It was a very calm morning. Doug got packed and we were actually ready to leave early. We wandered the house wondering what we had forgotted to do or pack. We both agreed we were ready.
Bob drove us to the airport. Upon check in we found out that our flight to Philadelphia was delayed about 30 minutes. Then another 30 minute delay and another. We felt we still had time to catch our connecting flight to Anchorage which was scheduled to take off at 4:00. Not worried we went off to grab a quick bite of lunch. Upon returning we noticed another 30 minutes delay and our concern began to grow. Doug spoke with the US Air rep who was startled to find that we had not remained at the gate. We need to proceed immediately to the main check in counter, collect our bags and find a man named Risa who was going to load us in to a cab which would drive us to Philadelphia. It was not 1:45 and the drive would take 1.5-2 hours depending on traffic.
So we found ourselves with an Ethopian cab driver, with very bad breath, and an IT security engineer from Cairo. We spend up I-95 in an old BWI cab with terrible suspension. Our speed at time exceeded 90 miles and hour. But he got us there. The curbside check in people were waiting for us and expedited our baggage. Fortunately there was no one in the security check point so we just breezed through and made it to the gate with a few minutes to spare.
We boarded the plane, a Boeing 757, and were delighted to find that the middle seat would remain unoccupied. The flight actually served food (pasta with basil sauce or chicken in brown sauce) which was quite tasty. We watched Extraordinary Measures and The Tooth Fairy while we noshed our way across Canada and landed uneventfully in Anchorage at 7:30 (11:30 our time). On the approach it was very gray and overcast so we couldn't see much of the topography. The transportation to the Millenium hotel was quick and efficient. After a few martinis/manhattans we gratefully retired for the evening at 10:30 and it was still bright as day.
Once again our travel gods smiled upon us!
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