LaughingSeven

So I’ve got a lot happening in the next 6 weeks. I write this to relieve my anxiety of the unknown represented in the following:

- finish classes. June 24th
- finish papers. July 3rd
- pack house, and move out by July 31
- buy a house in nashville by n/a
- pack moving van/trailer and ship furniture/shit to Nashville. have a place to unload items/shit from truck/van/trailer when it arrives in nashville
- Family vacation with my family in Estes Park Aug 9-16.
- School starts for Peterson in Nashville on Aug 15th.
- find a job
- find time to relax and vacate life after the past 24 months of 100% exhaustion.

I have NO IDEA how to get all of the above accomplished in the next 8 weeks. Ideas?

Just a couple of pictures along my 3.2 mile journey yesterday that took me just shy of an hour and five minutes to complete. Between the stop and go traffic over the I-5 ship-canal bridge, the cobblestone-esque freeway, and the grey day I was thrilled to be in the car for over an hour (reference pics below). Oh, did I mention that I had all three kiddos in the van with me?

Location: San Francisco, CA

Sunday morning we get up at 7:30 and leave hotel at 8:15. Our hope is to drive 2 hours to Carmel, CA (quaint city by the ocean) and hang out there for a bit before our flight leaves San Jose at 5:45.

One hour into the drive from San Fran to Carmel, we run into a triathlon….the biking portion. We’re driving on highway 1 (beautiful scenic byway that goes along the coast), so for an hour and a half or so I’m driving two-fisted on the wheel at roughly 20-30 mph dodging bikers on both sides of the roads. Think Tour-de-France with open roads. There where over 2,000 bikers. Until the triathlon, our trip had been amazing. Usually we encounter at least 2 or 3 situations in travel that border on insane, so the fact that our trip had gone by without a problem until now was pretty amazing.

We finally make it to Carmel at 12:30 (2 hours later than expected due to said triathlon) and get lunch at an awesome Italian bistro: Great food and great company. We walk around the town for an hour, and then hop back in the car to drive to San Jose to fly home.

Our flight leaves at 5:43. We get to the airport (hardly worth calling an airport… more like a place that has airplanes, and that’s it) at 4:20, and are a little nervous about making our flight. This fear is quickly thrown out the window when we walk into the-place-that-has-airplanes and see the ticket counter, the security screening, and the departure gate all within 30 feet of each other. I was afraid they’d ask me to help fly the plane, or at least help load the luggage on the plane.

The strange thing is that this is an international airport. Either the folks at San Jose don’t believe Seattle is apart of the United States or they make one flight a year to an airport situated on the border of the US where the wheels of the plane roll over the border during landing and thus can be considered international. In either case, this is not the picture of an international airport that will be featured in any airline or airport (or place that has airplanes) documentary.

So, back to the story. We get to the airport…er…place-that-has-airplanes at 4:20 and are sitting at the gate by 4:25. I could have made it through the security screening 200 times by the time our flight was to depart (not that’d I want to by the way). Anyway the boarding call comes at 5:15…. Ooops, that was for the wrong flight. That was for the Boise flight departing at the gate next to our flight. So they board the Boise folks.

This is where the fun begins.

We’re next to board. They call for us to board at roughly 5:30, which is a little late, but no big deal. A hundred ore more folks (in a room that now feels no bigger than a ) get in line to board. After the first 10 passengers board, the line stops moving. No moving for 10 minutes. We’re all in line wondering what’s going on. Rumors make their way through the line that the flight might be a ‘no go’.

Then this: “Ladies and gentleman, the pilot has found a problem with your aircraft and is looking into the problem right now. You can be seated as it’ll be a few minutes before we know anything.”

Rumblings throughout the terminal (The entire terminal is literally the size of a big Starbucks coffee shop).

So we sit. I go up to the counter to check on options in case our flight doesn’t leave tonight. There’s another flight leaving San Jose at 8:05 (2+ hours later). Well, at least we have options.

Thirty minutes later, they tell us that the flap on the right wing has gone awry. They’re waiting for the mechanic to check out the problem and should know something in 15-20 minutes. Time is now 5:55. I make my way to the ticket counter, and all of a sudden there is a hoard of folks coming through the gate next to us (the Boise gate).

