"Whatever, let's just go"

I've been lucky enough to fly a considerable amount in my life. I don't remember the glory days of flying pre-9/11 since I was only 8 at the time, but I do remember yesterday, and boy did I feel glorious.

I'm a big fan of comedian Louis CK's, "Everything's amazing, and nobody's happy" rant from a few years back. The worst part of flying for me has always been security. I have no reason to be nervous, it's not like I have anything to hide from TSA, but that doesn't stop me from shaking all the way through the line. The whole process just seems so unnatural. I check my bags for sharp objects at least 3 times before leaving because I can't imagine the absolute terror of hearing an agent say "I'm sorry sir, you can't bring this $1 pair of scissors on board with you today, I'm going to have to keep this..."  

This time was different though. There was no line so I didn't have time to get nervous (this made Papa K mad because he had been given a special pass to skip to the front of the line.) I exchanged words with 3 different TSA agents, all 3 made jokes and were quite friendly. All around, good experience.

The plane from Detroit to Minneapolis was tiny, but every seat was filled. The plane from Detroit to San Jose was huge, but every seat was empty. I'm not one to complain about leg room on a flight because I never have enough leg room in classes, movie theaters, cars, bathrooms, beds, roller coasters, or anywhere else. I'm used to it. That being said, I got lucky this time and was very grateful. The first flight we sat in the first row, with extra leg room, and the second flight I moved back to the exit row which had the seat in front of it taken out.

It was icy when we left Detroit so we had to wait a bit for them to de-ice the plane. At one point the pilot went outside to look at something on the plane, only to return with the reassuring words of "Whatever, let's just go." 

We were given 30 minutes of free internet from All State which gave me enough time to start this blog.

90% of the Peanuts and Ginger Ale I've consumed in life have been in the air, but yeah, they were delicious and I felt like I was King of the Clouds.

Landing over the Bay Area late at night was a beautiful scene, and it was nice to be allowed to keep my phone on (in Airplane mode) and put some background music (Beck's new album) to the breathtaking views.

We picked up the rental car and took a quick detour towards the wrong 636 Spring Street before heading to Santa Cruz. This made my travel companion a little unhappy since driving through the mountains makes him nervous, but it was nothing Jack in the Box couldn't fix.

 

It was nearing 3am eastern time once we finished eating the delicious beef paste tacos, so we were ready to get some sleep. The only thing standing in our way was a 2 story climb to the unlocked back door. 

And then one more climb when I accidentally locked us out again...