<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I am no world traveler, but ever since I graduated from high school, I have managed to visit both coasts of our fair country and a handful of places in between.\u00a0 My first trip by air was a modest one.\u00a0 My brother Ron had just finished his first year of teaching in downstate Chesaning and was facing induction into the U.S. Army that summer.\u00a0 In June of 1971, he bought me a one way ticket on a small commuter plane from Marquette to Lansing so I could help him pack up his apartment.\u00a0 In this small, twin engine airplane, I found myself sitting right behind the pilot and co-pilot so I watched and listened to what was going on during the flight.\u00a0 We crossed Lake Michigan before landing in the same town we had visited the summer before to march in two Cherry Festival parades.\u00a0 I happened to be looking out the left side window when I heard them talking about a small plane the Traverse City airport tower had told them was in the area.\u00a0 I could clearly see it but apparently they could not.\u00a0 I was just about ready to say, \u201cLook over there and down a little,\u201d when the pilot finally said, \u201cOh yeah, there it is.\u201d\u00a0 The next leg to Lansing was much less eventful.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My one and only trip east took place in the 1990s when family friend Fern invited us to visit her in Oakton, Virginia.\u00a0 Being just outside of Washington, D.C., it afforded us an opportunity to visit many historical hotspots like the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian, the National Air and Space Museum, the Holocaust Museum, the Washington Monument, Arlington National Cemetery, The Holocaust Museum, the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials.\u00a0 We also toured many memorial sites at the National Mall including those dedicated to those service men and nurses who served in Vietnam and Korea and the National Cathedral.\u00a0 Fern was our gracious host, taxi driver, tour guide, and local authority on all the sites we visited.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the famed Ontonagon Boulder was locked up in a wing we could not visit.\u00a0 The flight into and out of Reagan National Airport provided a bird\u2019s eye view of all the famous postcard vistas one sees about our nation\u2019s capitol.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We had a decade-long break before we took our next family flight for Elizabeth\u2019s graduation from the University of Colorado in Boulder.\u00a0 The new Denver Airport had only recently been completed and my first impressions were:\u00a0 a) how big it was, b) how far away from both Denver and Boulder it was, and c) how fast the underground trains running between the main terminal and the outlying B and C terminals were.\u00a0 At the time, I had no way of knowing how many times I would find myself passing through the Denver airport traveling back and forth to Oregon in the second decade of the new millennium.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Before the WOAS West Coast Bureau landed in Eugene, Oregon, it was headquartered in Los Angeles after Elizabeth had matriculated to UCLA.\u00a0 Having driven to Boulder twice, we knew that when we visited L.A., flying was the better option.\u00a0 When she first moved farther west, I took my last connecting flight on a turbo prop plane to Detroit before boarding a jet for L.A.\u00a0 Northwest Airlines later merged with Delta and flights from Marquette to Detroit or Chicago were replaced by small regional jets operated by American and United Airlines.\u00a0 It was an improvement as the jets were faster and quieter than the turbo prop planes.\u00a0 Being a detail\u00a0 oriented person, Elizabeth had emailed me very specific instructions of how to get to the LAX\u00a0 baggage area and board the shuttle to her campus housing.\u00a0 I had no apprehension about arriving at the very large Los Angeles International airport and before too long I was standing at the curb side kiosk for the blue shuttle van that would take me to campus.\u00a0 It only seemed like the shuttle ride up the 405 Interstate took as long as the flight from Detroit.\u00a0 L.A. is, after all, a big town!<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There were three other people on the same shared ride and they were all dropped off before me.\u00a0 The driver turned and asked, \u201cWhere are you headed?\u201d and I shared the directions off my cheat sheet:\u00a0 \u201cIt is a new housing unit located between these four streets.