Captain Kooks Big Adventure: 12-1-07 log entry

12-1-07 log entry

Up early to get stuff packed.

We got to the airport in time to have some breakfast. We decided to check 3 bags going home, in spite of the fact that the only bag we checked on the way down got lost and took 24 hours to catch up to us. We filed a lost bag report with the airlines, but got little satisfaction from the ticket agent, that we would get it back. I kept checking for it at the Moorings customer service desk. One gentleman commented that the airline was very good at baggage recovery, because they lost a lot of bags. Now I really felt a lot better (:>")

Went thru security. The security guy was pretty owly. He insisted that there was a bottle in my carry on. I was confused, I had made sure that everything with fluids were in the checked bags. Well they had to search the bag only to find a plastic bottle with a puzzle in it that Patti had gotten for a x-mas gift.

Then the security guy’s attitude changed completely. He suddenly was an investment advisor, looking for some venture capital for real estate development.

The flight to San Juan was uneventful. The connection to the flight to Dallas-Fort Worth was anything but. We had to clear customs in San Juan, so I was immediately concerned that we wouldn’t have enough time. We went thru immigration first, then we had to wait for our bags to clear customs. Another line, another hurry up and wait. Customs clearance was, dare I say it, almost a joke. A cursery look at our customs declaration and waived on thru to deposit our bags back on a conveyor to get loaded back on to the plane. I feel so much safer now.

Then on to another security clearance before going to the gate. We had been standing in line for about 5 minutes, not moving an inch, when the TSA guys told us to go to a different line they had just opened. Great! We only had 10 minutes until our flight to DFW left. It turned out that there were lots of people in the same predicament. We pointed this out to the TSA guys who then, believe it or not, did go a little faster. The only problem was that because of my hip implant, I get the full "arms out palms up" wanding and then a full body pat down. This guy was really thorough. I had on shorts and an aloha shirt and flip flops. What could I possibly be hiding.

We had to run to the gate. Luckily it was in the same end of the airport and we got there as the last folks were boarding. That was close!!!

The real fun was still to come.

The 4.5 hour flight to DFW seemed to go a lot faster than the flight from DFW to Seatac. It must have been the movie. "Hairspray" with John Travolta in drag as a horribly overweight mom. It was moderately entertaining, probably only because Michelle Pfiffer was in it too.

The flight to Seattle seemed to take forever. When we finally got there we could see the snow on the roads from the plane.

All the bags showed up in Seattle so we were off to Olympia. Matt had come to pick us up and had parked the car right in front of us. Still in my flip flops, shorts and aloha shirt I made it to the car and jumped inside.

It was 32 degrees Fahrenheit in Seattle, 12 hours before it was 32 degrees centigrade in Road Town, Tortola. No way I was going to change yet, I was going to wait until we got home. Besides, the Huskies were about to kick-off in Honolulu, weren't they? I had to keep the faith, didn't I?

As we headed south from the airport the snow got deeper and deeper. By the time we got to Tacoma there was a lot of slush on the highway. By Olympia there were a couple of inches of slush that was keeping the water from running off the road. We were hungry so we decided to stop for a take and bake pizza and get a few groceries. Patti and Matt went in for the pizza and I went for the groceries. I got lots of looks as I walked through 3 inches of snow in the parking lot. Yep, still in "Flip-flops, shorts and an aloha shirt". Got the groceries, jumped back into the car and on home. Well almost. It was really snowing now and as we went west the snow got deeper and deeper. Went by a Dominos delivery guy stuck in the ditch. Made a turn and suddenly the car just decided to do a doughnut in the middle of the road. Matt was driving and doing an excellent job. He had been going really slow so the doughnut was unavoidable. Luckily we successfully avoided hitting anything. We got straightened out and found a police car right behind us. Matt got out and told the policeman about the pizza guy. Turns out he only pulled behind us because he was going to turn around. We headed for home again, and found another car in the ditch, upside down, just around the next corner!! Got to the little hill within a half mile of the house and yep, you guessed it, stuck. Well, Matt and I got out, Patti drove and Matt and I pushed. Well, Matt pushed and I just laid on the hood. Worked great as we just motored slowly up the hill right past a couple of other cars that were stuck there too.