Do You Know the Way to San Jose

The title of this blog comes from the 1968 Dionne Warwick song, that was sung by a girl, about four or five years old as I traveled the shuttle bus from the San Jose Airport to Enterprise Rent-a-Car. This will be a quick update from the trip, with a more in-depth blog coming, at some point.

I arose at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, with a wakeup call and alarm set for 4:00. It must have been the nerves of not missing my flight. A big disadvantage...no coffee in my hotel room! I had considered finding a McDonald's or Starbucks in Peoria before hitting the airport, but decided otherwise and went straight there.

I got the shuttle as the driver was making his first rounds, saying he starts his shift at 4:30 a.m. It was shortly after. A couple in their 30's were also on the shuttle, and had a conversation about the benefits of first shift over second shift. The passenger said second shift is the perfect time for alcoholics to work, because you have no life working those times. Normally, I work first AND second shift, LOL.

The American (or United) desks were lined with people, and not a soul over at the Delta desk, not even a worker there. An employee said I could do the self check-in, I did, and it was very simple. Going through security, I forgot to take my belt off, woops. My toothpaste was also too large, so as I sit and type this in my San Francisco hotel room, I need to find somewhere close to grab some.

Then, a long wait. It ended up being a little bit later than the scheduled departure time, but not too much later, maybe five minutes. I boarded my connection flight from Peoria to Minneapolis, my first time ever boarding an airplane.

At first I thought it would be a piece of cake, not nerve wracking at all. I have ridden in a hot air balloon, and that is tiny quarters with no walls. But....I was going to be traveling 30,000 feet in the air. Maybe this will be different.

My co-worker Greg Ford told me to bring gum, due to the popping ears. I did, and glad I did. I didn't know what to think, and mind was racing. I was trying to immerse myself in the book I brought along, "The Art of Sportscasting" by Tom Hedrick. It didn't work. The flight was only about an hour, and I was pretty shaky the entire time. I was certainly out of my comfort zone.

I was fortunate to sit in the back of the plane, at least that's what I wanted. I was in the second from last row, and as I sat down and looked at the seat next to me, realized this could be a very crammed flight. As I saw a woman walking back wearing an "I Love Barbecue" shirt, I crossed my fingers. She sat down a row ahead of me, phew. I was alone, thankfully, because there wasn't much....no, any elbow room.

Looking out over the land, I understand why they call it the "Land of 10,000 Lakes". Once we landed, I had to hike a mile, it seemed, across the Minneapolis airport. I took two escalators, and a TRAM to reach gate F5. It was only about a 20-minute wait before boarding Delta Flight 2185. That blog coming soon....