Spoiled...

I admit it: I'm spoiled. We took a flight out of Phoenix today... left the coach 3 hours early for a 3 hour flight. You never know what the traffic will be like for the 25 minute (normally) drive to the airport. You're supposed to check in 2 hours early. Then stand in line to get undressed and go through security, then hope to find a seat at the gate... where you will wait for another hour and 45 minutes.

We were a bit late getting out... seems we didn't have a crew for the airplane. "Hey, anyone here know how to fly a 737?" ;-)

The flight itself was fine; Southwest still makes you stand in line a couple times before you get on the plane, then you hope to find two seats together... unless you pay an extra $10 each to "check in" early... and you'll still stand in line a couple times.

There was snow on the mountains on the way north, when we could see between the clouds. Only partly cloudy as we made our approach into SeaTac... a rare bit of sunshine. I like to think I brought that with me, but I know it won't last.

The luggage came fairly expeditiously, only a 25 minute wait. Then, we schlepped the luggage outside to wait for a rental car bus... and waited another 25 minutes. The rental rate on the car (looking to get the least expensive option) was $67 for the 5 days we'll be using it... then add on the taxes (not the insurance)... a fuel charge (bring the car back empty and it's not a bad deal)... and that total comes to... $188. Seriously? The car is a Chevy Speck; no, not really - it's an Aveo. That's an old Indian term that means: car made from tin foil and a moped motor. My fault - I did say, "the least expensive option." Seriously, the glove box on Big Red has more room in it than this little popcorn fart of a car.

The iPad found our way to the hotel, where we waited in line for... any guesses? Yep, about 25 minutes. It's a nice place, but there were two couple in front of us and only one person at the front desk... until it was our turn, then they added another person at the desk.

Oh, the spoiled part? We used to fly everywhere, get rental cars, and stay in nice hotels. It's been a while since we've had to do that... traveling by boat or RV is so much easier: you only pack once, you have all your stuff with you, your own potty, kitchen, seating, and bed. And, you can use any of those amenities while enroute.

Traveling this way reminds me of how spoiled I've become. Flying isn't fun anymore; hell, it isn't even interesting. People-watching while in line showed darn few people with smiles on their face. We're here for some fun stuff (boat show, C-Brat gathering, and some "recon" for this summer), but the getting here was more of a chore than a pleasure. Yep, I'm spoiled.