Destination San Diego

It has begun. All of the dreaming, planning, packing, and purchasing....My day started after a 4:10 am wake up time today in order to get to the airport by 6 am. The flight was booked solid and it took a long time to get everyone boarded as every nook and cranny in the overhead bins as well as a body in every seat made it a crowded flight. Due to the winter snowstorm that came through the day before, many people had re booked. While we were cuing up for our spot for the runway it really did hit me. I'm soon to take off and am heading off to get to the start of a bike journey in San Diego. OK, it took a while as we were in line waiting for our turn for quite some time but eventually we made it to Atlanta with just enough time to walk across a couple of terminals (miles) and board the connecting flight.

When I went to confirm my flight online the night before, they wanted an extra $50 for checking two bags. I made a last minute decision to bring one of those one heavy bags on board plus my carry on item. Of course I was stopped by security for a bottle of conditioner and hmm...how can I say this politely...a tube of cream for the gluteus maximus (buttocks) that I forgot to take out. I did remember to remove the sharp scissors, small Swiss army knife, and small tubes of various lotions but forgot about those two items crammed in bike shoes After that I went on my way without further breeches to the security of our country. You should feel very safe!

I had a window seatand paid a few dollars more for an extra inch or two of legroom. For once I could actually see out the window for most of the trip as it was clear and we were flying in daylight instead of the dead of the night. About midway through the flight, I checked on the onscreen map of the route we were taking and noticed several familiar names. To my delight, we were flying a parallel route to the bike trip that will begin on Friday in the opposite direction. I remember flying over the town/city of Kerville, Bastrop, Del Rio, Sanderson, Marathon, Van Horn, and El Paso in Texas. I should reach Texas by bicycle in about three weeks and will take about three more weeks to get through that particular state. From the air I could see the mountains, escarpments, and plateaus.

Strange while waiting on the runway in Logan, I had a lot of time to look at the wind blown snow that drifted into different patterns like curved sculptures with rounded drumlins. Shallow furrows held shadows while other patches were like wave crests of the ocean frozen in motion with sharp edges. It reminded me of the shape in miniature, though differing in magnitude and hue, of the ruddy-colored sand dunes in the Middle East with ever changing and transient topography. Even the mountains of the Appalachians held a raw dark beauty with its granite gray mountain tops sprinkled with new snow. OK, enough you say! I could go on about the bare stalks of grass stripped of color...I just wanted to take a moment to stop and appreciate different aspects of beauty in our country.


Those of you who know me well know can rest assured that I was episodically overcome with tears at different times of this day. Hopefully my clinging hug said it all to Sean/John at the airport as we bid farewell. I knew as I uttered I'll miss you that I was on the verge of becoming a blubbering idiot so I just walked away after another clutching hug.

Anyways, I'm here in San Diego, safe, waiting for my roommate to fly in soon, and head out to dinner.
Hugs,
Robin/Mom/Grandma/Mrs. Sewell