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walkitoutI got up early and got breakfast for A. from downstairs (chocolate chip muffin). I packed up food that I felt I could bring home and abandoned the rest (there wasn’t much left, really — partial jars of peanut butter and jelly, mostly). We got dressed. I checked out on the BonVoy app, told the woman at the desk we had done so and which room and we drove over to C.’s to collect hugs and T. I _should_ have realized, as we were dodging rain to get out to the van, that we should check the weather and think about its probably impact on our flight. But I didn’t. This would have been the ideal moment to reverse course, un-check out, and go back to the room and back to bed for a few hours.
We drove through a horrible rainstorm to the airport. This is probably where we realistically could have figured out what was coming, but did not. I mean, I was wondering about the drive. Why wasn’t I wondering about the flights?
There was an incredible line to return rental cars. Again, a sign.
The McDonald’s at the food court was still only serving breakfast, so we proceeded (with DD) through packed security to the food court on the other side of the tram. There, I pointed everyone at an open bench, got their orders and waited in a Very Long Line at the BK. I _should_ have gone up, scanned the code, and mobile ordered. I tried downloading the BK app, but it would not let me order from that place so I gave up. Later, I saw someone do the code scan mobile order and collect his food early. Oh well! Our orders were created correctly. We had company across a table, but they were masked and vaccinated and very welcoming, so we were able to eat seated and comfortably (more or less — it is not set up there for dining, and everything is bolted down). We were running late, but then our flight was delayed a half hour. Perfect! Or so we thought.
The airport diverted flights to other airports because of thunderstorms. Our flight landed in Jacksonville, and then needed a new crew. We were pinned down at our gate (which later stopped being our gate, but they were clear that we did not have to move, which is a saving grace — at least everyone once seated stayed put, instead of constantly mingling) in a not socially distanced way. Virtually everyone was always wearing their mask correctly, if they were not actively eating or drinking. But it was crowded by pre-pandemic standards as the airport dealt with big crowds going home after a week in Florida (Massachusetts April vacation week is a Thing), and then that was trebled by weather delays.
Our flight ultimately lifted almost exactly 5 hours after scheduled departure time. Total time between when we got out of our rental car to when we walked onto our level of the parking garage on the other side was over 10 hours. Time at the gate was at least half that. It’s hard to imagine that NOT being a superspreader event, but I keep looking for coverage of it anywhere and so far not finding it. It may never be detected, as a superspreader event, because people were going to states other than Massachusetts — and other countries — as well.
I said going into this trip that I was not at all worried about the airport / airplane parts of the trip; I figured those would be fine.
I was wrong.
We got home, unpacked. I pulled the sourdough crock out of the deep freeze and put it back on the counter to thaw. I put the Sunbasket food away (cold packs still completely solid, so the fish seems fine) and processed through the mail. I pulled the things I had moved from the fridge to the freezer prior to departure out of the freezer and put them back in the fridge. (I also cleaned a veggie drawer. Ew.) I drove A. over to the rock at Lalli Terrace, and the rock at the corner of Charter and Mass Ave, where you can easily collect a bunch of useful stuff in Pokemon Go (no way was I walking over there after 9 pm at night, punchy from a day of travel). I got her to bed, made a drink, and then went to sleep.
We drove through a horrible rainstorm to the airport. This is probably where we realistically could have figured out what was coming, but did not. I mean, I was wondering about the drive. Why wasn’t I wondering about the flights?
There was an incredible line to return rental cars. Again, a sign.
The McDonald’s at the food court was still only serving breakfast, so we proceeded (with DD) through packed security to the food court on the other side of the tram. There, I pointed everyone at an open bench, got their orders and waited in a Very Long Line at the BK. I _should_ have gone up, scanned the code, and mobile ordered. I tried downloading the BK app, but it would not let me order from that place so I gave up. Later, I saw someone do the code scan mobile order and collect his food early. Oh well! Our orders were created correctly. We had company across a table, but they were masked and vaccinated and very welcoming, so we were able to eat seated and comfortably (more or less — it is not set up there for dining, and everything is bolted down). We were running late, but then our flight was delayed a half hour. Perfect! Or so we thought.
The airport diverted flights to other airports because of thunderstorms. Our flight landed in Jacksonville, and then needed a new crew. We were pinned down at our gate (which later stopped being our gate, but they were clear that we did not have to move, which is a saving grace — at least everyone once seated stayed put, instead of constantly mingling) in a not socially distanced way. Virtually everyone was always wearing their mask correctly, if they were not actively eating or drinking. But it was crowded by pre-pandemic standards as the airport dealt with big crowds going home after a week in Florida (Massachusetts April vacation week is a Thing), and then that was trebled by weather delays.
Our flight ultimately lifted almost exactly 5 hours after scheduled departure time. Total time between when we got out of our rental car to when we walked onto our level of the parking garage on the other side was over 10 hours. Time at the gate was at least half that. It’s hard to imagine that NOT being a superspreader event, but I keep looking for coverage of it anywhere and so far not finding it. It may never be detected, as a superspreader event, because people were going to states other than Massachusetts — and other countries — as well.
I said going into this trip that I was not at all worried about the airport / airplane parts of the trip; I figured those would be fine.
I was wrong.
We got home, unpacked. I pulled the sourdough crock out of the deep freeze and put it back on the counter to thaw. I put the Sunbasket food away (cold packs still completely solid, so the fish seems fine) and processed through the mail. I pulled the things I had moved from the fridge to the freezer prior to departure out of the freezer and put them back in the fridge. (I also cleaned a veggie drawer. Ew.) I drove A. over to the rock at Lalli Terrace, and the rock at the corner of Charter and Mass Ave, where you can easily collect a bunch of useful stuff in Pokemon Go (no way was I walking over there after 9 pm at night, punchy from a day of travel). I got her to bed, made a drink, and then went to sleep.