Yeah, quite a gap in posting again. I have an excuse, weak though it may be. Last Thursday (a week ago today) Jessica and I flew out of Spokane bound for Philadelphia. Arcadia University, where she will go to school next year had scheduled and orientation session for those students who will be participating in FYSAE this coming fall. (That's First Year Study Abroad Experience!) She'll be doing her first semester in London.
The travel went okay until the second leg of the flight. Spokane to Minneapolis was uneventful, but going into Detroit was an adventure. There was a line of thunderstorms that closed that airport, forcing us to circle for a while. Circling caused the aircraft to burn fuel and we finally landed at Grand Rapids to top off the tanks. Coincidentally we were on the ground (and aboard the aircraft) in Grand Rapids for nearly the exact time we were scheduled to be on the ground in Detroit. Finally we were allowed to head for Detroit. The one thing I noticed about that particular airport, is that we seemed to taxi forever to get to the terminal. Once there, we had to wait again, as thunderstorms and lightning strikes were still occuring in the area and they wouldn't send the ground crews out to dock and service the plane. As it turned out we got right back on the exact same plane for our next flight into Philadelphia. Ended up arriving around 10:30 EDT, over three hours later than our scheduled TOA of 7:01 EDT.
Caught a cab to Horsham where our hotel was located, and by the time we got settled in and relaxed it was after midnight. Got up early Friday morning as we needed to be at Arcadia by 8:00. I ended up getting about 4 hours sleep, so I spent most of the day simply trying to stay awake and alert to what they were telling us. That first day was a long one, although we did have lunch (in the dining hall) and a picnic dinner in the "Castle," which was supposed to have been outside, but there was a threat of rain so they moved it indoors. Later there was a "DUKW tour" of Philadelphia, but we hadn't signed up. A good thing, I suppose, as we went back to the room, and shortly after 8:00 pm I was sound asleep. Before I hit the pillow, it did rain and rain hard. I don't know if it affected the tour, but as that outing was scheduled to last until 9, I'm glad not to have gone.
Saturday was a little more leisurely regarding the orientation. We got done a little afternoon, and in the evening went across the road to a Pizza place and had dinner. Turned out to be the only real meal we bought during the entire trip.
The flight(s) back on Sunday went a lot better as far as the weather was concerned. Boarding our last flight from Salt Lake City to Spokane, we were pleasantly surprised to find that we had been upgraded to First Class. Oh if I could only afford to fly that way all the time!
So anyway, the trip is the biggest reason I've not posted until now. I also had to get stuff ready for the Spokane Authors and Self-Publisher's (www.spokaneauthors.org) meeting that was held earlier today. And on a couple of the recent afternoons since our return, I've been just sleepy enough that I haven't even thought of posting.
I'm looking forward to the Independence Day week-end. I don't think we are doing anything in particular. I just want to sleep in, catch up on yard work, wash cars, etc. Certainly I'll celebrate the anniversary of our Independence...I've got half a case of Sam Adams Boston Lager in the frig... a patriotic themed brew if there ever was one. (I'll also be celebrating Horatio Hornblower's birthday as well.
Before I go watch today's ball game, here is a more detailed link to the essay I wrote for Anne Mini's AUTHOR! AUTHOR! AWARDS FOR WRITING EXCELLENCE CONTEST. www.annemini.com/?p=5092 If you go to the basic site, it's been long enough since she posted it that you have to scroll a long way down to find that particular post.
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vespican) wrote,
chipper