Through mumblings, I hear that their plane (the Boise one) is now grounded with engine failure. Their flight is cancelled. Sucks for them, but I’m getting out of this damn airport-er-place-that-has-airplanes tonight to see my kids. I get booked on the 8pm flight, and a smile of my resourcefulness is seen on my face (I got two of 12 seats on this later flight). My wife loves me. I love me. My kids love me. I am the greatest….

I am hungry.

Stephanie is pregnant and is hungrier. The people at the desk tell us that food vouchers are available for those of us who are waiting on the flights (which is all 3-400 in this room), just get in line… Remember, two flights have now been cancelled (or postponed) so now people are spanning (I use the term spanning very very loosely) 4 gates with 8 flights supposed to depart within the next 2-3 hours. You should read this as “LOTS of people in the room.

So, the line for the meal vouchers is long. I wait for an hour and decide that my $12 of cash is worth more than their $12 of vouchers given that it’ll take me another hour to get the voucher in my hands, and then I’ll have to stand in line for the food. The hits keep on coming.

I buy dinner at Joe Bob’s sandwich shack (amazing there was a place with food in this ‘place that has airplanes’). After dinner, 7:20pm or so, the plane with the flap failure (our original flight at 5:45) is having a part driven down from Oakland so that it can be fixed. This part is rumored to consist of match sticks, bubble gum, and some silly string. But hey, whatever works…right?

Meanwhile, the Bosie flight (with the engine failure) is rumored to begin boarding in the next hour. Good for them. We’re happy for them, we’re happy for us as we have a flight scheduled to leave at 8pm, and we’ll be home by 10:30 or so.

Wrong.

I learn from the airline folks (at this point I should mention that a grand total of 4 flight attendants are working 3 gates for the 8 flights) that 3 planes in Seattle scheduled to depart for Northern California (including the 8:00 flight we’re supposed to leave on) are all grounded due to mechanical failures. Yeah, that’s right. At least 5 planes all bound for either San Jose, Seattle, or Boise are all grounded with mechanical failures.

So now our plane in Seattle supposed to depart from San Jose at 8:00 PM hasn’t even left Seattle (it’s 7:30 now) and won’t be in San Jose until at least 10pm. The flap on the other plane is still broken (evidently the bubble gum and silly string isn’t working) and there’s little end in sight.

But wait, there’s more. We find out that San Francisco (45 min from San Jose) has a flight leaving at 9:05. We might be able to make that flight. So we, along with 6 other hopeful stranded passengers, hop on a van to be driven to SFO (San fran airport… yes, it’s an airport and it has planes) in hopes of getting on that flight.

After an uneventful drive (amazing, we know) we arrive at the SF airport at 8:15. The plane boards at 8:30. We make it through the security just fine, and get to the gate at 8:25. I see the plane out the window (note, the San Jose airport doesn’t have windows. not sure if it’s underground….or maybe under water, I still never saw a single plane, or passenger, leave the building through a gate). So I see the plane out the window, and I’m thrilled. We’re finally going home.

I then hear “Ladies and gentlemen there is a problem on the jetway. We’re switching to gate 22 for this flight.”

Are you kidding me?

Again?

Another delay?

Thankfully that was the last eventful happening in our trip. We got on board, in first class thanks to my superior negotiating skills with the Alaska Air attendants, and made it all the way to Seattle. Thanks to some baileys and coffee on the flight, I was finally resting well after 14+ hours of travel that day.

We finally got in bed last night at 12:40.

We don’t know where our luggage is. but that’ll figure itself out.

The carpet is blueish-purple with random shapes that would confuse even the most astute cryptologist. No, I’m not in a multi-billion dollar hotel casino, where the air reeks of floral smelling cigarettes; no, I’m sitting in the Vegas airport. The distant ‘bing’ of slot machines is not far off, both in my memory as well as just a few feet away in the C-Terminal courtyard. This carpet is my seat for the next 45 minutes as I wait patiently as the 2nd person in line under the “A” banner that denotes the Southwest travelers who are obsessive compulsive about checking in for their flight.

I’m sitting here for a number of reasons. First and foremost I need leg room on the plane. The engineers of air-travel do not care much for those of us who have legs that barely fit in the marginal space between seats. So I sit here hoping to snag one of the few seats that actually boast a comfortable amount of leg room for the upcoming 3 hour flight back to Seattle.

