Shout-out to my new friend, Kim!

9 Dec 201719 Aug 2021 / Dav / Leave a comment

Kim was a passenger on one of my flights this morning. I asked her if she was going home or on vacation- she told me that she was going on vacation to Fort Lauderdale, but that it was also like going home because she has family down there. I told her I was saving up for my own vacation- when I told her I was getting ready for Scotland, she told me that she used to live there when her husband was based there in the military.

Small world! She asked me if I knew where Thurso was, and I told her I did and that I’d actually been there a couple of times. She told me that her home was in Scrabster, one place I’d also been (this is where you can get on a ferry up to Orkney and Shetland)- it was exciting to see her light up as we talked about this place that we both love and miss. I gave her my URL as she said she wanted to follow my travels and looked forward to my upcoming Scotland posts.

This morning I woke up in Indianapolis, Indiana. While I had some time to venture out from the hotel, I only made it as far as a nearby T.G.I. Friday’s. I would have liked to head to the mall to find a scarf, but it was just too cold when I walked outside after having finished my dinner. I ended up going back to my room and watching something on television while eating a few cookies that I’d bought at the hotel front desk.

The Christmas tree at the Indianapolis airport

Tonight I’m back at the crashpad. I just got back from visiting the Festival of Lights in downtown Brighton. I went with Dawn, Tatum, and Emily- we had a fun night! One of the highlights of the night was seeing that the people of Brighton don’t live in the P.S. world that has been created. There were quite a few floats reminding us that Jesus is the reason, one even with the sign, “Keep Christ In Christmas!” It was very refreshing!

Tonight I’m in Nashville, Tennessee!

7 Dec 201720 Aug 2021 / Dav / Leave a comment

We landed just afternoon, and even though I was tired from not having slept very well last night in the crashpad, I knew that if I took a nap, it would throw off tonight’s sleep as well. I forced myself into regular-person clothes and walked the three blocks to Broadway (tourist area) and had Jack’s Bar-B-Que for lunch. This delicious gluttony meant that a nap was definitely needed. I walked back to the hotel and took a three-hour snooze.

If I’d had any energy whatsoever, I probably could have done Nashville proper. Now I’m wide awake- wishing I’d called my old friend Shannon who lives somewhere near Nashville. It would be a blast to go sing karaoke, but the alarm is set for 03:10 (that’s gonna hurt tomorrow- just over 7 hours from now.)! Instead, I just went down to the front desk and bought some popcorn and chips. I think I’ll have a wee snack and read in bed. Reading usually helps me to fall back to sleep.

Yesterday morning I woke up in Clackamas, Oregon.

6 Dec 201719 Aug 2021 / Dav / Leave a comment

It was a good day. I don’t eat breakfast as often as I should, but today I sat down to a “Northwest Scramble,” scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and capers. It was delicious and fitting for Oregon.

I was in a Christmasy mood. This is perhaps because my friend and coworker Hobe was singing one Christmas song after another on the jumpseat the day before. I joined in on some of them. I even helped out as she fumbled her way through The Twelve Days of Christmas.

As luck would have it, there was a Christmas movie playing at the cinema across the street from our overnight hotel. I texted Hobe, and she joined me about half an hour later. We went to see The Man Who Invented Christmas- a brilliant but possibly fictional movie about making Charles Dickins A Christmas Carol.

I highly recommend seeing this if you have the opportunity. It definitely helped me to feel the Christmas spirit! I love the fact that there wasn’t any trash in it either. One for the whole family- well, it may be a bit slow for younger kids.

Afterward, we ate some sushi, which I try to do when I’m in town. It was Hobe’s first time there, but neither of us had much of an appetite. I usually do a lot more damage.

Today I’m enjoying a day off at the crashpad before tomorrow’s trip. So far, I’ve watched a movie and eaten about four handfuls of peanut M&Ms l- so I’m feeling this great sense of accomplishment. I think Dawn is making chili for dinner.

