Monday, the 24th, was a comedy of errors as far as our flight. Bob was unable to travel to Grand Junction Colorado, so Ricky remained behind to stay with his dad, while Mateo, Marluce and I headed to the airport. From before we even left home, our flight was delayed by 45 minutes. Okay – no problem as we had an almost 2 hour layover in Phoenix. So, 1:45 passes us by and then 2:15 and I am thinking, boy our layover is getting fairly short! At 2:40, we are moved to another gate to board a different flight to Phoenix. As we are landing with 7 minutes before the boarding gate is closed on our connection, the flight attendant asks everyone who is not connecting to stay seated as we are all running out of the plane to get to our gate. With one minute to spare, we make it. We taxi out to the runway and then stop and wait…and wait … and then the Captain announces that he received an error message on the plane’s computer and maintenance people are on their way so we wait and wait and 2 guys come on board and check this and that and then they leave and we are thinking “woo hoo”. Well, we woo-hoo’d way too early. After the men leave and the stairs are pulled back up and we are getting ready to take off, Captain has other ideas. He announces that we have to go back to the terminal and we will sit on the plane while some other mechanics surmised the situation. A fuse. We needed a new little fuse. A short time later, we were on our way – although, since this was the 2nd attempt at take-off, the enthusiasm had waned somewhat. As we settled in the air at 30,000 feet, Mateo and Marluce played on their iPads (Yes, the each have one and Mateo won them both at different events). Once in a while you could hear their voices and a little giggle. Just good kids having a little fun.
This smaller jet has much more engine noise than the bigger ones, so any conversations were muffled, as if they were whispering. Captain announces that he is beginning the descent into Grand Junction and clapping follows. I like a grateful crowd. Just as the first wheel touches down, Mateo, not realizing the volume of his voice after such a noisy plane ride, exclaims (okay – he yells!) PREPARE FOR LANDING!!! And then comments on how he didn’t realize that his voice got so loud. Several passengers joined me in laughter.
I will admit to the embarrassing confession that I have never rented a car myself up until age 62. The hubs always handles these things and I have not minded one bit that I have been spoiled for my many years of marriage. Off we go in a 2015 Nissan Altima with key-less ignition. Zippy little thing and if I could, I would pack it up and take it home!! So, back to our day … We arrive at the Marriott’s Spring Hill Suites in beautiful downtown Grand Junction, facing Main Street and all the beautifully lit trees ready for the holidays.
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