Work was uneventful and I took off slightly early to get a swim in at Hains Point, where Kirsten met me as well to get a swim in. Then it was off to the airport for her. I spent the rest of the evening just watching TV and relaxing on the couch. When Kirsten isn't around I get pretty bored so I was longing for her to be there of course. Her flight ended up getting delayed and she ended up not getting into Boston until after midnight...geesh...all these delays lately. I know money is tight and Airlines already operate on a thin margin but to not have any back up plans, to not have a crew standing by when Pilots reach their maximum flying time on the clock? I mean come on...people are going to start driving everywhere now if this keeps up. I mean Kirsten and I could have driven to Boston in the amount of time it took her to get there. Rediculous...but I digress
I woke up early and met up with a buddy to do a quick 60 mile ride on Saturday before I had to leave for the airport. My legs were definitely feeling the brick and intervals the day before. I blasted up hills a full 2 cogs higher than I usually do and felt pretty strong even though I was tired. The last stretch to the half way point I cracked a little but expected it a lot earlier than before. Finished the 2nd half of the ride pretty strong and felt good. Got home and was salty again, guess those salt tabs are needed now!
I showered up, watched some of the Time Trial for the Tour De France, and cooked myself a healthy stack of pancakes and some coffee, I was treating myself to a bit of heaven really! Watching Carlos Sastre win the TDF with an awesome Time Trial performance was pretty cool. I headed off to the airport afterwards in a pretty good mood overall and ended up in some traffic on the 295. Time was tight but I wasn't sweating it at all and just was placated the entire drive up. Bob Marley was playing off my ipod so maybe that as something to do with it ;).
I get to the airport and get through security no problem only to find out my flight is delayed a bit so I take a spot on the support column across from my gate and start listening to the ipod and people watching. That is something I like to do at airports and think about where people are going, what their back stories are and just wax philosophical in general, especially when I am listening to my ipod. Apparently there was some sort of scuffle at the ticket counter because a segway cop showed up with a couple others and talked with the gate agent and then went over to the bar I was sitting next to and talked to someone. The whole time I could have cared less and just kept listening to my music while I watched others speculate and stare as to what was going on. It strikes me as amusing when people think it is entirely their business what is going on when they have no involvement what so ever. It is like our local neighborhood list serve for the Metropolitan Police Department in DC. People are always asking "I saw cop cars at the corner of 4th and Independence this morning...anyone know what happened?" I mean...really people...it is over with and you have no vested interest in the outcome of whatever was going on...was it your drug stash that the person was arrested for? Probably not...so why be concerned. Needless to say it was like a car wreck on the side of the road with people gawking and hushing to each other looking at the cops etc. They talked to someone behind the big sign in the picture below and I didn't even make an attempt to see what was going on...because I am not a gawker and I don't even slow down to see the "accident" on the side of the road...because I know traffic would move much easier if I didn't stop and rubberneck! The picture below was of the bar where the suspect was being questioned! It was perfect for my buddy Eric since he likes rum and the tropics so much!
So boarding time comes around and everyone does the mass cow herd into the boarding area like they always do, however I wasn't on Southwest, I was on Air Tran so we all had assigned seats with designated boarding zones. I stood back and laughed at how everyone was jockeying for position when their zone hadn't even been called yet. First off a couple to the left of the doorway tried to sneak in with the zone 1 passengers...the gate agent stopped them and said they had to wait for their zone...they tried to argue, but to no avail. I shook my head and chuckled a little. Apparently they were a zone pretty far back since I even got on before them...what were they thinking!? So then there was another group of people that were to the right of the podium, which was to the right of the entry door, and trying to get through the door by going BEHIND the podium and have the gate agent check them in...the gate agent again told them to go around the other side and get into the line. They tried to argue just like the other couple but eventually succumbed to the rules and went around. I mean people...YOU HAVE ASSIGNED SEATS...it isn't like someone is going to steal your seat...geesh...
Then to add to the chaos another gates announcements were being funneled through our Gate's PA system. So they were announcing additional zones to start boarding but would announce the flight before the zone...people in our gate area weren't listening at all and started darting around everyone standing around (at least those standing around knew what was going on) and I watched this one young business woman getting all flustered to get around the crowd only to realize that it was the wrong announcement and get all pissy that she couldn't board. Again...I shook my head and started cracking up, what is it that makes people so self important that they get mad at others for their mistakes? Also, why the need to be first on the plane...it isn't going anywhere...and it certainly isn't going to leave without you when you are standing right there ready to get on the plane!!! I thought to myself...take it down a couple notches people...relax...and just go with the flow, freaking out about it isn't going to solve anything. After being amused at the entertainment I was watching I was on my way to Boston.