4 Dec 20171 Apr 2019 / Dav / Leave a comment

I recently got a new phone (Christmas gift to myself) and I wanted to go out and test the camera. As I suspected, the pictures look better on the phone than they do on my computer screen. Still, I think the quality is good enough that I don’t feel like I have to travel with a separate camera (even for bigger trips like Scotland). I decided to make a new game… well, maybe “game” isn’t the right word… a new activity. Today was the first attempt, and I think this will be a good excuse to explore more of the cities that I end up in while at work. I’m going to title this activity “100 Steps” and here are the rules:

1. Decide on a destination or goal. This can be a famous landmark, a certain amount of miles, or anything really.
2. Step out of my hotel.
3. Walk toward the goal/destination.
4. Within 100 Steps or less, I have to take a picture.
5. Post the pictures and the stories here.

Today’s goal was to go to Jim’s Steaks, one of the really great cheesesteak restaurants in this area. Many people swear they love this one the best, or they love another one better, but this is a great one that is pretty close to where I’m staying. Here I am in the historic district of Philly- I could practically hit Benjamin Franklin’s headstone from my hotel, not that I would want to. I didn’t even know the guy.

When I stepped out of the hotel, I felt the cold! It was in the upper-40s, and I was in shorts, sandals, and a short-sleeved shirt. Not my finest moment. I decided that rather than go back up to my room and change, I’d just try to walk faster than I normally do. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea for the <100 Steps thingy I was doing. Oh well, it was a wonderful walk!

After this delicious lunch, I stopped by Starbucks for some herbal tea. I sat in the window to watch people pass by for about 10 minutes, then realized I needed to get back to the hotel to do some laundry. This is a great city. Next time I’m here, I’ll have to pick a different destination.

Happy to share (brag) that I just got back from Costa Rica!

1 Dec 201718 Aug 2021 / Dav / Leave a comment

Even though this was a shorter overnight, and I didn’t have much time to explore, I’m still happy to be able to check this overnight location off of my list! I only wish I had more time there. It’s rather annoying that this is one bucket list item that isn’t totally in my control. Usually, one sets achievable goals, and I’ve blogged about this before. Bucket list item number 74 will be fulfilled, more or less, by my employer. The goal is to get an overnight layover at every work location. The reason this may be unattainable is that not all overnights are offered for all of our bases. This means that I may have to get creative and start picking up trips out of some other bases.

When we first arrived last night, it was dark, so I could not see the countryside. The hotel we stay in, however, is lovely! Probably one of the most excellent hotels in the system, in my opinion. That’s saying a lot because my work often spoils me, putting me up in hotels that I would never want to pay for on my own. By myself, I’d be all about the Super 8 or the Motel 6. That’s just how I roll.

As you can see, this Doubletree is nice! They even had Costa Rican Sesame Street for me (which I was very into for some odd reason, not that I enjoy Sesame Street or speak Spanish)!

On the ride to the airport the following day, the sun was out, so I could finally see some of the landscape. It is breathtaking here! And this is what leads me to a problem. Whenever I get the mere taste of a new location, I tend to become a little bit obsessed. Suddenly I must plan a fun trip to Costa Rica. I’ve heard about a company that will come to your hotel, pick you up, take you zip-lining all day, even provide you with a decent lunch on your adventure. All this for somewhere around $85. How cool is that? Will have to do more research, though.

I discovered that my old friend and coworker, Spencer, lives in Costa Rica, about 10 minutes from our hotel. He sent me a message on Facebook and let me know that he’d show me around the next time I’m in town! How cool is this?! Maybe he even has a couch that I can crash on for more extended trips?!

On our flight from San Juan to Houston, we had some of the coolest passengers. Among them was a gal named Molly, who has been a flight attendant with the company for just about 6 months. She was with two of her friends, Kyle and Tyler. We got to chatting in the back of the plane, and I told them that I would require them to take the “True Lime Challenge.” I stoled this idea from Jeremiah and Tamara, two of my awesome coworkers (you guys wanna buddy bid?). True Lime is a lime substitute that is actually made from limes. The creation process causes it to where we’re not bringing fruit across an international border, but our passengers still get lime to put in their drink. Basically, it is powdered, concentrated Lime. So without further ado, here is The True Lime Challenge (I hope you enjoy this as much as I did):

It’s been a great couple of days! Tonight I ended up in Austin, Texas. I want to shout out to my niece Annie and my nephew-in-law Easton who live somewhere in Austin. The only reason I didn’t let you know I was here is because I totally spaced the fact that you live here. Whoops! Next time I’m here, I’ll let you guys know and even take you out to dinner!

