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Monument Valley, Navajo Nation<\/p><\/div>Our motorcycle adventure begins\u2026.<\/p>\n
On Monday 6 September, my next-door neighbor drove me to the airport.<\/p>\n
The check-in was…
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\n…super easy. I was even served by a real human in the priority check-in line for my airline. With all the travel I did for work over 42 years, I am a “million miler” (actually, 2 million but who\u2019s counting?) gives me lifetime priority standing.<\/p>\n
That status also got me a free upgrade to first class 3 days ago.<\/p>\n
I checked a bag and carried another one in which I packed things like my cameras and spare batteries, helmet, and other items I would not want to risk getting lost.<\/p>\n
I also have TSA Pre-check, which facilitates getting through security easily. I can keep my clothes on (ha) including my boots and belt.<\/p>\n
Ten minutes after being dropped off, I was at the gate. Two hours early.<\/p>\n
My only complaint \u2014 wearing a mask fogged up my reading glasses. It took a while to adjust things so I could read an \u201cairplane read\u201d that I brought from my husband’s \u201cairplane books\u201d library.<\/p>\n
My flight to the connecting airport left 3 minutes early. We got there 20 minutes early.<\/p>\n
I made my way to the gate for my flight to Las Vegas. Almost as soon as I got there, my riding partner “S” showed up. We caught up and discussed lots of things, including our trip plans.<\/p>\n
“S” also had a first class seat, and I arranged to be seated next to him. Our flight was on time and actually arrived early.<\/p>\n
Wonders of wonders \u2014 we were fed a meal that I actually could eat. No frilly-fancy crap from chef du airline cuisine<\/em>. A simple turkey sandwich and edible sides. Who\u2019da thunk?<\/p>\n I took a nap, read my book, chatted with “S”, and four hours later, we arrived.<\/p>\n Thinking that we\u2019d need to eat some grub for dinner, and knowing that our hotel did not have a restaurant and none were within walking distance (especially at 108F!), we bought some subs at the airport. We decided to take them with us and eat at the hotel.<\/p>\n LV Airport is old and a long, long, LONG slug of a walk, plus a rinky-dink train, to get to baggage claim.<\/p>\n Our bags arrived and were almost first out the chute.<\/p>\n We found a taxi, got to the hotel, checked in… and I was in bed fast asleep by 7pm! <\/p>\n