The flight out of Richmond was about 15 minutes behind schedule, and my layover in Detroit was already only an hour, so I knew that I would have no time to spare in getting to my connecting flight. Detroit was about an hour and a half away, so I settled in to enjoy the flight. I read for a while and had a Coke and some peanuts when they offered it. I talked to the woman in the seat beside me...a major feat for me, because I'm not comfortable talking to strangers. She was a nice lady, traveling to visit relatives with her 2 granddaughters. I read some more. As we neared Detroit, I noticed out the window an expanse of blue. It was water. Better yet, it was one of the Great Lakes! I have never seen such a large body of water other than the ocean. I could not see the other side. I snapped pictures until we were told to turn off all electronic devices. I was fascinated by seeing what I discovered later was Lake Erie.
We landed in Detroit, and when we got off the plane, I looked at the status of my connecting flight on the monitor. It was as far away from where I was as it could possibly be! All the way to the end of another concourse. I was at the far end of the one we were on. I took off for the gate where my next flight was. I walked as fast as I could on the moving walkways, and made pretty good time. I finally made it to the right concourse, and started looking for one of those newstand souvenir shops. I spotted one, and the line didn't look too long. I ran in there and quickly found a collector spoon for myself and a magnet for a friend, paid, and was on my way in less than 5 minutes. I still made it to the gate before they started boarding...barely. Of course, I was in zone 3 and they always start with zones 1 & 2.
The flight to Memphis was a little bumpy. I have only experienced turbulence one other time, and I didn't like it then, either. It didn't last the entire flight at least; probably about 30 minutes or so. We landed in Memphis and I realized that I already had a 2 hour layover; adding back the hour I lost when I traveled east would add another one. It was about 4:15, and I had to wait until 7:25 to fly to Fort Smith. I decided that was ok; I was hungry, since I hadn't eaten since breakfast. Also, I had homework I could submit on the online site. I found a place to eat and settled in, finally in no hurry. The food was overpriced, but good. I couldn't get online, though. I decided it was probably the restaurant; I would try again when I left there. I found a seat close to the gate and tried to get online again. No luck. There was only one network available that responded at all; and it wasn't free. To use this network, I would have had to subscribe and pay a fee. No way! I was so put out. The longest layover, and no internet! What gives?
I ended up reading for an hour. When we boarded, we were told there would be a delay because we were waiting on a mechanic. This was a little disturbing. We waited...and waited...and WAITED. Finally, after 45 mintues, the captain announced that we were waiting on an airline mechanic that was needed in Fort Smith. After over an hour, he finally showed up and we took off about 8:30--an hour late. By the time we left, the sun was down, but we caught up with the sunset because we were flying west. I thought this was cool. We also passed a large thunderstorm cloud a short distance away in which I saw lightening. I was never able to catch it on camera, though.
We landed in Fort Smith about 9:15. Almost home. More waiting...this time on luggage. At last I had my luggage, my friend drove up out front, and I was homeward bound. All in all, a very good vacation, even with the airport delays. I am glad I got to go.
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