Time now for the long drawn out post of my summer vacation...and my trip to visit the spirit of Gram Parsons!The trip to Arizona (and finally to Joshua Tree) was an interseting one to say the least. Where to start…how about at the beginning.
The joy of flying out of a small airport like the one in Bloomington is that there’s really no reason to rush, or show up two hours early for that matter. But, the lax feel of the airport may have been the reason that my trip started out on such a, shall we say, interesting note!
After spending the afternoon with my buddy Ryan it was finally time to head out to CIRA. I jumped out of my truck…grabbed my luggage and laptop bag and off I went. I cleared the TSA screening in no time flat due to my propensity to only fly carryon. Once at the gate I got the good news that the plane would actually be getting off the ground about twenty minutes early!!
I found a seat at the window of the terminal and settled in for a little treat of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris doing “Big Mouth Blues”. The video wasn’t the best quality…but then again I did just download it off of YouTube the night before!
Now here is where things start to go awry. I reach into my pocket for my trusty ipod video….not there! I reach into my bag…not there! I go into my laptop bag….you guessed it…not there! It is then that I realize that it is most likely still plugged into my truck’s ipod connector.
Without even really thinking (I know it’s hard to believe) I ask the girl next to me if she will keep an eye on my bags while I run to my truck for something I forgot! She, being the nice person she was, said that would not be problem. With my bags in the safe guard of a total stranger (starting to get where this is going) I took off for the parking lot.
CIRA is not a big airport…but at the same time it’s not tiny either. So after making my way back to security and getting buzzed back through to the outside world it hits me…SHIT I seem to have left my boarding pass back in my laptop bag!
Being the considerate person I am I decided to bring this miscalculation to the attention of the nearest TSA agent.
“Sir, I seem to have made a small error in judgment, I needed to run to my truck for my medication I forgot…and it seems that I have left my boarding pass in my laptop bag.” I said in my most kiss ass/feel sorry for me tone!
The TSA agent responds with, “Oh, well…I am going to have to call my supervisor!”
“No problem.”, I reply.
It is at this time that his “supervisor” arrives to speak with me…I am now probably the only “security threat” the airport has seen! Now I get the honor of retelling my story to this, rather annoyed, person. This conversation has a slightly different outcome though.
“Is there a problem?”, Bonnie, TSA Supervisor.
“Yes, seems in my rush to get out to my truck to get some medication I left there….I …. uh…left my boarding pass in my laptop bag!”“Well, (deep sigh) what is the name of your travel companion?”
“Travel companion?”
“Yes, the person you left your bags with!“Oh, I don’t know her name!”
“You mean to tell me you left your bag with a stranger? What does she look like”“Yes I did…haha…sorry! Uh, she was, well, a girl! She was wearing shorts and a t-shirt….she was sitting by the window and typing on her laptop….oh and she will have my bags by her!! (Big smile)”
Disgusted, apparently my attempt at levity didn’t have an effect, here is the response I get…"Wait right here sir! I will go retrieve your bags!”
After a wait of about ten minutes she comes down with my bags in tow, and she doesn’t look happy! Granted I must be the dumbest person she has dealt with in the past few hours, maybe days, but that’s no reason to get pissy with me. Is it?She finally passes through security in order to hand me back the offending bags.
I think that I will say sorry and take the bags, hump it out to my truck, and then back into the airport. Things didn’t really go that smoothly!“Sir, I just want you to know that you should never ask a person to take your bags for you.”
To which I wanted to respond, ‘It’s not like I asked her to take them ON the plane.”But, remembering what “Meet the Parents” taught me…you don’t joke or say the word bomb in an airport (not that the word bomb was going to be coming up anytime soon). So, I decided that a polite nod and saying nothing was my best approach.
“Sir, I think you need to realize that if this had been a bigger airport we would have taken these bags out back and blown them up! We never know what kind of bomb you could be carrying!”Great, now the TSA agent has brought up the “B” word and others going through security are now staring at me! Hello!!
This security lecture goes on for about five minutes before she allows me to exit the airport and retrieve my medication….and ipod!
