Planes, No Trains, But Automobiles

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Continental Flight 5826 out of O'Hare at 5:45pm, arrive in Cleveland (yes, Cleveland) 7:59pm. We were delayed. I had to sprint from Terminal C to Terminal D. No really, I LLLLOOOOOOVVVVEEEEE sprinting with a 50 pound carryon bag. Love it...
Continental Flight 2534 out of Cleveland at 8:50pm, arrive in Birmingham 9:53 pm. Wait for bags, watch sister and brother-in-law drive by in lap one around airport arrivals lanes. Wait for bags, talk to sister on phone as they drive around lap two. Finally, conveyor belt is moving. Watch same 5 bags go around conveyor belt 285 times. Finally other bags begin to spit out. Retrieve bag and meet sister and brother-in-law on fourth lap around airport. We are off.

Apparently, Birmingham is not a half an hour away from Starkville, it's three hours from Starkville - that's Starkville, Mississippi to you and me. So, we drive in the pouring rain, for a long time.


Thursday, May 1, 2008

After four days of box packing, trailer loading, and graduation celebrating, I am returning home. I climb into the back seat of the big dually crew cab truck and catch a ride with the p's to Memphis. Two, to three hours later and several hundred miles, I am left in the care of my dear roommate from undergrad. We spend a lovely afternoon touring the University of Memphis where her husband is now a bigwig mucky muck, and then enjoy authentic Memphis barbeque. It's a nice visit. I stay overnight.

Friday, May 2 2008

Dear college roommate drives me from lovely Germantown where they have moved into downtown Memphis for lunch and souvenir shopping and a visit to the famous hotel with the ducks. Then out to the airport for my return trip.
Airtran Airways Flight 537 out of Memphis departs at 1:19pm arriving in Atlanta at 3:35pm. (Didn't I start in Chicago?) Oh, right...Airtran Airways Flight 20 out of Atlanta departs at 4:17pm arriving in Chicago Midway at 5:14pm. (Not really, try 6-something pm.) Good thing my ride was late to pick me up. Retrieve bags relatively quickly and then drive in rush hour traffic for an hour and a half home.

Yes folks, in order to get to Mississippi to see my sister graduate from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University, I traveled to and from six airports in five states and drove hundreds of miles between three states. If only I'd taken a train somewhere, I could write my own sequel. Thank goodness she's moved home and lives within driving distance now!