yyt

It didn’t bode well when I tried to check in on line for our flight to
Burlington, it seems that it would allow Carol to check in without problems but when I tried – and I tried three different ways – I kept getting please check in with a United agent.

Great now some Al Qaïda member has taken pretty common names.

I’ll skip the oxymoron of Chicago Rapid Transit as the machines on the gridlocked Kennedy were speeding by.

It is the airport experience where one can see why one would spit on airline employees. After trying again to check in at a kiosk, I gave up and entered the queue a queue that didn’t move as since there were now kiosk check-ins the counter had only two attendants. An hour later I was told that no I am not on a no fly list but it was a simple random check by United.

On to the security queue where United definitely believes in a cast system, the first business class queue and the steerage one. Of course being United, this changed with the changing minute. When one thought one was in an orderly queue and nearing the part where everything is taken off or emptied out, they would concoct another bend.

90 minutes later we were at the gate. I admit I am spoiled, in Milwaukee where rich and poor queue up alike one gets through security in minutes, even when I was nearly stripped searched in St. John’s I was still through security in 15 minutes. I dreaded Midway seeing the queues but again five minutes later one is wondering what overpriced food will clog the arteries before the flight.

Here people were waiting to get into Chili’s (?!)

Of course the plane left late. Well the plane that we were supposed to be on didn’t leave at all. When they realised that the plane wouldn’t make it from Grand Rapids in time to get us to Burlington before the airport closed. They went to the warehouse and got another.

We were flying Ted – the low cost cousin of United. That instilled confidence, thought Tango and Jazz of Air Canada were bad enough but Ted? Next there would be Floyd or Earl.


We were heading to Burlington as Carol had been there twice before and talked about it the way that I rave over the Rock. she said it was like Madison what with Lake Champlain and the colleges it was easy going and quite liberal.

I saw that it was 30 miles from the Canadian border and only a couple of hours to Montréal and sanity.

Of course I could tell none of this arriving at 11PM ringing for the rental shuttle to pick us up to get the car – for some reason they thought that we would like being in a PT Cruiser. Noticed the gigantic dent in the machine in the light of the next morning. Did like the chance to hear the CBC on satellite radio – but probably could have picked it up on regular radio.

So far I was impressed with Vermont but not for the same reasons as Carol. I don’t think she cared much about the diner across from the Thrifty Car Rental, or the HO HUM MOTEL. We both weren’t all that excited about the Hooters along route 7 into town.

Even though I am used to them, from being on the rock, I find Bed and Breakfasts somewhat spooky. Luckily this one called itself an inn and had private toilets.

We had a suite, which was nice, a room where one could move about without knocking into all that quaint stuff. Most of the time these places while having tables, have so much stuff on them that it is impossible to write.

Past midnight but as usual with new places I was wide awake from the anticipation, felt a bit of sanity returning to the world as the key was left in the mail box with a sign telling us so.