Blog, she goes a-cordless and she did fly**

I'm writing to you from the airport in San Francisco, where I've splurged for a day's worth of T-Mobile HotSpot access.  I'm writing on the household's new laptop.  It was purchased not because we need a new laptop, but because the kids' computers are old and tired and trying to die, and I had to find something still available in the verse the runs XP.  I bought what I could get.

Turns out I like it quite well.  And since it's smaller than my primary laptop, and thus weighs less, it's going to be my travel machine.  The kids will have to cope.

So anyway, my day started well before dawn.  For some of you, this is no big deal.  Me? I think dawn is lovely when seen just before going to bed.  I'm very distrustful of dawn when I'm just waking up.  However, to avoid driving to Chicagoland, where I'd have to leave my car for 5 days in some unguarded parking lot, and to preserve money that otherwise would have gone to a hotel for more important things, like buying YARN in Oregon, I took the early morning shuttle to O'Hare.  It left before dawn.  The things I do in the name of knitting! (oh, did I mention that my incredibly supportive husband drug his weary self out of bed to drive me to the shuttle?  Is he wonderful or what?)

This put a bit of a crimp in my travel knitting plans.  You see, I'd gotten Thistle all cast off, and the next step was crocheting the steeks.  I needed to get this done before hitting security at the airport, because I needed to CUT said steeks so I could sew in the sleeves.  I'll need Thistle's warmth in Oregon.

Eventually, the sun came up and cast some light through the van windows.  Following Eunny's wonderful instructions, I crocheted my steeks, and cut them in the van.  I tried to take pictures, but the lack of light and the bouncing of the van made this challenging. 

 

I then sewed in the sleeves.  woohoo.  All done but the end sewing before I got to the airport!   See how pretty the insides are?

  (More pictures when there's daylight.)

Thus, the scissors went into the checked luggage, and I carried Thistle and a chibi needle through security.

But, alas, I'd used up all my brain power before I got on my 11:00 flight to SFO.  I quickly gave up on Thistle, and tried to knit a bit on the sock (who was too sleepy from the early morning rousing to pose in the airplane window), but started making mistakes pretty quickly. 

In a burst of unprecedented wisdom,I abandoned knitting for stints of reading The Genesis Code and attempting to find a comfortable position in which to sleep, with intermittent moments of hostility aimed at American Airlines.  --- they now CHARGE you $2.00 for a bottle of water on the plane.  You have to pay at least that in the airport, since you can't bring IN a bottle of water from the land of only generally inflated prices.  Soda, of course, is still free.  But on a four hour flight, they only come by twice, each time offering a paltry 4 oz or so of liquid.  I don't know about you, but in any four hour period, I'm likely to drink 16 to 24 oz of water. I guess they're trying to avoid the problem caused by providing too much liquid -- I mean if you drink too much, first you're Russian and then European. Given their name, they must want us all to maintain our nationality.*

Luckily, upon disembarking I was able to get water, latte and chocolate... and find T-Mobile's hotspot to read and write blogs.  I'm in a much better mood and thus am able to cope with the weirdness that is SFO. 

The terminal into which I arrived was pleasant -- they serve good latte and really good chocolate croissant.  The sock appreciated the latte

but the croissant didn't stick around long enough to be photographed.

However, the journey from the terminal into which American Airlines flies to the terminal through which Horizon (their partner I guess) flies, takes you through no man's land. 

Is this eerie or what?

It's 2:00 in the afternoon here.

Ghost Terminal!

I sure hope my suitcase makes it through this twilight zone and gets on my plane to Portland!

I'll find out when I get off the next plane...

Of course seeing this as the decor in one of the eateries did little to allay the feeling that I'd stepped into the Twilight Zone.

Yep.  those are real cars....

But the rest of this afternoon will be spent with another plane..... 

Until tomorrow...when we learn about luggage....

*Bad pun invoked by Norma's demands, and provided by Galen (one of my charming dinner companions)

**Title pun, also invoked by Norma, with apologies to the Frog, and promises not to sing the courting song.

Comments

[Norma]

Wow, that IS a lot of empty real estate. :)

I appreciate the puns almost as much as you probably appreciated the latte and croissant. Mmmmm, sounds good.

[Sylvia]

You were at SFO and didn't tell me. waaaaaaaaah!

[stefaneener]

Heee. That must be an interesting terminal -- I don't think I've ever been in in it! If I'da known, I would have waved. Enjoy your trip.

[Carrie K]

Ditto to Sylvia! But just passing through?

SFO is scarily deserted considering what the old terminal looked like, but it is LOVELY to get through.

All the Lori's Diner's have cars like that!

[waves as you fly past]

The Genesis Code looks pretty good too.

[carrie]

Wow. The pictures of the empty airport are very scary. Stephen King should be seein' those pics. I like your sock pattern! And yes, the inside of your sweater is very nice =)

[janna]

You cut the steek on the airport van??? That deserves some sort of award!

[alyse]

Okay that terminal is just freaky! But I am really enjoying your posts about the trip west.

yours is not the only posts I have seen about the mysterious new sock stuff. I can't wait till I can get in on the details!