After a long, slow, walk to my truck I am ready to head back through security. I had my boarding pass to the same agent I did when I went through the first time. He looks at the pass, then at my ID, then back at my pass which has HIS signature on it….then back at me…and then he finally waves me through.
To save the long details, and a little embarrassment, lets just say the walk through security and bag screening, well… it didn’t go smoothly on my part!
When I finally make it back to the gate the poor girl who I left my bags with is still where I left her.
“Hey, sorry about that! Seems thing went awry when I forgot my boarding pass in my bag!”
"Yeah, I noticed….I got the ’never accept bags from strangers speech’ from the TSA agent!”
“Me too…sorry about that…hey, now you have a story to tell people on the other end of your trip!”
She laughed, but I could see that there was no way that this conversation was going to be going anywhere of interest! With that in mind I pulled out my ipod, this time actually nestled I my pocket, and settled in for some Gram and Emmylou.
From Bloomington to Atlanta was a very uneventful flight. I had the whole back third of the plane to myself, which was nice. I was able to settle in and watch a movie.
Finally we have touchdown in the ATL. I had planned to get a sandwich and maybe a $4 sweet tea. But, my plans changed when I found a place that served sweet tea for under $2 and had free refills! My hour layover was perfect!
I arranged myself next to the sweet tea pot and drank till I almost burst! Life is good and so is the tea.
Once we board for the flight to Phoenix I figure that nothing else can go wrong to give me anything to tell the folks when I reach AZ….I was wrong.
On the taxi way just before take off the pilot comes on the radio and says
“If you have hit the flight attendant call button by accident could you please turn it off now.”
Thirty second pass and the pilot comes on again….
"If you notice the call light above your seat is on, and it’s not an urgent emergency, please press the button again.”
Nothing happens….it is at this point that I can see, from the back of the plane, all the attendants gather around on of the exit row seats. By this time there is a slight buzz going in the back of the plane! So, we have a “urgent emergency” this should be interesting.
Turns out that the person sitting in the right side exit row thought they smelled jet fuel. Turns out they did…they were sitting right in front of the engine! Also, we were about eighth in line to take off…these factors combined to turn her seat into a bit of a stinker!After the attendants, and pilot, reassured her that the smell was perfectly normal and would clear up once we were in flight…she hit her button again and we proceeded to take flight.
From that point on …. Nothing of great importance to tell…more movies….more pretzels (seems too many Americans are allergic to peanuts!) and half can of Diet Coke later I was in Phoenix ready to start my vacation.
First few days in town were throw away days. Did nothing but sat around, watched TV, lounged in the pool, watched TV, ate, napped….watched TV….see a pattern?
Then it came to Tuesday….the day I had built my whole vacation for!!! To fully understand this portion…I need to back up a few months!
My buddy Ryan is, to say the least, a music fanatic! One day a few months back he tells me that he has an old artist that he thinks I will really like! His name is Gram Parsons.
I have never heard of this….Gram Parsons guy! Should I have heard of him? What kind of music does he play? When did he record last? Any new material…or should I start with the old stuff?Ryan proceeds to tell me about Gram….he recorded one album with The Byds, he was a founding member of The Flying Burrito Brothers, he did a lot of his later recordings with Emmylou Harris (he had basically jump started her career). He then goes on to tell me how, like many of the great artists of the mid-to-late Sixties and early Seventies, he died young of a drug/alcohol related “misadventure”.
So with Ryan’s recommendation in hand, I started to listen to Gram. I had no idea that I would fall in love with the sound that was Gram. By that, I mean Country Rock, or as Gram liked to call it….Cosmic American Music.
I was always the guy who bitched and moaned when the country station can on, when the TV stopped on CMT, or just when I passed the country section of a record store! My guess is that it had a lot to do with a bad country music phase back in Jr. High.
So, to say that I was shocked at the fact that I immediately fell hard for his style was a bit of an understatement. I have always been a fan of classic rock, the Byrds in particular. But, since I had always hated country, I had avoided their country flavored album “Sweetheart of the Rodeo”.
