First Day, Three BWP'ers, Too Many Cancellations to Count

Wow! This trip has been interesting so far. Let’s see. I skipped the flight from Shreveport because it was perpetually delayed (and the plane was the size of my wife’s car). I drove nearly three hours to get to DFW in the wind and the rain. The travel agent told me on the phone I was going to be without a ticket because I did not go to Shreveport first. Uhm... yeah.

Anyway, the American Airlines ticket lady was awesome. She got me on standby for one flight and a seat on a later one just in case. Once I got through security (what’s with making me take my shoes off and wanting my Visine in a zip-lock bag?! I feel so violated.) I looked at the flight board and realized I had fifteen minutes to go two terminals and get on standby for another flight. Got there on time, but I missed a seat by just a few folks. Oh well. I grabbed a taco at Taco Bell and grabbed the tram back to Terminal A. Once I got to the gate I realized the nice AA lady put me as the first standby person (bless her heart).

We left DFW about the same time as what my original flight was going to leave, so it all worked out okay. I ended up on the same flight as Joyce and Kat. We didn’t get to sit near each other, so we just caught up after the flight. Of course, Joyce was AWOL once we got off. I received her text message within seconds letting us know she was getting her luggage and to not leave her. Considering they were stowing away on the shuttle for my hotel (their hotel was far too, uhm, classy to provide a shuttle), her luggage would be the last thing to be worried about if they were found out.

We made it to the hotel, faked liked they had already checked in, and then proceeded to walk a half mile to their hotel up the road. At some point in the trek they decided it was not worth the $20 they saved not taking a taxi. I really wished I had a digital camera at that moment. Two ladies, bags in tow, trudging up the side of the interstate in the cold and rain. Priceless.

Needless to say they showed up the next morning in a beautiful rental car. We sped away (no, really. Have you ever ridden with Joyce? Save your money on 6 Flags, my friends.) to the NWP conference. Airport Marriott was a few miles away, but we also had sessions at the Willis Conference Center. The Willis rocked. Free snacks and free wireless Internet wherever you were! That’s the life. The world should be one huge wireless, high-speed cloud. Glad they had the TL sessions there. I’ll post more on my reflections to those sessions.

I just wanted to blog about how the day went. I am thinking there are far more interesting things ahead for this group.