Goodbye, Civilization

Thursday

We got up before 9. I brushed and swished and read e-mail. Then I took a shower and Chris showered after me. I packed my roll-on, but had too much, so Chris put the rest in his case. I ate oatmeal and the last apple, then put the last two bananas in my computer case. I wanted to vacuum the room, but Cecily said no. Chris packed the car and we all got in and went to the airport.

At RIC, Chris and Al got the luggage out. We hugged them and said goodbye. Then we went inside to check our big bags at the counter. After that, we stood in line at Security. When we got to the part where we show our passports, I got moved to a long line and Chris was moved to a short line (pre-check). I had to take off my shoes and put everything in bins to move through the scanner. Chris was waiting for me on the other side. I expected chaos from the news constantly reporting 1000's of canceled flights, but did not see any.

We moved to our gate and waited for an hour or more to board. I ate an oatmeal banana cookie and some cheese sticks. We boarded the first flight which was a small plane. First class was just the front of the plane. No video screen or perks. The trip took about 2 hours to Detroit and I read “The Real Anthony Fauci”. We deplaned in Detroit. I had ear pain from the descent. But it disappeared on the way to our next gate. We had 90 minutes to wait. Still no chaos of canceled flights. I think 6 were listed on the board. I ate more snack and read my book. Then we boarded a bigger plane - 2 seats on each side. At least we had video screens. Once we had taken off, I watched two movies, which made the 4 hours pass quickly. Code something and River Cruise. Anyway, as River Cruise ended, we were descending over Salt Lake City. We went through a black cloud hanging over the city. I think it was smog. And snow.

We landed around 6:30 local. We found our way to the baggage claim area and looked around for our plane's baggage. Basically we went where the most people were gathered. We stood and watched, then I spied one of ours coming out on a different conveyor belt. I ran over to get it and Chris found the other two on the one we had been watching. Then we struggled to get all our stuff across the bridge to the parking garage, only to be told to go back and down. After some false turns, we got to the ground level and the shuttle waiting area.

After some waiting, the shuttle came and lots of people got on. We were packed in. Then at station 5, we got off and walked to Chris' car. It was snowing. Fortunately the car started right up. We had some trouble finding our way out of the airport and paid $150 for parking. The GPS guided us back to Dugway. The snow stopped before we got there, but the roads were covered. We slid a few times on base getting to our house. We unpacked and read e-mail. Taps sounded. Chris went to bed. I stayed up to watch part of The Highwire, then posted to my blog and went to bed.