I had a little adventure on the way to Denver for Thanksgiving. The newscasts were warning that this would be the biggest travel day of the year so far. Gatesville Texas is about forty miles from the Waco airport and my flight was at 6:21 a.m. I have a compulsive need to arrive early for these types of things. So I leave at three and arrive at 4:00 o'clock to find the airport closed! It's a small regional airport with two gates and the place was locked up tight as a drum. So much for the mad press of humanity. I arrived at the DFW American Eagle Satellite building which brought back fond memories of the flight from Dallas to Lawton, Oklahoma I shared with none other than Carrot Top, pre-steroid. That was fun. I think I was the only one that recognized him. He looked nervous, glanced at me with a look of either, please don't acknowledge me or, please ask for my autograph. I'm really not sure which.
There were no exciting celebrity siting this time. The flight went off smooth. The return trip however was a mixed bag. Lisa and I went into the aiport and looked down from the upper deck. The security line was wrapped around the bottom floor of aiport, and Denver aiport is no small building. I was starting to get a feeling of dread but that compulsion had kicked in and I was three hours early. I got to the American Airlines counter and there was no one in it!!! It took me five seconds to check in. Even on my best day this was unprecedented. Things were starting to look up. Lisa and I enjoyed a coffee and headed for the security check point. As we passed the United counter there was one of their employees directing the line around the corner. I couldn't help but think as busy as United was and American wasn't it was good for me but looking bad for American's financial future. This day just kept getting better. By the time we got to the security line it was just a matter of walking to the x-ray machine, it had cleared out that much in 30 minutes.
Of course all this good travel Karma I had collected on the trip was about to bite me in the ass. Firstthe wind had picked up in Dallas so they turned the air traffic around, we landed in Dallas and taxied around the terminal for what felt like three trips. Needless to say I was running through the terminals to catch my connection. That's typical however. What really turned the day around was the flight in the twin prop Saab back to Waco. That wind was really kicking now. Literally the minute we took off I was sick. For the next fifty minutes I was in a cold sweat the likes of which I've never sweated before. I'm usually really nervous landing in Texas on a windy day, but as the plane came down sideways all I could think was "A crash will put me out of this misery". Once we got down and I made my way to the baggage claim I was greeted by the empty spot on the conveyor where my bag was not.
It still was all worth it to see Lisa though.
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