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Long Trip, Short Flight
Aug. 18th, 2023 11:59 pmMy flight from Reno to San Jose has a scheduled duration of 1 hour, and was originally scheduled to depart RNO at 7:15 PM. Lisa drove me to Reno, and we got there more than two hours before the scheduled flight time. I guess I'd arrived at a lull in traffic, because I checked in for my Southwest Airlines flight almost instantly, had no difficulty checking a bag, and went through Terrorization with no issues. I was expecting to take a long time, because I'm carrying three computers, but they told me I did not have to take them out. Have the rules changed?
My back hurts a lot right now, and carrying that heavy computer bag was not fun. So I was happy to find an abandoned Smarte Carte just past Terrorization. I took it and put my computer bag on it. Based on how long I ended up being in the airport, I am really glad I got that cart.
Even when I checked in, I saw that my flight was delayed by an hour. What with having not soaked up a bunch of time on check-in and Terrorization, I had lots of time to kill, so I bought a 20-minute session in one of the massage chairs that dot the airport. That was pretty good. I could use more of it.
My flight got later. I got dinner. I told them to not hurry, while I started reading Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition, which I bought at the museum in Churchill.
While I was eating dinner, my flight continued to be delayed. Despite dawdling over my food, I did eventually leave, and to kill more time, I walked all the way down through Concourse C and then back to B where Southwest is located. I waited until the last flight scheduled before mine at B5 left for Oakland, then settled down to charge my phone and continued reading.
I'm not completely sure what was causing the delays, but I assume that the first thing was that the tropical storm hitting the west coast of Mexico and the southwestern USA was messing up flights in Southern California and Las Vegas. (The Governor of Nevada called out the National Guard for expected issues in southern Nevada. But possibly the President's trip to Reno-Tahoe caused more issues: he arrived this afternoon, and while I didn't see the Presidential plane from the terminal, I wasn't looking. The arrival of the President closed local airspace and caused massive traffic jams in the area.
It got so late that they started turning off the slot machines, on account of the attendant had to go home, and usually all of the evening's flights are complete by that late. This was okay for me, though, because it meant I could sit in the much more comfortable slot machine chairs while I continued to wait.
Eventually our inbound plane finally arrived. Southwest turned it as fast as they could. When I got on board, I went to the back of the plane, where I got a row to myself and plenty of overhead space for my computer. My 7:15 flight left at 10 PM.
The flight was very bumpy, presumably due to the unsettled weather from that storm. I certainly don't blame the Southwest crew for not attempting a beverage service for the very short flight (40 minutes in the air).
My checked bag was in the first few off the belt, and I headed off to the courtesy shuttles area. Unfortunately, the Holiday Inn Express shuttle stops at 10 PM. Instead of the free shuttle, it was a $25 Lyft ride. At least I didn't have to wait long.
The hotel is a pretty standard HIX. I was unable to get the double-queen room changed to a single-king. Thanks to them being full and the length of my planned stay, there were no upgrades for me this trip.
What with all of the delays, it was too late to order pizza, and I really didn't feel like trying to go find something at this hour. I got a microwave meal from the hotel's lobby shop.
I'm having bad luck with hotel hot tubs this summer. Unfortunately, this HIX doesn't have a hot tub. I was looking forward to using it multiple times on this trip.
Fortunately, I don't have an early morning commitment on Saturday, so once I get this post finished, I can get some sleep and need not set an alarm, although if I somehow sleep past 10 AM, I'll miss the included breakfast.
My back hurts a lot right now, and carrying that heavy computer bag was not fun. So I was happy to find an abandoned Smarte Carte just past Terrorization. I took it and put my computer bag on it. Based on how long I ended up being in the airport, I am really glad I got that cart.
Even when I checked in, I saw that my flight was delayed by an hour. What with having not soaked up a bunch of time on check-in and Terrorization, I had lots of time to kill, so I bought a 20-minute session in one of the massage chairs that dot the airport. That was pretty good. I could use more of it.
My flight got later. I got dinner. I told them to not hurry, while I started reading Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition, which I bought at the museum in Churchill.
While I was eating dinner, my flight continued to be delayed. Despite dawdling over my food, I did eventually leave, and to kill more time, I walked all the way down through Concourse C and then back to B where Southwest is located. I waited until the last flight scheduled before mine at B5 left for Oakland, then settled down to charge my phone and continued reading.
I'm not completely sure what was causing the delays, but I assume that the first thing was that the tropical storm hitting the west coast of Mexico and the southwestern USA was messing up flights in Southern California and Las Vegas. (The Governor of Nevada called out the National Guard for expected issues in southern Nevada. But possibly the President's trip to Reno-Tahoe caused more issues: he arrived this afternoon, and while I didn't see the Presidential plane from the terminal, I wasn't looking. The arrival of the President closed local airspace and caused massive traffic jams in the area.
It got so late that they started turning off the slot machines, on account of the attendant had to go home, and usually all of the evening's flights are complete by that late. This was okay for me, though, because it meant I could sit in the much more comfortable slot machine chairs while I continued to wait.
Eventually our inbound plane finally arrived. Southwest turned it as fast as they could. When I got on board, I went to the back of the plane, where I got a row to myself and plenty of overhead space for my computer. My 7:15 flight left at 10 PM.
The flight was very bumpy, presumably due to the unsettled weather from that storm. I certainly don't blame the Southwest crew for not attempting a beverage service for the very short flight (40 minutes in the air).
My checked bag was in the first few off the belt, and I headed off to the courtesy shuttles area. Unfortunately, the Holiday Inn Express shuttle stops at 10 PM. Instead of the free shuttle, it was a $25 Lyft ride. At least I didn't have to wait long.
The hotel is a pretty standard HIX. I was unable to get the double-queen room changed to a single-king. Thanks to them being full and the length of my planned stay, there were no upgrades for me this trip.
What with all of the delays, it was too late to order pizza, and I really didn't feel like trying to go find something at this hour. I got a microwave meal from the hotel's lobby shop.
I'm having bad luck with hotel hot tubs this summer. Unfortunately, this HIX doesn't have a hot tub. I was looking forward to using it multiple times on this trip.
Fortunately, I don't have an early morning commitment on Saturday, so once I get this post finished, I can get some sleep and need not set an alarm, although if I somehow sleep past 10 AM, I'll miss the included breakfast.