The first album I bought with GP on it was the master collection reissue of “Sweetheart” and I was floored. It’s a different album to listen to with and without Gram’s vocals.
Not to slide down into the murk that is the little (legal) details, but…Gram recorded the album with The Byrds while still under contract for his own band, The International Submarine Band. Legal issues rolled out…and Gram was almost entirely erased from the original release of “Sweetheart”
From there I grabbed any and all Gram that I could get my hands on! While Ryan still trumps me on overall knowledge of all things Gram I now have one (maybe two) legs up on him….now we go to about two weeks before vacation starts.
While sitting around at the radio station where I work I got the bright idea of heading out into Joshua Tree National Park while I was in Arizona for vacation. No small task since the national park is four and a half hours away in California!
But, with my trusty internet intact I decided to find a hotel somewhere near the Joshua Tree National Park that Gram loved so much. I was shocked to find what I did.
Going back to the sad end of Gram Parsons.
It seems that Gram succumbed to the wickeds of Tequila and Morphine (depending on what historian you talk to) late one night at the Joshua Tree Inn which is located along 29 Palms Highway in Joshua Tree, California. He was rushed to a hospital when his friends found him unresponsive in his room (Room 8) at the Inn. While he was pronounced dead at the hospital, it is believed he had passed sometime before arrival. Most likely while still in his room.
To make a long story short: his body was flown to Los Angeles, stolen by his road manager, driven back to the Joshua Tree National Park where his manager tried (Unsuccessfully) to cremate his body.
For anyone not familiar with the story I feel it is only right to note that the cremation (maybe not in its final form) was what Gram wanted, according to his manager and friends.
So for the years to come heading to the Mojave Desert, and Joshua Tree National Park became a pilgrimage of sorts for fans of Gram and his music.
Makeshift memorials to the man appear almost daily out at the formation in the park known as Cap Rock. But, the park rangers regularly remove the memorials and sand blast messages left for Gram on the surrounding rocks. An occurrence I was familiar with…but was really hoping wasn’t going to come into play once I reached Cap Rock.
That being said…let’s get back to the trip…..
So, it’s early on a Tuesday morning and my dad and I have packed the rental car and have started the four hour road trip to Joshua Tree. I am trying to recall if anything of note happened on the drive out….and the answer is a resounding no.
Other than the fact that we came across a gas station just across the boarder into California that didn’t take credit cards. I found it a little strange that they were a strictly cash/debit kind of establishment. Really puts a crimp on your travel plans when you only carry a little cash and a lot of plastic!
For the sake of sanity I will fast forward four hours to our arrival to the Joshua Tree Inn.
When we pulled into the parking lot of the quaint little inn we were greeted by…well…no one! I take that back we did talk to a lady (who I would later find out was the “housekeeping”) in the parking lot. She was kind enough to inform us that we couldn’t check-in until 3pm due to the fact that the owners were out of town.
The good news is that they were only out of town for a short time to get supplies for the breakfast the next morning. Since my father and I were two of only maybe five or six people staying there that night I really didn’t have a clue what breakfast would turn out to be!
So with the knowledge that we couldn’t check in for about another hour and a half we asked for direction into Joshua Tree National Park. Once we got directions we were off in search of Cap Rock and the site of Gram’s “cremation”.
Now is when the story starts to pick up a bit!
We arrive at the main information building to the park. I, in my Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels t-shirt, head into the station to ask directions to Cap Rock. It seems that on the large outdoor map of the park this one site has been conveniently left off the map!
I wander around for a few minutes and finally find the Rangers parked in a back room. It is at this point that I begin to engage “Ranger Rob” in conversation. I really thought he was joking about his name until I read his badge. Don’t know why it was so strange…just seemed to TV sitcomy.
Ranger Rob was talking to a much older Ranger….Ranger Bob! I kid you not….I thought this is going to be great!!!!
After a little chit chat with Rangers Rob and Bob I get around to asking for the location of Cap Rock and with it the Gram site.
