Returning home after traveling for ten days in Rocky Mountain country gives one a mixed sense of relief and regret. The relief comes from a feeling of returning to the familiarity and safety of one's home. The regret stems from the knowledge that the adventure is over.
Life is full of contradictions: I love being home; I love being in new places.
The problem with traveling is the actual process of traveling. I enjoy seeing new places and meeting new people, but getting there is agony. Planes, trains, automobiles are crowded, slow, and uncomfortable conveyances. I look forward to the day when we can instantly "beam" ourselves to different places, like they do in the Star-trek movies.
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Public modes of transportation are the worst. It seems like they allot fewer inches of seating space per person every year. You would think that they should acknowledge that almost half of the traveling public is XL, and the seat width should reflect that fact.
Southwest, which once boasted the most comfortable seating, has sacrificed the legroom so they could add a few more rows. Their "open-seating" policy is eroding. Now you can jump the line for a few more bucks. They don't feed you, anymore, and an adult beverage costs $7. I had to elbow-out a little old lady so I could beat her to the emergency exit row where you can get a precious extra few inches of legroom. She glares at me as she passes down the aisle and mutters something about ungentlemanly behavior. Hey, I say to myself, this is what happens when they treat you like cattle, you act like cattle.
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The journey started in Boston at 4 AM to go to the airport for our 7am flight. Our faithful friend George came to drive us to Logan. We have a complicated symbiotic relationship when it comes to air travel. I always offer to drive local friends and relatives to and from the airport and suggest that a quid pro quo on our next trip would be great. This works out pretty well. Since they built the Ted Williams tunnel, our trip to the airport is about 20 minutes during non-rush hour traffic. My daughter was there to pick us up when we returned. George and Jeanette had also gone on vacation to Azores. A few days after we returned, we were back at Logan Airport picking up George and Jeanette, who were returning from their vacation.
One of the greatest innovations of this century has been the establishment of the cell-phone lot, where people who are picking you up can wait until you get through baggage claim/customs. Then, one call and presto your ride is there at the terminal.
Maybe next year.
