Wow! What a trip!
(Warning -- this is a long post!!!)
I will begin at the beginning.
I got up at 3:30 in the morning to get to the airport in time. My stomach was upset because I was up so early and I was petrified. Chris made me some hazelnut coffee in my to go cup, which I spilled all over myself getting into the car. So I had to go back inside and change. I was afraid that was a bad omen for the trip!
Airport security is intimidating. I got through it OK, but there is this mad rush and you feel all this pressure to go faster because everyone behind you has planes to catch and people to call and they will be really annoyed if you don't get your belt off quicker (I wasn't wearing a belt with my FIRST pair of jeans -- before the great hazelnut coffee incident -- but the jeans I changed into needed a belt...).
So I was all flustered. But I managed to keep track of my boarding pass while taking off my belt, fishing my quart sized bag of mini bottles out of my suitcase, and stuffing my sandals and jacket into the bin.
I am no longer afraid to fly. Woo hoo!!! When I was in college I had an internship in San Francisco and flew across the country by myself. I remember being nervous for the first flight, but after that I was OK. Then I took this horribly small plane from Westchester to Pittsburgh before we moved here and I thought for sure I was going to die. That was the last time I flew.
I was a little concerned when I got my boarding passes in Cleveland because my second boarding pass said "Check at Gate" for my seating assignment and "Gate" was blank. Hmmmm.
The last time I flew to CA it was 1997, and I got breakfast twice. This time I got a complimentary drink and the opportunity to buy an overpriced snack box. I asked for water and ate my cereal bars.
So I landed in Minneapolis and checked the board for my gate. It was half way around the world from where I was. I was glad I had an hour. I called Chris and talked to him for the entire walk from gate to gate, which was over 10 minutes! (even using the cool people mover sidewalks!)
When I finally got to my gate, I was informed that the seating arrangement "was not done yet." Freaky. What the heck does that mean? I had visions of brides-to-be staying up past midnight the night before the wedding handwriting out placecards. The flight was leaving within the hour and the seating chart wasn't done? Insane.
So I sat down. I waited. I watched other people get information from the counter. Even though she said "we'll call you" no one did. I went back up. I was told again that the seating wasn't done and that they would "call me."
The plane began boarding and I STILL HAD NO SEAT. By this time I am in a full panic. I got in line anyway. When it was my turn I said I still didn't have a seat. She told me to see the other lady. I did. She said, "Why aren't you on my list?" And then I was in overdrive full panic.
But then magically a new boarding pass printed with my name on it AND A SEAT NUMBER. I cut right in line and probably ticked everyone else off. I didn't care. Post-panic adrenaline is powerful.
I was seated in 16B. I found my seat, hoisted up my suitcase, and sat down. Two minutes later, I hear my name on the speaker. "Kimberly Kenney, we have a seat for you in 9F." Well, obviously, 9F was FORWARD of 16B, and there was a steady stream of people boarding the plane! I felt like a salmon trying to spawn.
So I waited until there was enough of a break to get my suitcase down and run up the aisle. It turned out, the ONLY empty seat on the plane was 9E -- so me and the guy next to me had some space between us.
I started reading my book on the second flight --
The Time Traveler's Wife. Excellent book! It kept me totally absorbed for the 3 1/2 hour flight. I still have a bit to go, so I don't know how it ends, but I highly recommend it if you're looking for a unique, well-written story.
There was some turbulence as we landed in Palm Springs, because of the mountains. It was amazing to fly over the area and see mostly dirt, with huge tracts of grass that were golf courses. Everyone had teeny pools in the backyards, which I'm sure were quite large from the ground.
The Palm Springs airport is like nothing I've ever seen. When you go out through your gate, you are still inside, but as you make your way toward the exit doors, you end up outside! We don't build things outside in Ohio. But between the security checkpoint and the gates, it is all open. This New York girl had never seen anything like it!
Scott Drolet from the Cemetery and Mortuary Association of California was waiting for me. He drives a Prius, so that was pretty neat to ride in! Very quiet. Chris told me they are trying to make the Prius a little louder because the blind and their seeing eye dogs can't hear them coming, which has led to some problems...
After I checked in, Scott told me to come to the reception that night. I had the afternoon to rest, get something to eat, and explore a little. It was very windy, so my trip around the perimeter of the resort wasn't all that fun.
I got dressed and went down to the reception. I didn't stay long, maybe an hour. Everyone was really nice, but I was just exhausted. I was pretty stressed out worrying about the huge snowstorm that was supposed to hit Minneapolis about the same time as my return flight. I was so upset because I had finally kicked the fear of flying, only to replace it with the fear of spending the night alone in the airport!
Anyone who knows me is keenly aware that I am NOT a morning person. So this time change worked very well in my favor! I woke up at 5:00, and was well rested! Perfect!
