home again home again, part 1

So if you forget the actual purpose of my trip to CA, it was really quite a good trip.

I got to the Detroit airport with plenty of time to spare. There was a very long line at the check-in counter, but nobody at the self check in machines. Since I was not checking any baggage (something about being on 3 separate flights made me wary of this) I checked in myself. Then there was nobody in the security line, so I walked right through. When I texted Jason to let him know all was clear, he hadn't even made it out of the airport traffic yet.

The flight to Denver was uneventful. They gave me an exit row seat which was awesome because normally those cost more. I guess they just needed someone there, and I was the girl for the job. (Obviously my exit row skillz and training were not needed.) When we got to Denver, I was surprised at how warm it was there. It was about 60 degrees and clear, whereas Detroit was some ungodly cold temperature with lots of snow on the ground. I still don't understand why Denver was warmer than Detroit, but I'm not complaining, as my planes were able to take off and land without incident.

I got inside the terminal and looked at the screen to find out where I should go, only to find out that my flight to San Francisco was delayed. That would be fine except then I would miss my connection home to Eureka. I booked it to a customer service desk and got in line. The old man ahead of me asked if my flight was canceled, and I explained. Then he said "that happened to all of us!" and gestured at the rest of the line. But he said it in a tone like "don't think you're special!" and I was like, I don't think I'm special, that's why I'm waiting in line. Also: you asked. Anyway, I was able to get on the ealier flight so I was only in Denver for about 20-30 minutes.

The flight to SF was also uneventful. I got a window seat which was cool. I had a few hours to kill in the sirport, but SFO just happens to be my favorite airport ever, so I didn't mind. I realized I hadn't eaten all day, so I bought the first thing I smelled - which was some $17 Chinese food that I didn't actually eat. BUT there was a random exhibit of space-themed toys from the 50s, so of course I enjoyed that. I took pictures of a few of the cooler cases, like this one.


Then it turned out that my flight from SF to Eureka was overbooked / overweight. This always happens, but I've never been able to take advantage of it because it's never the final leg of my flight - it's always something that would actually cause me a lot of problems. But this time when they made the announcement and offered 1) a free hotel room, 2) $15 in free food, 3) transportation to & from the hotel, and 4) a free round-trip flight anywhere in the US, I jumped at the chance. I would have been getting in at midnight (3am Detroit time) anyway, and I was quite tired.

A short shuttle ride later, I was presented with this:


Yeah that's a plasma screen tv. I used it to watch the Powerpuff Girls marathon. :D
Here is the (blurry) view from my hotel room that night:


Since I was taking pictures, I took one of myself. It's very unflatterng, but an accurate depiction of how I felt after a long day.


The hotel restaurant was closed and the meal voucher wasn't good for room service, so I crashed in the big comfy bed.

Stay tuned for part 2...



(and as always, click on the pictures to make them bigger)