Life is good!!

It’s been so many years since I’ve been to downtown St. Louis.

18 Nov 201719 Aug 2021 / Dav / Leave a comment

Travel Week

Monday: DEN > BWI > STL

When I was a new flight attendant, one of our hotels was so far into the downtown area that you could practically throw a rock and hit the famous arch, not that I would ever do such a thing. Then, for years we weren’t even close to downtown, one hotel in Westport, and I don’t remember where our other hotel was.

One of my favorite downtown St. Louis memories: I walked around the city, looking for breakfast. I came across an old-looking diner that was somewhat run-down and looked like it hadn’t been updated since the 50s or 60s. I walked inside, and one of the servers even had a bouffant-style hairdo. I thought that I had discovered some kind of throw-back, 50s-themed diner. On further inspection, I realized that this was just who these people were. This wasn’t a show or a theme restaurant.

There was one long grill that sort of reminded me of the setup of a Waffle House kitchen. The oddest part of this whole experience was that the lady standing behind the grill held a spatula in one hand and, on the other hand, a lit cigarette. She’d flip someone’s pancakes and turned to take a drag off the cigarette. Next, she would turn someone’s eggs and again take another puff. This was seriously like The Twilight Zone in my mind. The best part of this story is the fact that I couldn’t taste her cigarette smoke in my grits and eggs.

Dinner tonight was at a restaurant called Charlie Gitto’s, Italian food that has been here for over 30 years. I told the hotel concierge what I was craving, and this is the place that he sent me to. I ordered some muscles and order of lasagna.

The muscles were just ok. Nothing wonderful, though.

The lasagna more than made up for the lacking muscles! Next time I’ll just get the lasagna.

A beautiful scene on my walk back to the hotel. See the famous arch in the background?

On my way back to the hotel, I stopped in the hotel lobby Starbucks for some herbal mint tea. I think that we really underestimate the power of herbs. This is perfect since the nights are getting colder, and I really wanted to sip on something terrible for myself. This is actually how I show supreme control over my cravings since I really just wanted a hot chocolate.

Tuesday: STL > TPA

When I got to my Tampa hotel, it had just dawned on me that I hadn’t eaten any solid food yet that day. That explained why I had a horrible stomachache and had the shakes. To be honest, I had such a great morning working with my crew on our flight from St. Louis that I didn’t even think about eating.

Legendary flight attendant Jacky (taken in 1977)

This was a Dallas-based crew and among them was a gal named Jacky, who was hired in 1976, or in other words, when I was one year old! The company wasn’t even formed until 1971, and so as you can see, she is one of the first! She is such an awesome person! Unfortunately, she has run into some hard times in her life recently, and all I’m going to say is that I am so glad that I can count her as a friend! We had a long and heartfelt chat.

I feel that sometimes too many meetings and interactions are dismissed as mere coincidence. Both Jacky and I feel like this meeting is more than happenstance. I plan on keeping her in my life!

My pain of hunger was soon relieved, and I walked down the street to the Waffle House. I have been to this location before, so I’m not allowed to count it as a new one for number 100 on my bucket list, which is to eat at 100 different Waffle Houses. It was still delicious, and I got my usual fiesta omelet with a side of grits.

After filling my belly, I walked to a nearby cinema and saw Murder on the Orient Express. The movie was fantastic! It was pretty different than I thought it would be. My only complaint is that so much information was thrown at me all at once that I will probably have to go see it again. I guess I’ll wait for it to get to Redbox.