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cGot it,\u201d he said and off we went.\u00a0 The first twenty minutes were not unusual but the second time we passed under part of the Pauly Pavilion Arena, I realized that we were starting a second round of our \u2018Tour de Campus\u2019.\u00a0 I politely asked if he knew where we were going and when he said, \u201cI thought so,\u201d I repeated the location again.\u00a0 He turned around and said, \u201cOh, is that the new buildings they just finished?\u201d\u00a0 Five minutes later I was standing with my bag in the courtyard of a complex we had passed twice before.\u00a0 He handed me his card and told me to give him a call when I needed to get back to the airport but it was soon deposited in the nearest trash can.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0During the ten years Elizabeth and Todd lived in L.A., I took many shared van rides back and forth to LAX.\u00a0 Most were fine but a couple were a little nerve jangling as the time rolled on toward my departure time.\u00a0 In one case, the driver went back and forth on a half mile stretch several times before he pulled over and pulled out a paper map.\u00a0 One of the passengers asked what address he was looking for and when the driver told him, he pointed at the gated community entrance to our right.\u00a0 Sure enough, that was the exact address he was searching for and had passed numerous times.\u00a0 On oee of my favorite side trips we ended up picking a fare from Marina del Ray.\u00a0 One of the touring members from Lindsay Tomasic\u2019s band Trees (whom I had met at the first Porcupine Mountain Music Festival) happened to live in Marina del Ray.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In 2012, we all flew to L.A. for Elizabeth\u2019s graduation.\u00a0 The plan was for Daniel and I to fly home, leaving my wife there so she could cat sit while the kids took a trip up the coast.\u00a0 All was fine until we hit Chicago where we ate lunch before heading off to the F Concourse to catch our flight north to Hancock.\u00a0 When we got to the gate, there was no flight listed on the board.\u00a0 I asked the agent if the Hancock flight had been moved to another gate.\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d she replied looking a little surprised, \u201cIt was cancelled.\u00a0 We announced it.\u201d\u00a0 I explained that we had come in a few concourses away and would not have heard it.\u00a0 We set off to the United Airlines service center looking for a flight north.\u00a0 \u201cI can book you on a flight two days from now,\u201d was the first answer we got about rebooking.\u00a0 The family was in the process of closing the deal to sell mom and dad\u2019s house and the paper signing was scheduled in two days.\u00a0 After confirming Marquette\u2019s airport was a reasonable alternative for a quicker flight, she booked us on American Airlines to Marquette but the flight was scheduled to start boarding within the hour.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We headed off\u00a0 to the new gate at a brisk pace and confirmed that we indeed had seats.\u00a0 Now all we had to do was figure out the last leg home as our car would still be in Hancock when we landed in Marquette.\u00a0 Luckily for us, my brother lives in Harvey just outside of Marquette and he\u00a0 was home when I called.\u00a0 \u201cHey, can you pick us up at the airport at 9:30 p.m.?\u201d I asked.\u00a0 \u201cSure, but why?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cSo we can borrow your car so we can get home.\u00a0 I promise we will get\u00a0 it back in a few days.\u201d\u00a0 I explained how we got short stopped in Chicago and he met us at Sawyer International.\u00a0 Once we dropped Ron off at home, we headed the two and a half hours down the road to Ontonagon.\u00a0 We had recently adopted a black cat named Mr. Mittens from OCAP and he was being tended to by our friend Bill.\u00a0 Mr. M was really happy to see us when we got home and almost knocked me over with a headbutt greeting.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On another travel front and without getting into the whole sermon, it does irritate me to no end that people insist on stuffing rolling bags in the overhead bins.\u00a0 Most are the same size as the luggage I check-in for the baggage compartment.\u00a0 I am more than happy to board with just the\u00a0 backpack I take on the plane and haul through the airports.\u00a0 My solution to this ever growing problem would be to change the current system:\u00a0 charge $40 for the overhead bin for all rolling bags and $20 for the luggage compartment.