The main thing we had to do to get ready for this trip was to get the dog into the kennel. Yesterday, feeling really guilty, we first took him on a three mile walk and let him run. Then we, very guiltily, took him over to the vet. I was sad to see a dog who was apparently going to be euthanized. He was too tired to stand, had blood on his mouth and pain in his eyes. Sailor was all interested in this till I pulled him away. Finally the clerk could see us. I had to fill out a long form, and we agreed to have him get his kennel cough vaccination. Then it was time to hand him over. The dog was terrified. The clerk asked that we leash him up and walk away so she wouldn't be the baddie. Rich complained, later, that this made HIM the baddie. Dogs, unlike cats, don't hold grudges.
Then all last night, I kept missing my friend. We didn't have to look out for him, we didn't have to walk him, we didn't have to tell him to go to bed. When I got up in the middle of the night, and of course I did, I didn't have to worry about stepping on him. This is the first time he has ever been kenneled or even away from either us or his home overnight. We know, of course, that he will be fine, but still, since he doesn't understand nor remember "we will be back", we felt truly guilty.

This morning I was watching the Impeachement hearings when my friend arrived. (We definitely wanted him by 10, so we told him 9:30. He took a bus and arrived at 9). We showed him some things in the house, including Rich's new system, and then were standing around, watching the Democrats obfuscate and whine. Actually, we were badmouthing Bill Gates, since we didn't want to think too hard. Rich noticed a familiar canine on the front porch. Yes, indeed, Sailor had broken out and come straight home over a busy street. He was THRILLED! He was home and his PEOPLE were there! I called the vet, and they were relieved to hear from us, as they knew he was gone. They had a team out scouring the neighborhood. I was a little terse, since I was less-than-delighted that he'd crossed the busy street. So Rich put Sailor's leash on. Sailor was DELIGHTED! He was going for a WALK! Even better, a RIDE!! Rich took him back while my friend and I covered up Rich's system so it didn't scream "steal me!" to all and sundry. Rich says Sailor's tail went between his legs, but he didn't fight too much. He's now under house arrest and must be hand-walked. Ah, but he had a minute of freedom!

The other parts of getting ready weren't as traumatic. Rich got money, and this is the first time I've carried the Monopoly money twenties. I had packed my $12.50 luggage: well, two of the pieces, anyway, on Tuesday and Rich packed yesterday. In fact, to go to the Gold Rush lecture last night I had pretty well UNpacked my purse except for a tiny notebook and my wallet. (The sore shoulder, remember?) We came home and watched the (very funny) Chicago Hope HDTV episode that was an Entertainment Tonight parody.

Then I remembered to put in a blank tape, so I can get the soap opera while I'm gone. In the middle of the night I woke and checked e-mail. One person with more nerve than class quoted my entire last update and asked me to keep sending her my updates as she doesn't always get to the newsgroup. Grumph. Yes, she WAS an AOLer, why do you ask? (No brickbats, please. I'm fully aware that nowadays most AOLers know the score, but they DO have a reputation!)I'm surprised she didn't suggest I also do her homework. What really got to me is she obviously didn't read this one, which specifically said it was my LAST update. Twit. I flushed it, unanswered.

A sad thing, though, was Norma Connelly's death. She was a legend on General Hospital, not so much because of her talent as because of her longevity. The first time I watched GH, back in 1983, Ruby was there, and she's been one of the pillars of the community. I wonder how they'll write her death in.

I somehow managed to lose my Tripeaks scores, so I'm starting over again on that. I was trying to get up to $8 a game. Also, I finished the book I was reading so I could start in on one of the trip books.

Then, this morning, I woke at 6:30, put my Thanksgiving posting up, and watched the Impeachment inquiry. Ran a last dishwasher load. Unplugged almost everything. Put lights on around the house. We finally left the house (such GOOD timing on the dog. He could have taken a little longer, or been hit on Watt Avenue, and we never would have known. Whew!) at 9:45. We got dumped off just past 10. Checking in was easy, and then we walked about a mile to check out the new terminal.

The sculptures at the new terminal

The Sacramento "International" logo

There I had no problem not scanning my camera and case, but when it came time to check in at our own terminal, the lady insisted the film bag go through the scanner. Oh, well, I can but hope the film and floppies aren't affected.

This is so exciting! We talked to a gentleman reading a dinosaur article while waiting, so now my goal is to find a current copy of US News and World Report! Then we got on the plane. We were lucky enough to get a row with an empty seat, so after we started we were able to spread out. I stashed my coat overhead.
It didn't seem like the crew actually knew which flight they were flying, but we figured they were going to the Twin Cities when we were going, so we were probably OK. I noted we had male flight attendants. My sister used to work for Northwest, but in those days, 35 years ago, they never would have dreamed of male, older, or chubbier attendants! I had pooh-poohed taking pictures from the plane, but that was before I realized they would be flying right over our house!!

See?

It sort of looks like if someone knocked a hole in the mountains, Tahoe would come flood out all of Nevada.

Definitely FLAT here, Nevada is!

I haven't been on a plane since the last time I went to Pittsburgh for my Father-in-law's death. Vince and Bernadette were with us. We changed planes in Pittsburgh. My main concern was that they would just regard the whole thing as a big adventure and be appalling around the folks, but they were solemn enough and well-behaved. The only awkward funeral-related moment occured when the priest wouldn't give Bernadette her Communion in her hand. Of course, they knew how funerals worked, what with our pastor's death a couple of years previously. We did have fun times, too, but I was really proud of them. (Rich was totally shell-shocked by this. I understand that from the time my Mom died. We really need each other for this sort of thing.)

We were lucky on the flight to Minneapolis as there was an empty seat in the row, so we spread out after the initial rush of picture taking. Then, Minnesota to Pittsburgh we shared the row (smaller row in a DC9 than a stretch 727!) with a cute blonde, to Rich's acute dismay. She's a flight attendant manager and we had a nice conversation.

Dinner, on the first plane, was chicken and wild rice, or lasagna. It was actually pretty good. The second plane was delayed at least an hour, and was beverages only. (December 2 note: after the "beverages only" Hell-flight back, it's going to be a Very Long Time till I fly Northwest again.)

Crossing over the Heartland was interesting. The sky was clear, and we could see the cloud shadows over the high prairie. I used to sit in school and watch cloud shadows chase across the open land outside of town. Then we got into the Patchwork Prairie, the sections so square with the roads along the edges, the pattern ruined every so often with a lake or a river. I could see the little farmyards in each patch. You wonder who lives there, what their lives are like. People are pretty much alike and the same things happen to them, with a broad brush. The devil is in the details. I was struck by how few cars there were, even at rush hour (5 is real EARLY to be getting dark!) The illuminated roads looked like running stitches on the quilt.

We had to hold around Minneapolis till they had room. This took about 15 minutes. We had, we thought, an hour to change, so I got my US News, and discovered a Must-Have bumper sticker:

We watched some of the hearings, especially Waxman foaming at the mouth, and then got onto our plane, and waited, and waited, and waited. I begin to understand why Northwest has such a high complaint rate. We left an hour late, but got into Pittsburgh by 10.

Lordie, that's a big airport! You end up riding a subway from the gates to the terminal. Our baggage came off, soon, we got our rental car (a Chevy Cavalier with Illinois plates) and, once Rich got the key to work, here to the motel. We stumbled in about 10:40, me waving my VIP card and saying "I have a reservation!" The motel was full, so it was good about the reservation. And there are TOWELS! We walked over to Denny's and finally got settled by midnight.