From
http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
Our travel here from Idaho ended up fine, but it was a little eventful. We left our apartment in Idaho just before 6 am, which should have been good time to get us to the airport before 7:30 am - a full hour before our flight was due to depart.
We thought we could figure out the road back to the airport OK, and hadn't bothered to print off a map. After all, if we got stuck, I had the Maps app on my i-Phone - but it wouldn't work - I couldn't get a connection. We got to Spokane OK, but had to stop and ask directions to the I 90 - the road to the airport. Those directions were less than accurate, but Scott sussed it out eventually and we did get there before 7:30 am in the end.
No bags to check in - Scott and Lucy were taking them in the truck - and security was no problem, so we were at our gate with loads of time to spare. I noticed there was another flight to Seattle leaving at 8 am - half an hour before hours - and remembering our connection in Seattle for the next flight to Medford was a little tight, I thought I would make enquiries. "Sure" the Alaskan Air attendant said and handed us new boarding passes - "good idea - your inward flight is running half an hour late due to storms in Seattle".
We boarded the plane - which was a large jet, unlike the little prop job we were booked on - and got ready to depart. Captain's voice - "sorry for the delay, but we hope to leave shortly - there's storms up ahead and Seattle airport has got backed up a bit." About 15 minutes later, the plane, which was half empty, suddenly started to fill up. I guess they had decided to cancel the 8:30 am flight and decamp the passengers booked on that one on to the 8 am flight - just as we had done.
Eventually we got going but had to circle Seattle for a while as there was a bit of a queue of planes there waiting for the thunder clouds to pass so that they could land. Even when we got down on the ground, there was no gate available for us to park at, so we had to sit and wait at the end of the runway. Eventually, we did get a gate, but still we had to wait on the plane as there weren't enough ground staff available to get the loading deck out to the plane.
By this time, we had less than 15 minutes before our flight to Medford was due to leave, so we had to find the correct gate quickly and then literally run a few hundred yards. Can you picture the sight of the twa old folk attempting to jog?
We made the plane OK - in fact, we weren't quite last on - and it left its gate more or less on time, but then we had to sit and wait in a queue of planes waiting to take off after everyone had been backed up by the earlier thunderclouds.
In the end, we were only 15 minutes late getting in to Medford, where Jo and I jumped in an airport taxi and headed for our favourite pizza bar - Kaleidoscope - for lunch. We phoned Grants Pass taxis and asked them if they would pick us up. I had to negotiate a price - $75! Our driver was a character and the 30-40 minute journey to Scott and Lucy's passed fairly quickly.
We said hello to Holly again, and met up with Buster for the first time - they were both a little nervous of us at first, but soon came round. Scott, Lucy and the boys eventually got home from their 11 hour drive not long before 5 pm. Lucy rushed to the store and bought a chicken and quickly rustled up a lovely chicken pie for dinner. It was nice to be back here again.
On Saturday, Lucy, Jo and Braeden headed for Medford - Costco and Target - and Scott, Cade and I jumped in his vehicle, also heading due west to play 9 holes of golf at Quail Point. Here's Cade teeing off at one of the short holes:
We've been treated to Scott and Lucy's excellent BBQ's the last 2 nights - ribs on Saturday and rotisserie chicken last night.
Lucy made pancakes on Sunday morning and Scott and I played 18 holes at Dutcher Creek in the afternoon. They're both back at work today so Jo and I are at home looking after the boys.
I've had a bit of medical misadventures since I arrived here. First of all, my ear got blocked with wax and I tried to fix it, and, as usual, made a mess of things and now I'm getting ear drops and trying to clear it up. I'm deaf in one ear now - and it all feels a bit unreal - like you're not part of what's going on - merely an observer. Then I banged my head on the corner of one of the cabinets in our trailer and made a hole that Lucy had to treat for me. Then, yesterday, I broke a corner off one of my teeth and now have a sensitive hole and a ragged edge which is scraping against my tongue. I hope they clear up soon and I don't have to visit the dentist and/or doctor whilst I'm here.
