a time vortex, because it Roxan knew when we left, and swore it should not have taken us so long – maybe she gained that time on the way back! Who knows!

She dropped me off and went to park while I checked in via their little machine, thanks to the help of an employee who had the grace not to laugh at my nerves. I just prefer to have real people checking me in, instead of machines! Real people make mistakes and you have someone to yell at! If a MACHINE does it, whatcha gonna do, kick it? Anyway, we got me all checked in and the gate was literally 20 feet away. I waited for Roxan and we chatted for a few minutes, until she had to head back, and I needed to hit security and the bathroom waiting on the other side (fault the Diet Coke!) before boarding. So we said our goodbyes, and she headed off to an extremely busy day back ‘over the hill’ and I skated through security without problems.

The flight started boarding on time (6am) and we all were amused as we bored to see how few of us there were! Seems EVERYONE hates getting up that early! The flight attendants started making jokes over the intercom. “So, now that all 30 of you are on board, everyone to their own row!” and “Thank you for flying Alaska Airlines…. all 30 of you.”  So on and so forth. They were a great crew, and spent a lot of time giggling and having fun – THOSE are the flights I LOVE.

We got boarded quickly and off early, and made great time to Seattle. Once there, I found the right gate, grabbed a bagel and some coffee and waited for the second flight to board. They started, then had to stop because maintenance needed to check something. I hate it when they announce that sort of stuff, but don’t give any clue as to what they’re checking – it allows the more paranoid (STOP LOOKING AT ME!) to come up with a variety of ailments. The wing is hanging by a SINGLE BOLT. The engine, it’s not supposed to be on the tarmac like that. The are installing new, wider seats for us fatasses! Ok – so that last one is just wishful thinking. Ha.

After about 20 minutes, Maintenance cleared us to resume boarding and I heard one of the employees say something about a door that wasn’t closing properly, but now is. Alrighty then. There were more folks on this flight, but I still managed to score myself an entire row near the back of the plane. I was surrounded by a group of loud guys who all work together for some company or another, and listened to them talk shop until I splurged for the digiplayer and watched Ocean’s 13 – nothing ever beats the original 11, but 13 was a pretty fun flick, all told.

I caught about a 20 minute cat nap as well, and enjoyed a mini-sub sandwich before we landed without any problem in Anchorage. I grabbed my luggage, found where the cabs were waiting, walked ALL THE WAY AROUND 3 exits that would be RIGHT NEXT to the cab station, but were blocked off due to construction, and caught  a cab with a nice gentleman who helped me with my luggage, and took me to the Library where Dad’s meeting was in progress.

I settled in, and mucked around online for the last hour of the meeting, then joined Dad and C in the rental car he’d gotten for the occasion for the long ride home. A stop at Girdwood for munchies, and then in Kenai to drop of C at her car, and I was home at last. The pup – she decided to stay with Auntie an extra night, and so I didn’t even see her until the next day – but the other two, they were very excited to see the things i had bought them me. I passed out the goodies, made a couple calls, and then? Went to sleep.

Thus ends the tale of my Escape to CA. I know, kinda anti-climatic, huh? *L*

(What the heck am I gonna write about NOW?)