DIA - Delayed In Action

What a day!

Worked hard throwing out more stuff (about 250 pounds of accumulated paper!), getting the pets ready for my absence and preparing for the trip. Got to Durango (La Plata County Airport) in time to go through screening before my plane's scheduled departure.

Learned that I now have to arrive 10 minutes earlier for screening, 'cause they know there's metal on me somewhere, but they can't see it inside my knee. So, they wand me as they put me through a variety of exercises ... I teased that they were actually conducting a sobriety test ... and convince themselves that the ping is coming from my knee and nowhere else.

In the event, it really didn't matter how long it took. The flight that was supposed to arrive in Denver just after 6, didn't board till 7:30 and didn't arrive at DIA till 9, long after my flight for OK City had departed. Nonetheless, flight service personnel announced at landing that the flight to OK was departing from Gate 36. So, I hoofed it to 36, which was loading for San Diego, and then on to 29 ... right gate, but too late.

God was looking out for me, though, because the ladies at the gate processed my boarding pass for Friday's flight and just happened to have a discount chit on hand for reduced lodgings. If they hadn't that one crumpled pink slip at their desk, I would have joined the line of more than 200 people standing at the Frontier Airlines customer service counter!!!

I opened up the laptop, went online and quickly got a reservation at Microtel Inn, plus directions to where to meet the shuttle. (Interesting how ubiquitous laptops are in airport waiting rooms ... everyone, me included, was checking out alternative flight arrangements as our departure time kept getting put off and put off!)

Then I stood for more than an hour at Island 3, Doorway 151, waiting for the Microtel van. My back said that was adding injury to insult after a day of lifting, standing and sitting in confined spaces!

Anyway, I got to the Microtel about 11:30, was checked in quickly and a very few minutes later was soaking my back and hips in a tub of hot water.

I slept well and I'm feeling much refreshed. Hopefully, I'll be able to get on the 8:30 shuttle to the airport, catch a good breakfast at the terminal, board a flight that will leave at the scheduled time and arrive in OK City just after 2 p.m.

Of course, Sandy has moving help arriving at 10 a.m. to load the truck, which she will now have to arrange to get to the house. The loading guys are there for three hours, so it looks like the weather has made me miss the loading of the U-Haul truck! Oh, well, my real reason for going is to drive the truck back, so I guess I'll still be able to do that.

The picture? Servas visitors (two retired teachers) from England have bought a Winnebago Aspect for their multi-month tour of the U.S. and it happened to be parked directly under a magnificent rainbow as seen from the house Tuesday evening. tv