Almost United Airlines
In late January, Meredith, Pam and I flew to California for Witney [Jack and Shannon Kline's baby girl] and Luke's wedding. We had problems from the git-go. Meredith was flying out of Fargo, Pam and I out of Bismarck. Our itinerary called for us to meet in Denver, the hub of United Airlines, and continue to Santa Barbara, CA. When we landed in Denver and approached the gate for our next flight, Pam was told she did not have a seat assignment--and the plane was leaving in six minutes! Somehow, they scrambled and found her a seat. "Our daughter is supposed to be on this flight with us," we told the gal who was shooing us down the steps toward the departure door. "Can't help that," she said. "You have to go NOW or you'll miss the flight." We O.J.'d downstairs and saw a long line of people with their carry-on luggage. Figuring they were on another flight, we pushed our way to the front of the line. "Excuse me. Sorry. Can we get through? Excuse me." At the front of the line, a fellow with ear protectors around his neck said this was the line for the flight to Santa Barbara. We trudged to the back of the line, avoiding eye contact with our fellow passengers. "At least, the plane is still here and Meredith should be able to join us," we thought. My phone buzzed. "My flight out of Fargo was late, but we've landed and we're at gate 58." Pam and I were standing at gate 63 so she was only a hundred yards away, tops. But for reasons known only to United, passengers were delayed in disembarking Mere's plane. We were in our seats aboard the jet when a desperate Mere told us she was standing at the gate inside the terminal but they would not let her on the flight. I checked and there was an empty seat in front of me. The door to the plane was still open and we had told the flight attendant about Mere's situation. To her credit, I think the flight attendant tried to delay departure briefly. But the "gatekeeper" inside told Mere the plane's door was closed and would not let her on. Mere told her she was talking to me and the door was NOT closed. No dice.
The terminal at the Santa Barbara airport
We flew to Santa Barbara, arriving around 7:30 p.m. Mere caught a flight to San Francisco, then another to Santa Barbara, arriving at midnight. A 90-minute drive north and we checked into our motel in Pismo Beach.
The next morning, the men had breakfast at Huckleberry's. Then Jack and I drove north along the coast and took some photos of the surf.
The ladies were
"having their nails done" for the big whoop-dee so we had some free time.
We stopped at the Monarch Butterfly Grove
in Pismo State Beach. The butterflies were abundant but I did not get any
good close-ups. The photo above is from the state park website. Mere
was a bridesmaid and attending rehearsal, so Pam and I drove around wine country
east and north of Pismo Beach. I got lost, despite our sometimes
functioning GPS unit [$10.95 per day--thank you very much], but took some photos
of deer and vineyards at sunset. We then drove to the San Luis Obispo
airport where we traded in our GPS unit for another. In town, we had an
excellent meal at Classic Thai.
The
next morning, we headed back into the Edna Valley and visited two wineries.
Our first stop was the Wolff Winery where we sampled six wines and I bought a
deep red. Our host demonstrated the effect of aerating wine before
tasting. Even to my less-than-acute wine-tasting buds, the difference was
dramatic. I described the aerated version as more buttery than the first.
"More velvety?" our host inquired. "Yes," I quickly agreed, thinking I'd
probably insulted his wine-making family with my buttery reference.
Next, we stopped
at Baileyana's Winery just a couple of miles up the road where we chatted with a
Minnesota transplant and former flight attendant.
Then it was time to get back to the motel and get gussied up for the 4:30 p.m. wedding.