5-13
Gina and I were at VPS about 2 hours before flight time, since we had already dropped Lana and Zena off at PFN. We checked in and grabbed a cocktail at the bar, then sat at the gate, watching FOX News on the monitors. The West Virginia Democratic primary was today, and the talking heads were speculating whether Hillary Clinton would stay in the race after today’s vote came in (she won West Virginia soundly, and stayed in, even there was almost no way she could catch Barak Obama in the overall vote). Our plane was a little late getting in, but the gate agent (who knew we had a tight connection) told us that they would turn the plane around quickly, so we should be OK. The flight to Houston only had about 15 people on it, so we sat close to the door, and hoped we would make up some time.
| For reasons that shall not be disclosed, Gina had promised to pay my bar tab on the flights out and back. This is round 3, somewhere over Mississippi. |
|
The fast turn around in Ft. Walton was for naught. There had been weather in Houston, and landing aircraft were stacked up, so we landed late. Our already tight 50-minute layover had been shaved down to 20. We came in at the B gates and had to cross the airport all the way to E. We hustled along as fast as we could. As we were on the inter-terminal train, Lana called. They were in Memphis, and their flight to Minneapolis was delayed over 3 hours! NWA was going to get them to Minneapolis, put them up for the night, and get them to Vancouver tomorrow morning about 11. The way our luck was going, I looked like NONE of us would make it to Vancouver tonight!
Gina and I hustled along (perhaps slowed a bit by our BAC), but the whole time I figured our rush was futile…I was pretty sure we would miss the flight. We approached the gate and saw that all the seats were empty…a real bad sign. I asked the gate agent “Already gone?” “No, it’s still here”, she said, and rushed us on to the plane. We made it! I called Lana and let her know what was up, then settled in for the 5-hour flight.
The plane was only about ¼ full, which was nice, and we had an uneventful, if a little bumpy, flight, getting into Vancouver right at midnight. Customs was a breeze, and we didn’t have any luggage to pick up, so we hit an ATM to get some Canukian cash, then went straight to a taxi stand. We were at the hotel and checked in by about 1, and I hit the sack around 2.