Ranger Rob pulls out a map, while turning to Ranger Bob, “Hey Bob….we got a Gram Parsons fan here”
It is at this point that Ranger Bob looks at me….black Gram shirt and cowboy hat….and rolls his eyes. I can almost hear his thoughts…”Another one of you fuckers! I’m going to have to clean up more shit aren’t I?”
After about five minutes of direction from Rob on a map that looks like it was drawn by a six year old I’m back in the car and we are on our way.
We decide to take our time getting to Cap Rock, since it is all the way across the park. For the first few miles into the park we see, well, not a lot. For the most part it is just a collection of rocks and desert landscape. We didn’t even see a Joshua Tree for about ten minutes.
Speaking of that first Joshua Tree….
When we finally come across a “good” Joshua Tree it’s time to stop the car and take some pictures.After we take a few pictures of the tree my dad turns around and looks at the hill/mountain/pile of rocks behind us. Before he brings up the camera he says to me…”why don’t you go and sit on that rock up there?”
My first thought is that he is talking about a rock near the car…but, he points about twenty feet up the hillside to a larger grouping. Me, in my infinite wisdom, decided that the group he is pointing at is way to close. I decided to hike my out of shape ass about two thirds of the way up the side to an even larger grouping of rocks near the top.
Now I am not in the best of shape! Actually, I would go so far as to say that I am totally out of shape! I don’t do hills/stairs/slight inclines usually. So, it must have been the thought of getting to Cap Rock and back to Gram’s room that kept me going.
By the time I reached the rock I was aiming at and was able to sit down…my asthma was killing me! But, I thought that pops was way down the mountain, he will never know. So, when he shouts up, “How you doing?” My response was a smile, a wave, a deep breathe and a good solid, “Fine!!”
After that I turned to admire the view from the top. I also decided with my back turned this would be a great time to take a hit off of my inhaler! Then all I had to do was sit there and look pretty while dad took some shots with the 35mm from down below.
I took some video and pictures with my phone from my vantage point upon a giant rock. It was then that I realized from up here I could actually get a cell phone signal, so I called Ryan to gloat about my proximity to all things Gram!
The best part of the climb was not the climb itself, the view, or just hanging out at the top….it was, of course, the climb down. This was made even more eventful by the fact that I was wearing the equivalent of dress shoes! Yeah, that’s right! I went storming up this rock and dirt and cactus filled mountain side in a pair of slip on sketchers.
Some how I made it up and down without slipping or falling, pulling or straining, or getting myself bloodied! I was very proud.
So once back in the car I took some time to transfer some of my digital shots to my laptop and off we went to the next “vista” Skull Rock!
Here we decided to get out of the car and both climb around on the rocks…didn’t seem like that bad of an idea. We did, however, think it would be wise to both throw on some tennis shoes.Once properly equipped, or rather as properly equipped as the two of us were going to get, we headed off to Skull Rock.
We bummed around the outskirts of the formation for a few minutes taking tons of pictures. We finally got to the “Skull” that gave the rock its name. In typical fashion my father had a great idea for a picture. So I climbed on a rock across from the skull and dad went down to the formation…..and proceeded to look like he was picking the skull’s nose!
That’s my dad!
We were about to head back to the car when we noticed a formation that looked…well…shall we say a little dirty!
Now the formation may not have actually been dirty looking…but we BOTH thought it was and proceeded to head over in that general area to get a better look, and pictures.
This gutter thought led me to the best part of Skull Rock. Behind a bush just to the left of the formation we were looking at was a natural pass formed that led to the middle of Skull Rock. The opening was about five feet tall at the entrance but the ceiling in the middle was upwards of eight feet. Upon finding this we ducked into the pass and made our way to the middle.
***On a side note, it seems that some fine park visitor decided that the pass would also make a great place to go number two! I thought it was a dog…but my father (being ever observant) pointed out that he didn’t know of many dogs who used toilet paper! At that point we thought it would be best to just continue on through the pass.***
Once on the inside the view was amazing. Mini trails led off to the right, left and center. I took the center path and was rewarded with an even more amazing view.