Secondly I am sitting here because my feet hurt. You know, that pain that begins as tingling heat in the ball of your heel then moves towards your toes with each step you take. No amount of air, rubber, or gel can keep a pair of feet comfortable after 4 days of walking on the strip, 2 rounds of golf, and hours of standing around the craps table as your watch your meager efforts at breaking the house slip away with each and every 7 that is thrown. They didn’t build Rome in a day, but they could build Vegas in a day if they wanted to.

My time in Vegas has capped off a less-than extended break between the spring semester of school and the forthcoming summer semester starting Monday. My time with Brian and Hunter was more than I had hoped. Between the high-fives after one of us driving a 300+ yard par-4 yesterday and a putter flying through the air after that same person took 4 putts to make it in the hole; we have had an amazing time together.

We laughed over the same jokes more times than we could count.
We paid too much for beer, taxis, and sunscreen.
We lost more than we won on the tables.
And we didn’t get enough sleep.

Yet it is times with friends like this that makes me know the beauty of life. As strange as it sounds, my soul has been refreshed here in Vegas…because of my friends.

So, on the trip to Seattle last week, Dad and I stopped in Boulder to stay with Ben and Marsha Kay. While there, I got some time to play with Savannah (3 years old). Below is a little taste of how much fun, and cute, she is.

We were playing “find Cinderella” and “Swiper the Fox”, somehow those two cartoons merged and Swiper the Fox was chasing us through the Kitchen trying to swipe our Cinderella. So much fun.

Well, we arrived without a problem….only we couldn’t get the mattress out of the truck. So, we’re at a hotel (got the last hotel room in the city … due to a cancellation).

I’m beat, so quickly here’s some pictures of our house…..our small house.

Entry way (look to the left, you have the living area, straight ahead is the stairs, and to the right is the master bedroom):

Here’s the beautiful wallpaper that’s in the entry room with the lone bathroom in the house on the left (the bathroom door is 72 inches tall…..I’m 75 inches tall. That sound you hear is my head hitting the top of the entry to the bathroom):

Stairs going up to the two small bedrooms (one will be my office, the other Stephanie and my room):

Living room slash play room:

Master Bed that will house both kids and lots of toys :):

Kitchen:

Off to the right of the kicthen, is the Laundry room:

Behind the laundry room, there’s a “work room” that will likely be Steph’s desk/office area.

We’re tired and glad to be here. We’ve got some help in the morning at 9 to unload the truck. I’ll post some more stuff later tomorrow…

Here’s my picture essay of what we saw today from Denver, CO to Burley, ID:

We Started at 9:00am here:

After a few miles of travel, we were here:

And saw some HUGE equipment being moved (unfortunately, the equipment was passing us :():

Somwhere along the way, I give my thumbs-up for something I can’t remember:

The road was so bumpy at times, that my blasted (see image) kept getting locked up. It’s a constant problem thats VERY annoying:

Once in Wyoming, we found ourselves crossing the Continental Divide….thus we had to take a picture:

Somewhere in the passing of the divide, I saw a custom ticked-out 18-wheeler with …. get this, Spinners. The guy must have spent his life savings on this truck:

At one point during the trip across Wyoming, I wondered if we’d made a wrong turn and somehow got to the Middle East:

Again, my seatbelt kept locking up:

Some random oil rig all alone in the desert:

Another pretty cool thing we saw was the windmills (these things are huge):

Amidst the randomness, there were some beautiful landscapes. Capturing these scapes is quite tough from the truck, but I did get a couple of good shots:

and another…

After 400+ miles of Wyoming, we finnaly made our pilgramidge into the land of Mormon:

Part of our decent into the plains of Utah. It’s hard to capture the beauty of the scenery here:

I love geology, and here’s a little glimpse of what Utah shares in way of rocks:

We finished up in:

Did you forget about my blasted seatbelt???

That’s just a sampling of the stuff we saw during the 650 mile journey today. Tomorrow we hit the road at 7 and head to Seattle. We’ll arrive there well ahead of expectations, and start moving in to our house. More pics and updates tomorrow.

We’ll be heading into the mountains today, and thus the postings on the blog will not be as plentiful….though I should have a good assortment of pictures when I hop back on the i-net upon our arrival.

Map Link

Here’s a 10 second video we made from part of our trip through Oklahoma today…

Video Link

Well, guess what….we’re still in Kansas. We just drove past the worlds largest prarie dog exhibit, but Dad wouldn’t stop. Supposedly, this prarie dog weighs in at 8,000 pounds. I’m really sad I didn’t get to see this 9th wonder of the world.

On another note, the scenery here is breathtaking.