Last weekend I had the exquisite pleasure of flying to meet my new grandson in San Jose, California. Due to scheduling conflicts, I was only able to fly out Friday through Monday, but what an adventuresome four days it was! I thought that I was pretty good at technology, but the new type of boarding pass on my cell phone outwitted me. Taking a picture of the pass, as it was e mailed to me was a unique idea that almost eluded me. My original thought was that I had to show the picture of it in my e-mail, which would have been difficult without WiFI. But no, my boarding pass joined my picture album which included pictures of my grand daughter Rosie, at the beach, Hubby sucking down oysters on our recent vacation to Westerly, and pictures of my nieces wedding. There it was, clear as day, showing all of my flight information including my place in line at Southwest, C-17. (I can never understand how I can call to check in 24½ hours before my flight and my boarding number is so high!) The problem was, my phone timed out after five minutes, so by the time I got to the front of the line there was a locked keyboard with a lovely picture of some goldfish swimming around in a gold fish bowl.

There was one designation on my pass that infuriated me: “Pre-check.” While I was happy to skip the long security line, being automatically considered for such an exemption sight unseen was insulting! I didn’t need any extra help! I was just as capable of taking my shoes off and emptying my pockets as anyone else! The fun part came as I went through the metal detector, and there were frowns and negative head nods from the security agents. I thought it was because of the metal rods and screws in my back, but noooooooo. I had foolishly chosen to wear a favorite shirt that has a beautiful colored butterfly on the front; the pattern adorned by colored sequins. How was I to know that sequins would cause the X-ray machine to go amuck? (In retrospect, how could I not have known? Duh!) The female agent gently pulled me aside for a full patdown. She was very respectful on her rehearsed speech that she was going to use the back side of her gloved hand to pat me down. She did it so seriously and gently that it made me giggle, like a full body tickle. Where she may have expected annoyance, there I was laughing, and thanking her for the thrill.

For reasons unknown, I love to fly, so the fact that my trip required three plane changes just added to the excitement. Each airport is unique (even though they have the same Hudson News and restaurants with fancy sounding names serving astronomically priced food). Each flight was the same. I made my way down the aisle dragging my carry-on (which seemed to be a little fatter than the aisle, as judged by the number of people I whacked with it). A window seat was mandatory for the compulsory nap later on in the flight. After take off, drinks were served, along with two (count them, two) packages of pretzels. I hit the jackpot when one package I opened had four tiny pretzels instead of the usual three. What a thrill!

It took me 13 hours of airports and flying to get to San Jose. Reinvigorated by the latest nap, a smile still on my face from the pat down, and a full belly of pretzels, I was ready for the exciting rental car experience.

(To be continued…)