The center path ran up the rock surface just to the left of a drop in the rocks, once you reached the top of the path it was like Skull Rock just flattened out. There were more chances to keep going up…but you could also just wander around on this “level”.
Looking out on the rest of the formation from this vantage point was worth the dookie and the climb. I must have blown through a full roll of film at this stop alone!
After about an hour in and around Skull Rock we decided that we should proceed on to Cap Rock. That wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be!
Seems that Ranger Rob had told us that we would have to turn down a road that was “under construction but you will be able to get as far as Cap Rock….when the road your are on “T’s” you will need to turn left and then just before the construction you will see Cap Rock.”
Should be easy enough to find we thought….stay on this road till we hit a T intersection. Which would be easy…if the road actually did end in a T intersection!
Rob the ranger SUCKS at giving direction. We almost drove completely out of the park before we realized that we were WAY past Cap Rock. Glad that we weren’t walking the park…we turned the car around and headed back to where we originally thought Cap Rock was located (turns out we were right on our first pass!).
We finally arrive at the rock formation I have been waiting months to see! Ever since my evil plan for a Gram vacation was hatched this (and checking into room 8) are what my vacation have been building towards.
Should be easy to find the “Gram section”!! Tons of messages, rock crosses, candles, empty booze bottles…or none of the above!
We must have showed up between the cleaning of the area and the arrival of the next flock of Gram Fans. My big mistake was the fact that I didn’t get a chance to look up any pictures on the internet before we headed out…so I was flying blind! In the end I think that is what killed me the most about the trip. I took a ton of photos and none of them are of the area I was truly looking for!
I did find a small grouping of two rocks away from Cap Rock that you could tell had, in the past, held 
mementos to Gram. The most obvious were the indentations on the smaller rock where candles had been placed, burned, and removed. Also, on the bigger of the two rocks it was apparent that candles had been burned near the base of the rock and in one spot you could see what looked like (to me anyway) the initials G.P. burned onto the rock.
With that in mind, I decided that this was as good a spot as any! Besides it was just the idea of being there that meant the most to me. Granted, being at the right spot would have been better! But, I couldn’t complain….I mean we were in the Mojave Desert and it never topped 83 degrees!
About two rolls of film and countless digital shots later we were ready to head back to the Inn.
We finally rolled back into the parking lot of the Joshua Tree Inn around 6pm. I walked into the office and finally met Kim, who along with her husband run the Inn. I had been talking with Kim for a few weeks via email in hopes of getting the Gram Room for my stay.
After filling out the appropriate paperwork and getting my key to the room I finally retrieved my father from the car. We slowly made our way to the room I had read about. This is where Gram overdosed on a mix of Tequila and Morphine…and I was about to spend the night there! This was going to be great!
As we approached the door I noticed a black cat just lounging on a chair across from the front door to the room…thinking nothing of it I proceeded to open the door. It was just like the pictures showed…with one small difference.
The moment the door to Room 8 opened the aforementioned cat got up out of his chair and waltzed right past my dad and I into the room and then jumped up on the bed. She gave my father and I a once over, a soft approving meow, then she was spread out on the bed. It was if this cat belonged to this room!
After tons of pictures, and a relaxing time on the bed, it was time to grab something to eat.As we left the room we had to physically pick the cat up off the bed and place her back in her chair across from the room. Now, I know a lot of people who have cats and usually the cats put up a small fuss when you pick them up. Not this one!
Never before have I seen an animal who was so at home in one place that it didn’t matter who picked them up or petted them! This cat just loved the attention. Maybe she was old and decided that attention from a complete stranger was as good as any attention! But, still I was shocked by this “room accessory” cat!
Pops and I grabbed the keys and headed out to find some food…being that we are both fat guys, it is no wonder that we ended up at Sizzler!
***Funny side story here***
We are eating dinner at Sizzler and dad decides to try something that he has always heard about …. it’s a soup called Menudo! Judging by his facial expression on first tasting the soup I thought it was great! You see he has a old habit of pulling the whole “oh this is horrible” schtick before finishing off a new food! But, when he had the same disgusted look on his face after the second bite I thought something was wrong.
