Tuesday February 24, 2009
We were up early, packed, and waiting for the shuttle when it arrived to take us to the Steamboat\Hayden airport. We rode with another family that appeared to be from England - man, they had a long trip ahead of them.
We poked around in the gift shop before heading through security. It's a tiny airport and there were more security people than travelers when we went through. In Atlanta, we were told to leave our plastic bag with liquids and our electronics in our carry-ons because the x-ray machines could see them just fine. Not so at this airport. We had to dig down and take everything out. It took several tries before we had everything out that they wanted to see. Then everyone has to remove their shoes and you're trying to shuttle the kids through...what a pain!
Our flight to Denver was good at first and the pilot came on an mumbled something about being down in 10 minutes. It took about 20 minutes and we hit some pretty rough turbulence. Was there any explanation from the pilot? Any reassurances? No.
Our layover in Denver was about 2 and 1/2 hours, so we had time to relax, get some food, and browse around. We brought some sandwiches along, but Derek was so excited to use his own money to buy himself something at McDonald's.
I finished the book I was reading before I left home, Cormac McCarthy's "The Road". I had read his "No Country For Old Men" and I was discussing the movie with my friend, Brandon, when he mentioned that he thought I would like The Road. It was a bleak post apocalyptic story, but beautifully written with lots of things to make you think about. I also read Harlen Coben's "Hold Tight". He really knows how to write a page turner. Helen started it when we got home and quickly became obsessed with it so that she couldn't put it down.
The flight home was pretty quick riding the air currents west to east. The only problem was the descent into Atlanta. For some reason, unexplained by the pilot, the pilot made a pretty steep descent. The nose tip was definitely tilted downward. The change in air pressure was noticeable and you could see everyone opening and closing their mouths to relieve the pressure. Unfortunately, it was really tough on the kids. Derek and Adam were crying. Derek was pretty quiet about it, but Adam was bawling and responding loudly that "it's not helping" to any of our tips. Was there any explanation from the pilot? Any reassurances? No.
We picked up some quick takeout at Panda Expesss on the way home. It was our first time trying it and it was pretty good. Adam liked it, but Derek just had cereal. We unpacked a few things and hit the bed before returning to the rat race the following day.
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