And I’m surprisingly tired tonight, considering I slept until 8:30 this morning and our flight back was only about two and a half hours. But for some reason, flying always tires me out. It’s like a combination of stress, lugging around bags, little to no food, and stale airplane air. Like today for instance – we got a rather late start, so we barely had time to pick up coffee at Starbucks… the traffic on the way to the rental car place (which was several miles from the actual airport) was moving so slowly that we were preparing ourselves for the possibility of missing our flight… we arrived at the rental car place just in time to catch the shuttle to the airport, and then dragged our luggage through the terminal to check-in… waited in the security line… and then we discovered, after all of our rushing, that we were an hour early. So I got a protein bar, Rick got a cheeseburger at McDonald’s, and we went to wait at our gate… just as we were about to board, they announced that “something” was wrong with our plane… so we had to run down to a different gate so we could board a plane that was sufficiently sound for flight… we left a half hour late and rode in the dry, stale air back to Austin.
And now I’m really tired.
Actually, I’m always surprised by how efficient things are at O’Hare airport – it’s one of the largest airports in the country, yet the lines to check-in and get through security never seem too bad. (At least they never have when I’ve flown through there – but maybe during holidays or something…) In fact, we spent less time standing in lines at O’Hare than we usually spend in the Austin airport. Getting through security in Austin can be a little perplexing, because there are at least two or three x-ray machines at every checkpoint, but I’ve RARELY seen more than one of them actually open. What’s the point of having all those x-ray machines if you’re never going to make use of them??? Sometimes I wonder if there’s really only ONE working machine, and the rest are for show…
I didn’t have a chance to post while we were in Chicago – we kept pretty busy wandering around the city during the day, and then meeting up with Eric for dinner every night. On Friday, I had the chance to head up to where Jen works and meet some of the people I’ve conversed with through email over the last year. That was really nice – it’s always nice to put a face with a name. :) We had lunch with Jen and Jason and Nathan and Meghan at a place called “L. Woods Tap and Pine Lodge.” And as we were sitting in our booth, I noticed a sign that declared that area of the restaurant the “Ocean’s 12 Room.” I thought that was sort of strange, until Jen explained that part of the movie was actually filmed in that room. So now I have to watch Ocean’s 12 again so I can revel in the fact that I had lunch in the same room that was once occupied by George Clooney and Matt Damon…
I’m already missing the Caribou Coffee down the street from Eric’s condo – we don’t have any Caribou Coffee shops around here. And while I do enjoy Starbucks, I also like to have various coffee choices now and then… So I guess that gives me a reason to head back to Chicago some time soon. (Oh yeah – and Eric… him too… :)) But for now, I think I’ll head to bed early and sleep off my day of travel…
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