Escaping the deep freeze

After the blizzard on Monday in Chicago, blue skies greeted me as I woke up on Tuesday.  Time to make my escape back to Texas.  We made it easily to Midway Airport, but that’s when some minor problems began.  It seems that just about all the flights out had been cancelled on Monday, so the place was packed with thousands of travelers trying to leave.  That meant super long lines at the luggage check-in and the security check area.  Like at Hobby Airport in Houston, I was sent to the pre-screened line that was much shorter.

When I told them I had bionic hip parts, I was sent to a different line for a scan, but was assured I wouldn’t have to take off my shoes or take the laptop out of my backpack.  Hah!  I tried to tell the security guy there that I had a metal hip and would need to go through the circular scanner, but he insisted I just walk through the regular scanner.  Of course, the alarms went off, and he shouted at the top of his lungs that I had set off the alarm.  Things went downhill after that. 

A crabby female guard approached me to ask where my belongings were.  As I attempted to show her the bins that were mine after going through the x-ray machine, she screamed at me not to touch my own things.  I was then led to another area and chastised for still having my shoes on.  I tried to explain about the pre-check line, but she wouldn’t listen.  She also made me take the computer out of the backpack and send it through the x-ray once again.  As someone else whisked away my shoes, I had to stand straddle legged with my arms extended palms up to endure a full body pat down.  I guess I must look like a terrorist. 

There was another elderly gentleman next to me that was receiving the same treatment because of his belt buckle.  I understand about security issues, but really, was this rude treatment needed?  It was a far cry from my experience at Hobby Airport in Texas.  As I was finally, gruffly, allowed to put on my shoes, sweater, and coat again, another man standing nearby said they seemed to be targeting seniors that day.  They had given him a hassle too after telling him to leave his keys in his pocket, and then coming down on him for it.  Sheesh!  By this time, my flight was already boarding.  Of course, I made a wrong turn in my effort to find a bathroom before the flight.  There was a line six ladies long just to get into the restroom, so I just reversed, and eventually found my gate in the knick of time.

The flight was jam packed, and due to technical difficulties, Wi-Fi was not available on the flight.  Normally, this wouldn’t bother me one bit, but I was supposed to check out a different cell phone that Dennis gave me while on the flight.  I’ll post about that some other time.  Anyway, I finally made it to Houston, and started to peel off layers of clothes as it was 79* when we landed.  Wahoo!  I had escaped the freezing temperatures.

When I started this post, I was going to talk about what I did today, but it seems this post is long enough.  I guess I’ll have to cover that tomorrow.  I really enjoyed my trip overall, but it sure felt good to pick up Emma from the kennel and arrive back home.  I think she was happy too, as she passed out as soon as we got back in the rig.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy