Airports and planes...

I left Wednesday for a trip out West.  I visited Sarah in Portland last July and I couldn't wait to go visit her again this year.  My Peace Corps friends John and Leslie moved to Seattle when they returned to the States, so I also have been wanting to visit them.  Portland and Seattle are only 4 hours away from each other, so it was settled quickly that I would be going out and visiting both cities.  I haven't seen John and Leslie since I left Fiji in July 2009.  I'm excited to see them and catch up on life.  I last saw Sarah last Christmas right before she left on a roadtrip back to Portland.

This is the first time Matt and I have spend more than a few days apart.  It's going to be weird but good for us to have some independence.  I'm lucky I get to see him every day at work, I definitely don't take that for granted.  He'll be picking me up from the airport when I return home, so I can't wait for that moment.  But for now, I'm focusing on my awesome trip to see new sites and to catch up with old friends.

Airports and airplanes always bring interesting stories.  Waiting in Louisville, I watched an elderly couple take turns playing Angry Birds on their Ipad.  It was so funny to watch the woman pull back the slingshot and get so into the game.  As some of you might now, Southwest doesn't have assigned seating.  You are assigned a number based on the time you checked into the flight.  Then when you board in that order you have to find the best seat.  A young married couple was one of the last on the flight going to Chicago.  They must have been 1st time Southwest customers.  They were quite upset they couldn't sit next to each other.  The wife announced, "Would anyone care to move over so my husband and I can sit next to each other?"  No one moved, no one said anything, I sat in my seat trying to hide my "are you kidding" face.  I mean, come on!  The flight is about an hour long, you will be okay if you don't sit right next to him for the duration of the flight.  They didn't have a choice anyway.   I got a window seat and was upset to find out I picked the wrong side of the plane and didn't get to see the Chicago skyline.  Well, I will know next time.  I kept getting a whiff of something that I couldn't quite place and then realized the man next to me was dipping into a McDonald's cup.  I hate that smell.  It turns my stomach.  The flight wasn't too bad, the last 20 minutes were quite bumpy and annoying.  Too many bad things go through my mind when there is turbulance.

I was supposed to post this a few days ago but was unable to get wifi access.  Now I'm in Portland, so I'll post my Seattle adventures tomorrow.