On to L. A.

No need to hurry this morning, so we meet at 9AM for the shuttle to the airport. But for some reason we take a looooong time to get in the air, it is 11 before we blast off. In the meantime, it is the loveliest of mornings. Clear blue sky, cool temps, the wind has stopped. As we are running the engines up, three fighter jets taxi by after landing. As they pass, each young pilot swivels in his seat and salutes our grand old lady....Peggy and I tear up.
I will pause here to say that Peggy is my new best friend. We each know the other's life story and we have parallels, a man we loved and left to marry the secure one which did not work out, a reunion with the first man, a much younger sibling and others too numerous to name. We are thinking the same thoughts, one starts to say something and the other finishes or the first one just stops mid sentence as she knows the other one understands already. We have a level of understanding that is uncanny for the short time we have known one another.
After take off, she and I are instantly hungry and get into the snacks. Gene comes back to check on us and gets into the food too. We never know when our next meal will be and sure enough it is nine hours later. We are going to fly high today to check our engine performance at high altitude and so we nestle in under our blankets. The terrain is different today. The color scheme is beige, taupe and black with occasional white salt deposits. Once I saw an area of blue tinge. Again very dry and more mountains. And even fewer signs of human habitation.
When we get into California, there is a lot more green, even on the mountains. We go over Palm Springs and see many golf courses. There are also snow capped mountains. Then we are in wall to wall humanity. Ick~ sure wouldn't want to live here. Zane offers one of us a seat in the cockpit for landing and I send Peggy. Dave Buffington is in the left seat.
Then the fun begins. Steve calls L.A. a logic free zone. There are a series of odd maneuvers that I do not understand. Steep descents, climbs and a circle over the ocean before finally landing. I find out that air traffic control brought us in way, way too high and a missed approach was declared. They again demanded the same altitude but the plane was unable to get that high that quickly before the next approach and so we go in 1000 feet lower, but still too high. It is a strain on the old plane and on the engines. We taxi to the old American Airlines hanger where the plane will be kept overnight.
And the guys are hot and bothered. They are really upset, buzzing around like hornets. Meanwhile there is quite a contingent of American managerial types and ground crew around the plane. And after some finagling, we get backed partially into a hanger. We have been assigned a TSA agent to watch us...we are told that if one of us goes to the bathroom, then all must go as we all must be within her sight at all times. (Peggy and I have already gone to the bathroom unescorted before the agent arrived) Ya'll this is what the Land of the Free has become, a bureaucratic nightmare. Then the baggage is unloaded and the cleaning begins. Peggy and I work on the interior, stowing things out of sight, putting the display pictures out and generally spiffing, while the men seriously work on the outside. They are all over the plane, cleaning, buffing and polishing. We are told that the Chancellor of China will be on hand tomorrow, maybe the CEO of American, the mayor, maybe the governor.
We then load up again and are driven to a gate where we enter and then exit the terminal and catch a bus to our hotel. On the way we stop at the Southwest gate and pick up Zane's wife, DeAnne, and her sister, Mary who will continue on to San Francisco with us. American Airlines is putting us up at the Embassy Suites where they overnight their crews. The hotel is mission style, beautifully landscaped on the exterior. The entrance is all tile and decor and flowers. The atrium is the same but with the addition of falling water and fish ponds filled with fish, turtles and ducks. Our rooms are true suites with living and sleeping areas. A sink and vanity in the room as well as the bath. A door to the atrium and a balcony on the other side. Really, nice.
The gang meets for happy hour and then for dinner in the restaurant. Today is our 13th wedding anniversary and Steve orders champagne for the occasion. We have a very, very good meal with excellent service and much laughter and several toasts. We know we are getting road weary as when DeAnne and Mary ask questions about the trip, we cannot remember. Where are we, how did we get here, what day is it? Somehow the subject of the Seven Dwarfs come up and we can only name six, in spite of singing the song.
Zane finally nails it: Bashful.
At the meal's end we are surprised that Steve and Peggy have ordered a molten chocolate cake with ice cream for us. We pass it around for all to have bites. Steve has also insisted on paying for our dinner. He is a great guy and a new good friend also.
Pick up is not until 10 on Tuesday. We have been needing to wash clothes and so I rise at 6 and get it done as the next days in S.F. will be hectic from what we have been told. The tension of the day is whether we will have to go through airport security to get back to the plane as we all have non regulation things in our bags. We are told that it will be handled and hope this is correct. So now it is SHOWTIME.