Got in a little late to Boston and headed downtown to meet up with Kirsten and her sister, fiance, and Mom for dinner. Kirsten and Michelle were successful in getting her a wedding dress, which apparently is champagne in color, and they had picked a pretty good place for dinner. I had a minor freak out since I didn't know my way around Boston from the Rental Car Place but Kirsten and Jeff knew that I would need a beer either way. Smithwicks was waiting for me at the table when I got there, but not before Kirsten gave an all out sprint to catch up to me on the street in front to guide me to the parking garage then were parked in. With the crosswalk reading 1 second left and my light about to change and lose her she jumped into the car, WAY TO GO SWEETIE! The Smithwicks was well deserved and tasted pretty good. Apparently though, the kitchen was having major problems with their printer and had no "Oven" so the food took a long time. It was good when we finally got it though.
After that we were on our way to Cape Cod which wasn't as bad a drive as I thought. I guess if you aren't on the Cape on Friday night it isn't worth going since we didn't hit any traffic. But man...the drivers on the road to get there are maniacs!! Speed limit was 55 and they were flying by us at 85+!!!! The cape is also a very dark dark place and my mom had told us repeatedly that the B&B was hard to find...that was an understatement...first off Google maps on my Iphone kept changing the zip code of the address and ended up guiding us 10 miles out of our way...then my dad said he would wait out front to wave us down when we drove by...well...he was standing BEHIND A TREE!!!! We never saw him, and with every few landmarks around he said "We are after the something or other that has a Gold Lettered sign...well EVERY SIGN ON THE CAPE had a gold lettered sign...and standing behind a tree doesn't help at all! After literally 7 times passing the place and a significant blow up by me as the driver at 11:15 at night (read major expletives and frustration at Google maps and Cape Cod) we finally went down the road at literally 2mph creeping along looking for my dad...Kirsten finally saw him and we got into the B&B and hit the hay as fast as we could. It was a nice place and I keep forgetting to get pictures of the places we go...oh well..
The breakfast at this place was AMAZING, it was literally 3 courses and started off with HUGE blueberry muffins, then strawberry belgian waffles, then bacon, sausage, and an egg thing of sorts...it was filling. My family headed off one way and Kirsten and I went to check out a local beach and places to potentially run. We found this nice long beach that was covered in cobblestones and most beaches are in the NE corridor. So we headed back to take a nap and change for the run. Ended up getting in an hour run on the stones and beach and it was challenging, but I felt better afterwards for sure.
We got back just in time to get ready and depart for my cousin's wedding. It was at a nice park and the rain held off just in time to finish the ceremony, although there were some well placed thunder claps in their vows...haha. The reception was nice and small but definitely confirmed that Kirsten and I made the right decision with getting our pictures done BEFORE the ceremony as the reception started at 5pm and the wedding party didn't get to the reception until well after 6:30. Definitely liked doing the pictures before hand better and we suggest that to ALL future wedding parties...hint hint..Tyler and Suzanne... :)
It was pretty interesting though since this was the first wedding I had been to that had a crazy aunt at it. I didn't know who she was (it was a very small wedding too) but she started off by dancing to a slow song...by herself...but dancing as if it was a fast song...definitely comical to see. But then we realized that the dress she was wearing was in two pieces and with every move a little more than we wanted to see was showing. Her moves were definitely reminiscent of convulsing and it got to the point where when she would get on the dance floor, everyone would get off the dance floor...whew! Overall it was a nice reception and I got to dance with Kirsten a bit here and there and even got to dance with my 2nd cousin Abby, for being so young she is a pretty good dancer...I had to let her lead because compared to her I didn't know what I was doing!
We got up pretty early the next morning to drive down to Providence, RI and catch a flight back to get to work. After having more than enough time before our flight and stopping for Dunkin Donuts in the terminal we got to our gate to find out there was an earlier flight to Baltimore and ended up getting the last two seats on that flight and got in early. It was a whirlwind trip for sure but was fun and the Cape is definitely someplace I would like to visit again sometime soon.
More to come tomorrow with a training update and pre Mountain Mama run down. This post is a little long as it is ;)
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