2021.08.15 – 2021.09.16: Work brings me to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina- it’s been too long! Memories of visiting The Pavillion, so many years ago! | On my birthday, I enjoy some ice cream in Austin, Texas! Birthday dinner is an amazing kielbasa at Banger’s! | I end up in Long Beach, California, excited to prepare for my next visit to Hawaii!
Maryland
Travel Week: 3
My assignment for my two-day trip was to fly from DEN to BOI to MDW, and finally, I was to end up at CVG. I was looking forward to this since I’ve never flown into Cincinnati. Day two was supposed to work two legs back to Denver. This got me to Denver with plenty of time to kill before my 13:40 check-in.
Low and behold, my first leg to Boise had been canceled. They still had me scheduled, however, to fly the rest out of Boise. The only problem: I’m in Denver, not Boise. Sure enough, they fixed my schedule. Instead of working two two-day trips back to back, they changed it into a three-day trip.
Sunday: DEN > GRR
Other than a slight delay, we landed in Grand Rapids without any incident.
Monday: GRR > RIC > BWI > DEN
With all of the delays and reroutes happening this week, I probably had a change to my assignment at least five times. When I woke up, the plan was to go GRR > BWI > MCO > PHL. Coworkers tell me that you should never make plans because once you do, the scheduling gods know, and they end up changing your trip. It’s like a Murphy’s Law thing. I jinxed our day because I was excited to take two of my crew members to get cheesecakes in Philly.
About forty minutes into the flight, we were rerouted to Richmond, Virginia. The result was 141 upset passengers. It would have been good to be finished there for the night, but an hour-and-a-half later, we were on our way to BWI. I reminded the passenger several times that we always try our best to be on time, but safety is our biggest concern. When we finally landed in Baltimore, I walked from the ‘C’ terminal to the ‘B,’ just in time to work the last leg back to Denver- which was the latest change to my assignment.
Both of the crews that I worked with on this two-day trip were just amazing. We had so much fun laughing and joking around with each other. It almost made it worth working a late shift (not quite, but almost). I got back to the crashpad at about 02:30 and was fast asleep about fifteen minutes later.
Tuesday: DEN > FLL
Another change! When I left the crashpad, the assignment was to work two legs to San Jose, California. Instead- I was to work one leg to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This 18+ hour overnight on the beach was just what my soul needed! I was scrolling through my pictures, and then it appears that the last time I was at the beach was back in January.
I stayed at B Ocean Resort-like last time. This is located right on the water. The only thing that I don’t like is the fact that the food there is so expensive! I know this is a vacation town thing, but still. Paying thirteen dollars for a waffle on Wednesday morning was a bit much. Not waffles (plural), mind you- one waffle.
After eating, I hit the beach. The hotel has a private beach area where those staying can use one of their beach chairs for free. If you want to fork out some cash, you can upgrade to one covered with a shade. I sat in the sun for about five minutes before deciding it was time to swim in the ocean.
We didn’t even have to head back to the airport until 18:30, so I had almost a full day of relaxation and enjoyment. I only headed back inside when I was starting to turn pink. I didn’t want to get sunburn like I always do.
Wednesday: FLL > BNA > DEN
Wednesday’s workday was very easy, as we only had to work the first of the two legs. The second was just a deadhead back to Denver. It was great to see my friend and coworker Linda, who happened to be working that flight.
Now that I’ve had the mental reset from some beach time, life is good again. Not that life wasn’t good before, but this particular beach visit was just such a welcomed surprise!
Last night, my nephew Sam came over and slept on my couch. I asked him if he could drop me off early this morning at Salt Lake City airport. Since I’ll be away from home for a while, I didn’t want to keep my car out in the elements. The employee parking area at SLC isn’t covered parking. I pay them tons of money to park there, and I wish they would use some of that money to put a roof over our vehicles. Perhaps my money is helping to pay for the new airport that they’re building.
Sam has inspired me to set up a website that will display a ranking of how much I love each of my nephews and nieces. This way, they can compete for the top spot by doing things for me or buying me stuff. He is currently at the top of the list. I want to inspire/ challenge the other 24 to up their game to earn that number one spot. I would include all of my great-nephews and great-nieces, but they are too young and don’t yet have jobs to make money to buy me stuff.
The first leg of the journey was a flight from SLC to BWI. Tonight I’m back in Linthicum, Maryland. This is my old stomping grounds from the first three years that I was based at BWI. Many memories of living in downtown Baltimore and then having a crashpad here in Linthicum after moving to Kentucky. The best part of living in Maryland was the friends I made. Among them is my dear, sweet friend Monica.
Monica picked me up, and we just had a great meal together. She told me about the friends she’d kept in touch with- friends from “the old days.” While we talked, I realized that I had left Maryland for Kentucky more than ten years ago! I don’t even know where time has gone! The last time I was even with Monica was at least five years ago when our friend Arron was in town- I remember going to play games at Dave & Buster’s. As per usual, my time with Monica was so short. I had to be the party-pooper and get back to the hotel. I need rest- I haven’t slept very much for the last three nights. This is because I’m too excited- it’s been constant trips to the bathroom, you know when a little puppy gets so excited that it has to pee? That’s been my body all week. Finally, the day has come! It’s time to go on vacation!
Each time I prepare for a trip to Scotland, I have a friend or two who want to go with me. The first time this happened, I asked that friend what he wanted to see and do while there. I set up what I thought would be the perfect trip to Scotland, especially for someone who has never been there. Then that friend had a conflict and had to drop out of the trip. I still had a great trip but by myself. I’m not complaining, however. This same thing happened a second time with other friends. Just like last time, these friends had to drop out for one reason or another. I’ve learned that I need only to plan the perfect trip for myself. That way, if the others drop out, I still have an ideal trip for one. No regrets- over the years, I have gotten extremely good at traveling by myself (and I like it!).
I invited many friends/ coworkers to come with me. Most of them said they were interested, but the number quickly began to dwindle before I started booking. Of the twenty-one invited, two have made it to the deadline. My coworker Jonny will join me for the first few days, and my friend Alan wants to join me toward the end. I am surprised that more weren’t interested because this is a group of people who make their living by traveling. Most of them know how to make an international trip. Some, albeit, are new to the line of work/ lifestyle and aren’t getting paid very much yet, but It’s not like I planned this trip last week- I let them know about this as early as October.
Again, no big deal- it’s still going to be a fun time in Scotland! I have planned the perfect adventure. I am going to try to update this blog every day, internet connection permitting. You know there will be pictures of most of my food and, more than likely, a daily sleep report. I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors- these will be fixed at a future date.
Here we go! when you thought I would sit still for a little while- Tomorrow is the beginning of Scotland 6!
Protected:
Scotland 3: PreTrip
10.25.20: It is always a struggle to get my life organized. In an attempt to this very thing, I am posting these old pictures from my third visit to Scotland and my first visit to Ireland (I will be using ‘#Scotland 3’ and ‘#Ireland 2007’ as the tags). I don’t remember very many of the stories but will provide notes of what may have happened. These posts will be back-dated as if I had been keeping this blog all along. If I come across the actual blog posts or written stories, I will update these entries. Enjoy!
03.19.2007 | Baltimore, Maryland
DavTravels 