Peculiar Journies.....

I've put on a lot of miles since starting this blog, but except for the rare emergency run-and-get-someone-who-brokedown-someplace I've not really had many solo trips.  But right now I'm in the middle of a trip to California to visit Citygirl, going it alone. 

I think the last time I flew without a child was in 1983, for a medical school interview, although technically Babygirl WAS 18 when we flew to Austin last year, but....you know what I mean.  I see parents with tiny babies in the airports and I think of flying by to Pakistan when Citygirl was 6 months old:  THAT was an adventure!

But this trip so far?  Well....

I've driven the Northeast Extension of the PA Turnpike so many times in the last 7 years I could likely do it in my sleep.  I prefer daylight, but last night I left home about 6:30, so I hit twilight in the Poconos, in the eternal construction. I was traveling about 74 MPH (speed limit is 70, so don't judge to harshly LOL) in the slow lane with an 18-wheeler passing me on the left, curving with the road to the left, when I spotted one of those HUGE tire chunks that are all over the side of highways.  This was full-width, full depth, and absolutely 100% unavoidable due to the lack of available shoulder space on the right.

I aimed my tires for either side of it and hoped I'd clear it.

To judge by the almighty scrape and rattle, clearance was an issue, but i didn't hit it with my tires, so the car trajectory stayed stable.  And then......nothing else happened.  No shimmy, no rattles, no smells, no warning bells or whistles, nothing.

I pulled off at the next exit and crawled around under the car with a flashlight and couldn't see any marks at all.  Phew!

Airport stuff in Philly this morning was a breeze, and we arrived in LA with no problems. 

I went to my next departure gate (an entire 15 steps away) showed them the boarding pass, I was issued right before I got on my plane in Philly, and had THIS bizarre conversation:

Me:  "Is this the gate for this flight in 3 hours?"

Agent:  "Oh, MY! This was issued so LONG ago! You should have called in case things changed!"

Me: "I just got this pass a few hours ago in Philadelphia."

Agent: "But that's clear on the other side of the COUNTRY!" 

Yes.  Yes it is.  That's what happens when people get into airplanes, and land in major airports, but it seems silly to explain that to someone who WORKS in a major airport, really. But she's clearly convinced that I am unaware of all this, so I carry on.

Me:  "So the gate has been changed?"

Agent, checking computer:  "No, this is the right gate."

Me: (Internal voice, "What the f*** just happened?") Polite big girl voice:  "Thank you."

I've been up now for almost 12 hours, had about 4 hours of sleep for each of 2 nights in a row, and I can't WAIT for the next leg of this journey.  On to San Francisco!

DeeDee