I went down to the conference and had breakfast. I met some nice people at my table. At first, no one could understand what the Curator of the Wm. McKinley Presidential Library & Museum was doing at a cemetery conference! It made sense after I explained my involvement at West Lawn, and that while I was over there documenting some vandalism in 2002, I realized that many of the people I was researching for
Canton: A Journey Through Time were buried right where I was standing. And I explained how I started doing cemetery walks over there, and that led to my second book
Canton's West Lawn Cemetery. And now I drag my husband to any cemetery we can find when we're on vacation!
The program went very well. I was on first, after their annual meeting. I stayed to hear the second presentation about Rose Hills Cemetery. Very interesting talk. Rose Hills does on average 30 burials A DAY, and employs 550 people. The program was about all the logistics involved in such a busy operation. It was truly fascinating.
So after that I was free to relax by the pool for the afternoon!
I spent most of my time under the umbrella, since my skin hasn't seen the rays of the sun in 6 months! There were some California bathing beauties there who obviously don't care about skin cancer. They were probably wondering how this pasty white girl ever expected to get tanned in the shade of an umbrella! I was also the only woman under 60 who was NOT wearing a bikini.
The best thing about the pool was the poolside restaurant! I had a raspberry smoothie when I first got down there. A few hours later, I ordered grilled vegetable quesadillas, which were delivered to me at my chair! Best I ever tasted. Lots of guacamole.
In the late afternoon, the sun was less intense, so I moved out from under my umbrella for about an hour or so. Before I left, I walked around the outside of the pool taking close up photos of the flowers (which is one of my hobbies). Then I headed back to my room, where I spent the rest of the evening on my balcony, enjoying the warm weather!
The next morning, I was up by 6:00 or so (long live the timezone change!). I went down to the restaurant and had cinnamon swirl French toast.
The lobby had this amazing water for hotel guests. It was in a beautiful glass container with lemons, limes, and cucumbers in it. I became addicted to this water. I don't know if Chris will like it, but I plan on buying lots of limes and cucumbers this summer to spruce up my water!
I had planned to just take the complimentary airport shuttle, but I met Scott coming off the elevator on my way down to check out, and he wanted to take me to the airport. So I got to ride in the Prius again!
When I checked in, I was VERY upset that once again I had NO SEAT ASSIGNMENT on my ticket. The woman at the ticket counter said that was because the flight was overbooked, and that it was only 2 people, so she was sure they could get two to volunteer to give up their seats so I could have one.
Super overdrive panic, revisited.
Chris told me before I left the hotel that the Winter Storm Warning for Minneapolis had been cancelled, and that my flights would likely all be on time. So I had stopped worrying about the weather, only to find out that I didn't have a seat on the plane again!
I went up to the gate ticket counter about 20 minutes later. The same woman was there. She called someone, who told her that she couldn't "release any seats" until boarding time. Well, that certainly upset me. She told me not to worry. That is like telling the clouds not to rain, the sun not to shine, the...well, you get the idea.
So I waited for 40 minutes, in sheer panic. I'm sure the people around me wondered what the heck was wrong with me. They probably assumed I was afraid to fly, which was actually NOT true anymore!
Again, they started boarding the plane, and again I had no seat. A family was at the ticket counter and it seemed like an hour before they were done and I could be helped. I traded in my boarding passes for new ones, for both my flights, WITH SEATS. Yay! But again, no gate listed in Minneapolis. I don't get it. They know where all their planes are. Why can't they write it out on Kim Kenney's boarding pass?
I was seated at the front of the plane, which was nice. I had a center seat, which was not so nice.
As we were taking off, I started to hear what sounded like meowing. There were a few babies on board, so I thought maybe it was them crying. Then I thought, "No, it really sounds like meowing."
Turns out, there were cats under my seat that belonged to the people behind me!
They were actually on my second flight too. The cats apparently live in Cleveland.
Uneventful flight. Very full. No empty seats. I was most surprised by the fact that after all the hype on the Weather Channel, there was NO SNOW ON THE GROUND in Minneapolis. I had actually heard one of the weather people say it would be "virtually impossible to travel in and out of Minneapolis on Friday." Guess that was a mistake.
In Minneapolis, I ate at the airport Dairy Queen. It was actually quite good.
We had to go through deicing before take off, and we ended up in a holding pattern over Lake Erie because of winds in Cleveland. So I was a little late landing, but not by much. The city was absolutely beautiful at night. I could see a thunderstorm in the distance. I sat back and was thankful that I am no longer afraid to fly.
So that was my trip! I will post some photos in the next entry.
When I was leaving, I told Scott I might see him again sometime. He said someone at the conference was a member of another CA cemetery group and he really liked my program, so they might invite me back for that in the future!
Now that I can fly again, I can go ANYWHERE!!!!!!!