Wednesday: TPA > PHL > DEN

One of my favorite burger spots is Bad Daddy. It was great to grab 4 of my crashpad roommates and drive to Thornton for some “family” bonding. Sometimes life in a crashpad is stressful and makes me want to pull all of the hair out of my head. I’d swear that some of my roommates have never lived away from mommy and daddy’s house. I’m not going to mention any names because I know a couple of these offenders occasionally read this blog.

On the flip side, there are these times where we’re really bonding as a group, and it does feel more like a real family.

Thursday: DEN > MCI

I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it- I love days where I only have to work one leg. It makes this P.M. shift a little easier to handle. Passengers are less likely to drink in the mornings and are therefore less likely to make stupid choices. I ended my day in Kansas City, Missouri. Thursday night was a slam-click since I was dog-tired.

Friday: MCI > AUS > EWR

We finished our Friday, just before midnight. My co-worker Brooke and our first officer (whose name I don’t recall) met for a late dinner at the hotel bar. It’s always great when crews get together off the plane, although it’s weird seeing them in regular clothes. I ordered a Cuban sandwich.

This morning I set out in a Lyft to go to the mall. The four-mile drive literally took my driver 40 minutes. He was getting so into whatever he was talking about that he kept taking the wrong turns and the ride ended up costing me so much more than it would have. The kicker: His G.P.S. was right, but he wasn’t paying any attention to it! No tip for you! I complained, and Lyft gave me most of my money back.

When he finally dropped me off, I walked around for a bit (this counts as a workout). I bought some new shoes (I may have left a shoe in one of my hotels last week, and I need two, you see), and I saw Justice League. Turns out that this may be the best D.C. Comics movie so far… at least I think so.

It’s time to get ready for work. I’m posting this now since I’m not done until late tonight, and I’ll probably forget if I don’t. Here’s to hoping for safe/quick flights and passengers who don’t want to drink, only sleep!

I don’t post an entry every day.

11 Nov 201719 Aug 2021 / Dav / Leave a comment

Even though I don’t post every single day, like a real, disciplined blogger, I’ve decided to start a weekly post letting you know where I’ve been traveling to. Often, one boring layover isn’t substantial enough for its own post, but I do have people ask me where I’m going and what I’m doing. Maybe a week’s worth of activity will justify a post. So here goes-

Travel Week

On Monday night, I ended my workday in Las Vegas. It’s been a few months since I’ve been to this city. I’m constantly reminded of when I lived there with my cousin Mike. We lived out in Henderson, but it was a quick drive to the Vegas strip for work.

Las Vegas is filled with good memories. At that time, I was working at The Monte Carlo as a spa attendant. My short overnight meant that there wasn’t enough time to run around town and make questionable decisions. On this particular stay, I had just enough time to get 8 hours of sleep, an hour to get ready the following day, and a few extra minutes to cross the street to the CVS and buy a new toothbrush and toothpaste.

Celebrity sighting: On my flight from LAS to BNA, I recognized Hunter Hayes! He was such a nice and cool guy. I love it when celebrities aren’t full of themselves!

I was very privileged to work with Rachel. She is a funny girl! I’ve never met anyone who loves country music as much as myself! She lives in Nashville!

On Tuesday night, I found myself in San Antonio, Texas. We stay at the perfect hotel, in the ideal location, but my overnight was just too short to do anything fun. It was pretty much a slam-click kind of night (this is a term that flight attendants to describe those who don’t want to go down and be with their fellow crew members, as in-you slam the door closed and click the lock… one who does this a lot and isn’t social on the overnight is labeled a “slam-clicker”).

Wednesday night was back to DEN, and I enjoyed all of Thursday off. I stayed at the crashpad where I have forced myself into my dear friend Dawn’s family. It’s great having this second family- where her grandsons are being raised to know that I’m an uncle. I’m pushing for “Favorite Uncle” status, but I feel that the kids will have to decide this independently. I will do my best to plant that seed.