At this point I want nothing to do with that dish…but, in true guy fashion he can’t suffer alone. So I get the, “smell this?” line. Wow…how to I explain the aroma of this dish….DOOKIE. Yes, the dook in the desert had come back to haunt dad’s soup! It was the most excruciatingly horrible smelling food I have ever had the misfortune or being with in the same space!
***that’s all…just more Dookie***
When the meal ended we did what any self respecting music fan would do when staying in the room of his dead idol! We went to a liquor store and got some refreshments for the room! I picked up a small bottle of Sauza Gold Tequila and some Squirt. Nothing like poor man’s margaritas.
As we made our way back to the room we stopped to talk to a couple who were sitting outside there room a few doors down. Turns out they were big Gram fans from England. They had tried to book Room 8 but didn’t have the luck that I did (which I will get to in just a second). So being the hospitable folks that we are…we invited them down to take a look at the room. We chatted about Gram and the room for a bit and they went on their way.
Now, let’s examine how I got the room! The thought to stay I the room only came to me about three weeks before I left for vacation. I was on the website for the Inn and decided to look at when Room 8 was open. At first I was devastated, the only time it was open was the week after I was going to be out there. Also known as the week I had originally planned on going out. But, due to the pressure from my friends to attend my 10 year high school reunion I rescheduled for the week I ended up going out.
For the next week I kept a daily watch on the room for the days that I would be out in Arizona, and maybe in Joshua Tree. I called and emailed Kim at the Inn to see if there was a waiting list for the room incase of cancellations? She told me that she would put my name down and if anything happened she would give me a call. She also told me that in the time that she and her husband had run the Inn that there had only been a “few” no show/cancellations for Gram’s room. But, if anything happened she would let me know.
I kept watching the room all the way up until the Monday before I left. Then, out of nowhere, two days before I leave for Az, I am working at WPXN (the radio station where I DJ) and Brass Buttons by Gram comes on the air! I get depressed that I won’t be able to stay in the room AND I have to go to my class reunion!
Just for giggles I check the website…Saturday -- BOOKED, Sunday -- BOOKED, Monday -- BOOKED, Tuesday -- AVAILABLE!!! Oh MY GOD!!! Prayers really do get answered!
I drop everything that I am doing and book my ROCK -N- ROLL fantasy!
When I finally talked to Kim about the day I booked the room she said that it was a strange situation! Seems there was a guy who was staying at the Inn for the month. He had been jumping around from room to room in the Inn. That day he walked into the office and told her that he just didn’t want to stay in “That Room”. She wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t want anything to do with Room 8 on that Tuesday.
Kim opened the room up to the internet and within ten minutes I booked the room. So, basically at almost the exact time that Brass Buttons came on the station he was walking into her office and backing out of the room for the night I was going to be there!! Spooky? I think so!
So, I get a miracle cancellation on the room….perfect weather in the desert…Gram rocks!
Back in the room I settle in to do some drinking with my father….who backs out after one glass! Seems he is “non functional” the day after tequila. So, I drink one with my dad to Gram…head to the patio and pour out a little for Gram…then back in for some more drinking.
While beginning to down the bottle I start to flip through the guest journal. This is where people staying in Room 8 can leave their messages/memories to Gram. Near the front of the book is an amazing entry from Gram’s daughter Polly. I read on and, for the most part, the entries are all personal and poignant. There are a few that are your standard, “John and Mary were here…”.
I begin to formulate what I want to write. What’s the best way to do that? Well, when you have a half empty bottle of Tequila I think it’s to make that and empty bottle of Tequila!
In and attempt to get the creative juices flowing I head back out to the patio with my bottle. I was going to just do shots for a few hours. So I settled down on the patio, stared up at the stars, raised my bottle to Gram and then downed the rest. Shot idea…shot to hell!
A little buzzed I stumbled back into the room and proceeded to write my journal entry. I thought it turned out pretty good since I was a little impaired at the time I wrote it!
After watching a video of Big Mouth Blues that I downloaded off of YouTube and listening to “G.P” and “Safe at Home” I finally passed out.
