UMTravels

With the Ortiz Gang arriving at 9am for breakfast I hauled myself out of bed before 8 so that I’d be caffeinated and clean.

Breakfast was an overnight Strata from the Joy of Cooking — but here is a link to a similar recipe: http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/egg0997/strata.html

Only a couple of presents for me to open, I think it was my parents that were the winners of today’s Package Day contest.

With the rest of the morning to relax before my early afternoon flight I got all three newspapers taken care of (one from Santa Fe, one from Albuquerque, and the New York Times) and had time to unzip the gusset of the suitcase and pack all the loot away — definitely paying the $20 to check the beast with two connections in route.

The Package Day route? Santa Fe to Los Angeles to San Francisco to Seattle. Or that was what the route was supposed to be, with me being upgraded on the last leg since it’s a codeshare with Alaska Airlines.

The actual Package Day route? Flight was late getting into Santa Fe from Dallas/Ft. Worth because of ice on the runways in Dallas — yesterday they had to close the airport because of snow and there was still ice today. The flight was even later getting out with all the wheelchairs and luggage, and the fact that another plane also came in — which is a rarity for the Santa Fe airport.

I arrived at LAX about 15 minutes after my flight to SFO left. Found the first ticket agent available and had her (then him) start to find me another way home… and that would be the direct LAX to SEA flight on Alaska leaving in an hour an a half.

Change terminals, wait for a gate agent, re-ticket, ask for upgrade (got it), ask to be reseated in the bulkhead aisle (got it), ask about whether it’s snack or dinner (they said snack, turned out to be a light dinner of Chicken Marsala and a salad). Nothing like hearing an announcement — we have six open seats in First Class if anyone wants to buy one for $50. Ever seen a mob rush a ticket counter?

I got lucky and had an Aussie named Jamie sitting next to me — fresh off a flight from Sydney (and boy did he need that drink and dinner). We got to talking and he was thinking of going to the Museum of Flight — I pulled out two passes which were in my wallet, a $25 off coupon to the Sky Club, and my business card… Happy Package Day Jamie!

Funny that I missed my connection and still got home an hour earlier than if I’d made my original connections. Had a drink, cleaned up the tablet PC a little more that I’m selling to Thomas, watched the news and headed to bed.

Another Package Day down.

[? ? ?]