Leave the room at 5:45 with Ted. Meet Saundra in the lobby to wait for the shuttle. It’s late.
Victor has done a clinic in nearly every city on the tour. He has signed autographs for hours…. played an incredible show every night… went to bed around 3 every morning… and does it again the next day. Tonight he napped for a few minutes…. and is now in the lobby to see us off. Quite a guy.
Shuttle arrives for the very short ride to the airport. Drop Ted and Saundra and ride alone to Terminal 7. Check in behind a young kid who, apparently, has never used a kiosk before. He moves aside for me before his bag tag prints. The agent takes his bag tag and puts it on my large bag…. which is now headed to Eugene. And I mean NOW. Instead of chasing my bag…the agent argues that I TOLD him I was going to Eugene. Why would I do that when my ticket says I’m going to Syracuse? More arguing. Why would I send one bag to Eugene and the other to Syracuse? Explain that I’m the the side of the counter that pays his salary and he he should be getting my bag. Junior, skateboard in hand, remains clueless. I wait for Super Agent to return. He does…saying he couldn’t get my bag. Tell him that’s unacceptable and send him off again. Complain to his supervisor. Sk8trBoy misses flight. Our man of the minute returns with my bag. Complains that he had to crawl around in the belly of a 737 to get it. Suggest that, perhaps, he shouldn’t have sent it there in the first place. Wish him luck in his new career.
7:00AM….Head to Security. Laptop…vest…shoes…shoulderbag….phone…change…. What a joke. Hand Boarding Pass to TSA guy. TSA guy yells at me to get back behind the line on the floor. As soon as I do…he (loudly) tells me to walk through the metal detector. Avoid cavity search. (I had planned to ask for a female-assist.) Retrieve Laptop…vest…shoes…shoulderbag….phone…change… Smile at TSA guy and wonder where his armband is.
Walk (miles) to the gate….Starbucks… call home…. wait… find a plug to charge laptop…. wait…. board plane….fall asleep before leaving the gate….
Wake as we take off…. nice view of LA from out in the Pacific. Turn on GPS in the seat-back and watch us head East…toward Chicago. Movie starts….I fall back to sleep.
O’Hare is…. O’Hare. Enough time to walk a mile to another terminal and grab lunch. On the plane and off to Syracuse.
Two smiling faces meet me at Baggage Claim…. another meets me outside.
Nice to be home…….
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