I wish I could say that I had some sort of experience in the room. But, I didn’t! Mirrors didn’t move, I didn’t see Gram…nothing. I did have the best sleep of my vacation though.
Got to say my stay at the Joshua Tree Inn was fantastic! I could have stayed down the road at a Motel 6 for about $60 less…but I would have missed the ambiance of the great little retreat. Even if you are not a Gram Parsons fan I suggest that you spend the extra money for the chance to stay at an Inn that has more of a bed and breakfast feel! The best part was Kim was kind enough to let me get a Room 8 keychain (the price I paid is between Kim and Myself! **Thanks Kim**)
After a breakfast of a bagel and some milk we headed back to Cap Rock for one more look around! From there it was off to Nevada.
Not much to tell about the trip to Las Vegas Lite (Laughlin, NV) other than to say that my father in a moment of…shall we say panic….ran into the women’s restroom after a heavy weight fight with the buffet!
Use you imagination!
After returning to Phoenix on Friday my sister Debi and I attended my first Arizona Diamondbacks game! Seats were really good just a few feet from the Padres bullpen. Got to see two former Cubbies up close and personal as the battery for the Padres that game was Michael Barrett and Greg Maddux. D-Backs won the game 8-4 we got to see a few Home runs and an amazing Home Run robbing catch in right!
Oh, and I got the privilege of spending $10 on a beer! God I love baseball in person!
Got home with just enough time to do nothing on Saturday in preparation of my Sunday flight!
All I would need is an uneventful flight home and the vacation would be perfect! No hope of that! I suck when it comes to travel!
Flight from Phoenix to Chicago was on time and uneventful! Once in Chicago I learned that my only chance of an early flight home and left about the same time as I left Phoenix. Guess that means that I am hanging at O’Hare for about three and a half hours.
Now is when it gets fun, again!
When I got off the plane my Bloomington flight was on time. When I got to the next flight board it said that my flight had switched gates and was now going to be about twenty minutes late.
With that in mind I got a little dinner at Chili’s Too, then back to my gate to wait it out. Only problem is that my gate changed again! Now I was all the way at the end of the terminal on the lower level. I didn’t even know there was a lower level!
I get to the gate, only two hours now, and get my laptop set up. By the time my system boots and I get comfortable…an announcement is made that my flight is now back on time! And back at the original gate! WTF!
Time to pack up again and hump it back to the other end of the terminal…at least I am going to be leaving on time. NOT SO FAST.
Seems that the flight crew we were going to have was going to be landing about the same time we were supposed to be leaving for Bloomington! So, we were now back to being about a half hour late!
Finally the crew is there and I am on the plane.
I sit down and smile at the girl in the seat next to me….she doesn’t look all that happy to be on the plane! I let it go for a while…but just before takeoff I ask her if she’s not a big fan of flying? Her response was not what I wanted to hear!
“No, flying is fine…I just don’t feel well!”
A few minutes later I get the questions nobody wants to hear….
“Does your seat have a barf bag? Mine doesn’t!”
I respond, quite quickly I may add, “Let’s find out!!!!”
She keeps telling me how embarrassed she is! I tell her it’s no problem. She says it again, I reassure her. Then a few minutes into the take off…it happens!
I never fully appreciated the little paperish bags they put in the seatback. Never, that is, until now!
When she got sick it was…well…sick. I usually don’t handle the sound of the act all that well. But, I had to cowboy up and take it like a man. Thank god it was only a 30 minute flight.
We touched down and I thought about giving her a barf bag for the road. Kind of a going away present! And being the eternal male that I am…I had already written my name and number on the bag! Then I saw her father and mother at the gate ready to pick her up. I decided that I should probably drop my attempt to do the same!
All in all it was a great trip. Better than I could have hoped for in some respects. Worse in others (lost about $200 on slots and such!!)
Now time to plan for my next trip to the desert…hopefully this time my “Gram Guru” Ryan can make the Magical Mystery Tour with me!
A full selection of photos from my trip can be viewed at:
www.flickr.com/photos/jameshields