\u00a0 A new scam has been brought on by the airlines themselves;\u00a0 they announce at the gate that, \u201cWe need X number of bags tagged because we only have room in the overhead bins for \u2018X\u2019 number of rolling bags\u2019.\u00a0 Tagged bags can be left on the raceway and will be delivered to your stop at no charge.\u201d\u00a0 When I picked up my bag at Eugene on the last trip (explanation will follow), the man ahead of me asked the agent, \u201cNow, if I have my bag tagged (the same size I had checked at the start of my trip), there is no charge for that, right?\u201d\u00a0 Don\u2019t you love watching the parade of overhead bin stuffers jockeying for space and then clogging the aisle when everyone with short connections is trying to get off the plane?\u00a0 I do not.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My most recent trip to the WCB took me from Hancock to Chicago to Denver and then to Eugene.\u00a0 We left Hancock in the morning and I arrived in Eugene about midnight EDT.\u00a0 As we taxied to the terminal, my UA app dinged to tell me, \u201cYour bag arrived at 3:30 p.m. (six hours ahead of me) and can be picked up from the agent at the baggage claim.\u201d\u00a0 Great\u2026we found no agent at baggage claim and no agent at the check-in counter.\u00a0 There was one more incoming flight an hour later but the odds were not good I would see a living body then either.\u00a0 We headed to the WBC and planned to pick up the bag the next morning.\u00a0 Yes, they are supposed to deliver late bags, but my bag wasn\u2019t late – it was early.\u00a0 Wonder if I can get on that flight the next time and arrive six hours earlier?\u00a0 When I picked up my bag, I heard the guy asking about the \u2018free tagging\u2019 thing.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If it takes an 18 hour travel day to get to Eugene, then you can guess it takes an 18 hour travel day to get back to Hancock.\u00a0 The reverse trip included a 7 hour layover in Denver but only an hour and twenty minutes in Chicago.\u00a0 Going out my layovers were split evenly at the big airports.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t worried coming home because I was scheduled to land at O\u2019Hare (ORD), disembark at gate B 4 and leave from gate F 1.\u00a0 I have done this route before and knew from my previous experience that these two gates were only about 15 minutes apart.\u00a0 Having made the mistake of texting, \u201cRight on time, should easily make my departure gate,\u201d my slightly tight turn around suddenly got very tight.\u00a0 The pilot announced, \u201cYou will notice we stopped well away from the terminal.\u00a0 This plane requires a specific type of gate and ours got reassigned.\u00a0 We will have to sit here until about 8:00 before we can be assigned a gate.\u201d\u00a0 My new flight was supposed to board between 8:53 and 9:03.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ten minutes later, he announced that they had found us a gate and we would be there \u2018soon\u2019.\u00a0 I have taxied around ORD many times but this time, we seemed to be taking the long route.\u00a0 I could see the control tower out my window to the right but we never got any closer to the terminal for the next thirty minutes.\u00a0 We passed the American Airlines repair bay and the airport Hilton, neither of which I had seen from a plane before.\u00a0 At 8:15, we stopped and to my joy, I could see gate B4 out my window.\u00a0 Pilot:\u00a0 \u201cHey folks, we just need to wait five minutes for the small plane to move off our gate and we can pull up.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cYay,\u201d I thought, \u201cI can still make it.\u201d\u00a0 Wrong.\u00a0 The plane pulled left up to gate C21 and my UA app dinged to tell me I was not departing from gate F20 . . .\u201dOnly a 22 minute walk\u201d the app said.\u00a0 Knowing this was not a 22 minute walk, I decided to plow the road.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My wife had a tight connection once and her seatmate near the rear of the plane said, \u201cFollow me, I will plow the road and get you out of here so you can catch your plane,\u201d and true to his word, he did just that.\u00a0 I put my backpack in front of me and excused myself from row 33 forward and every person who heard me say, \u201cI have a very short connection,\u201d stepped aside and said, \u2018Go ahead, go.\u201d\u00a0 At row 5, there was a woman with a bag the size of a small whale standing between me and the door but once she moved, I had it made, but trouble loomed.