I'm Home!

Almost everyone returning home from ALA's Annual Conference has had horror stories about the trip. Mine wasn't as bad as some - at least I reached my destination less than 24 hours after I left. However, Mother Nature has a lot to atone for!

When I got to Southwest's gate at Baltimore-Washington Internatinal Airport (also known as Thurgood Marshall Airport), I learned that there might be delays or cancellation of my flight because of weather. We took off a bit behind schedule, made our planned landing in Columbus, OH, and then headed to Las Vegas, where I was to board a plane for Burbank.

I checked the "flight information screen" and learned that the estimated time of departure was 11:45, not the 8:15 previously scheduled. To make a long story short, the aircraft scheduled for this flight was still on the ground in Pennsylvania (I heard both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia as the location). Another Southwest flight to Oakland was delayed for the same reason.

The airline somehow found aircraft to fly to Vegas for the the two flights at our gate. Oakland's plane took off around 10:30, and ours arrived shortly after. We took off about 11, and reached Burbank around midnight. (My fear was that because of noise restrictions we wouldn't be able to get into Burbank.)

Bob Hope Airport (i.e., Burbank) was d-e-a-d. Of course, nothing was open. When I finally reached baggage claimed (and I probably should have asked for a wheelchair; I was huffing and puffing by that time), I couldn't find my suitcase. Fortunately, there was a Southwest employee there, who retrieved my bag (which was sitting on the other side of the carousel). Then the fun really began.

I went to the island where shuttle service vans usually park. Nothing. I tried calling SuperShuttle on my cell phone, but it was so noisy outside (some kind of construction which called for using jackhammers at midnight) that I wound up shlepping my bags back to baggage claim and calling SuperShuttle from there. In a further piece of luck, I had my confirmation note with me. They sent a van for me, which arrived about 12:30.

I made my next mistake by telling the driver how to get me home. I got us lost. (I had thought traveling on the Golden State Freeway would have been easier. I should have suggested he go on the Hollywood Freeway which had the advantage of having an offramp at my street.

Anyway, I staggered into my apartment around 1:30. I got about four hours' sleep Thursday morning, and snoozed off and on during the day - to the extent that I missed a grocery delivery.

I'm a tad more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed today. My grocery delivery has been rescheduled.

Washington, DC

I have been up since oh-dark-thirty California time, and even thought it's after 11 p.m. EDT, I couldn't be more wide awake.

My plane left Beautiful Downtown Burbank at 8 a.m., more or less. What this meant was that SuperShuttle would pick me up between 5:30 and 5:45 a.m. I arose at 4:30, and was somewhat antsy after eating breakfast, feeding the cats, and trying to remember what I had forgotten.

About 5:25, I went downstairs to await the shuttle van. It arrived about 6 a.m., and the driver took us by way of Robin Hood's barn to pick up a fourth passenger. Said passenger was not ready and waiting, so after she appeared, we finally got to the airport around 6:30.

The first leg of the flight, Burbank to Phoenix, went fairly smoothly. However: when I got on the plane, I realized I had forgotten my business cards! Job #1 tomorrow: Find a Kinko's and print some.

I had an hour to wait for the plane from Phoenix to Baltimore. The Southwest employee who was charged with checking passengers in had taken someone in a wheelchair down the jetway. A few minutes later, he announced that there were mechanical problems. When it became 30 minutes from the time of our scheduled departure, Southwest found another plane. Passengers who were flying through from Orange County had to get off the first plane, and were given priority boarding.

I arrived at the Baltimore airport, got my bag, and arranged for SuperShuttle to take me to and from the airport. The van left about ten minutes after that, and I was at my hotel by around 8 p.m.

The hotel rolls up its sidewalks pretty early. I wound up going to the bar and purchasing an appetizer which I brought back to my room.

So endeth Day One.