On both Thursday and Friday night, I ended up on Long Island in New York. The first night I found a haircut, and on the second night, I managed to find a pretty good burger for dinner. Also, on the second night, the hotel was hosting a Dr. Who convention. It was hilarious to see all the funky costumes that the attendees were wearing. It was actually more scary than hilarious.

9 Oct 20179 Oct 2017 / Dav / Leave a comment

Here’s a little #ThrowbackMonday for you. Yes, I know the official hashtag should be #ThrowbackThursday, but today is Monday, and since this happened exactly seven years ago today, I wanted to post it now. Here’s the story: My buddy Dan asked me if I wanted to go skydiving with him for his birthday. It just so happens that this was the very first thing I’d written down when I was brainstorming on setting up my own bucket list. I had wanted to do this for as long as I can remember.

Dan, myself, and some of his BYU classmates met at the skydiving facility in Ogden, Utah. Before you can jump, you have to go through a little training/lesson. As I was learning how to properly jump out of a plane, I wondered how many times someone had chickened out while learning this. I probably would have also wussed out, if Dan hadn’t been there to peer pressure me.

Years ago I posted the video of this skydive on my blog, but when I was going through some stuff this morning, I realized that I hadn’t yet re-posted to this new blog. I was going through my videos and also realized that I never actually posted the footage that leads up to the jump. So, for the first time ever, here is the whole experience.

Today I’m extremely thankful for Apple Music.

7 Oct 201716 Aug 2021 / Dav / Leave a comment

I have discovered so much incredible music- and if we’ve ever met, you know that my life pretty much revolves around music. People tell me that there’s more music on Spotify, but I choose Apple Music because I’m an Apple guy. I always have an iPhone, iPad, or MacBook Pro with me, and when I’m at home, I have my iMac and my Apple TV. I do use Spotify on occasion, but not enough that it warrants paying another subscription fee. I subscribed a couple years ago, and it’s been well worth the $10 per month that it costs.

This morning I am listening to Christmas music. Before you chime in about it being too early for Christmas music, please note that we’re past October 1st, and so I’m allowed! This has been my rule for years now. October 1st through January 31st is the window that I’ve given myself. Outside that window of time, I’ll skip over a Christmas song that comes up in the music shuffle- I would listen to it year-round, but I don’t want to ever become one of those people who takes Christmas music for granted.

Speaking of Christmas- bucket list item number 112 is to spend Christmas in Scotland- we all saw this one coming. Perhaps one year, I can fulfill bucket list item number 50 simultaneously to celebrate Hogmanay in Edinburgh.

I’m sitting in Coaches, which is the bar/restaurant off of the lobby of the Holiday Inn in Chicago.

29 Sep 201719 Aug 2021 / Dav / Leave a comment

Since I brought my iPad with me, I’m confident that I’m sending off a creepy vibe. You know those guys who go to a Starbucks and type on their laptop? They scan the room, hoping you’ll ask them what they’re working on so they can tell you all about their superb screenplay. The real reason they’re there is that the WiFi is free and they can’t afford an internet connection at home. That’s me, other than the fact that I have the internet at home… and this isn’t a screenplay. Or is it?

Yesterday, I was supposed to work Washington D.C. – Omaha – Chicago – Hartford, but we were so delayed that they had us end our day here in Chicago. The good news is that we won’t be able to catch up with the rest of our original trip, so today’s assignment is to deadhead one leg back to Denver. This means that I’m going to get paid to do nothing. Isn’t that the American dream?

The lady just brought me biscuits and gravy. Although delicious, they don’t even stack up to what my mom could do, or my grandma Bess did when she was still on this earth. Still, these are pretty great.

DavTravels

Wanderlust And So Forth

Uncategorized

Shout-out to my new friend, Kim!

Tonight I’m in Nashville, Tennessee!

Yesterday morning I woke up in Clackamas, Oregon.

Happy to share (brag) that I just got back from Costa Rica!

It’s been so many years since I’ve been to downtown St. Louis.

I don’t post an entry every day.

Today I’m extremely thankful for Apple Music.

I’m sitting in Coaches, which is the bar/restaurant off of the lobby of the Holiday Inn in Chicago.

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