\u00a0 There was an elderly woman in the seat to the left who had boarded with much difficulty even with her traveling helper.\u00a0 I tapped her on the shoulder while making eye contact with her helper and said, \u201cExcuse me, can I slide by you?\u00a0 I have a very tight connection.\u201d\u00a0 Both of them said, \u201cOh, by all means, go ahead.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was wonderful that 99.9 percent of the people I encountered on this plane were understanding.\u00a0 Then I met the .1 percent.\u00a0 I felt a hand on my right shoulder and a fiftyish looking guy with a goatee and salt and pepper hair said in a voice that sounded just like Dr, Phil, \u201cHey buddy, I have a tight connection, too.\u00a0 You don\u2019t see me being a jerk about it.\u201d\u00a0 Hmmm.\u00a0 Do I explain to him that I just came from row 33 and he is in row 5?\u00a0 Do I have to tell him that if I do not make this flight, I will be sleeping at the airport tonight?\u00a0 This was not what I wanted to hear 15 hours into an 18 hour travel day, so I shook him off, said, \u201cSorry, I do not have time for a debate here,\u201d and dashed up the raceway.\u00a0 At the top, I asked the agent to call ahead and tell them to not close the door on the plane until I got there and he said, \u201cI am on it – go, go, go.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For the record, I picked them up and laid them down the whole way and only rested on the down and up escalators in the underground passage between the C and B terminals.\u00a0 The app\u2019s<\/span><\/p>\n \u201822 minute walk\u2019 took me at least 25 minutes (picture a Gold Medal pace in an Olympic event).\u00a0 I arrived at my gate with ten minutes to spare.\u00a0 When I told the agent I was the one they had called about from gate C21, he said, \u201cYou came all the way from C21?\u00a0 Do you need assistance? Are you okay?\u201d\u00a0 I was a hot sweaty mess by then but I assured him as long as the plane hadn\u2019t boarded, I would be fine.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I actually arrived 20 minutes early but did not know that when I departed C21.\u00a0 Gates F20 and F22 shared the same raceway and were boarding flights at the same time.\u00a0 F22 was heading to Chattanooga, Tennessee so they had to wait 10 minutes for another gate agent to go down and make sure the Tennessee passengers went down the left corridor and those on the flight to Hancock went to the right.\u00a0 The steward on our flight had some fun with it.\u00a0 Just before we pulled back, he asked, \u201cIf there is anyone who would rather go to Chattanooga, you have to go now before I close the door.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When you travel, stuff happens.\u00a0 My wife has spent at least three nights in Chicago and two in San Francisco on various trips so I do not complain to her about any of my trivial travel problems.\u00a0 You shrug it off and marvel how many rude people take out hitches in their travel plans on the gate agents who are just trying to do their job.\u00a0 Having seen enough videos of rude behavior on airplanes, I can attest that I departed with haste, but I was not rude nor did the majority of the people who let me pass treat me like I was being rude.\u00a0 I wonder if \u2018Dr. Phil\u2019 made his connection? (and no, I do not secretly wish he didn\u2019t).\u00a0 Grumbling about the people who insist on dragging more baggage with them than their allotted share of space can accommodate won\u2019t change people\u2019s behavior, but I still grumble to myself.\u00a0 Even when your travels hit a few speedbumps (like \u2018Dr. Phil\u2019), all you can do is step over them and move along!<\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 Live from Royal Albert Hall – anybody but CCR do a better Travelin’ Song?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I am no world traveler, but ever since I graduated from high school, I have managed to visit both coasts of our fair country and a handful of places in between.\u00a0 My first trip by air was a modest one.\u00a0 My brother Ron had just finished his first year of teaching in downstate Chesaning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,8,12,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-from-the-vaults","category-humor","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3697"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3700,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3697\/revisions\/3700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}