Home Away From Home
Nov. 19th, 2022 06:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerThanksgiving '22 Travelog #2
Woodbridge, VA - Sat, 19 Nov 2022, 9am
Three hours. That's the answer to the question I posed in my previous blog. That's how many hours of sleep I got while crammed aboard a 5 hour overnight flight in coach class.
The flight was fairly uneventful. At least during the 2 hours of it I wasn't asleep. It took me a while to nod off because the seating position isn't conducive to falling asleep. And then once I awoke just before 3am California time (6am destination time) I couldn't get back to sleep.
Putting on my headset and listening to my music helped the remaining time go faster. In fact, it was a bit of a revelation to have my tunes going, because they blocked out the ridiculously large number of totally insipid announcements the flight attendants were making on the public address system. I know they were insipid because I dutifully paused my music to get the gist of what they were talking about... most of the time. After their minute-plus infomercial for the United Airlines credit card I decided I know enough about commercial aviation to recognize when something urgent is occurring, and blocked out everything else they had to say. I know the drill on wearing seat belts, staying seated, and being careful when opening the overhead bins.
I continued blocking out insipid stuff while navigating through Dulles Airport. Man, busy airports are a lot more peaceful when you don't hear anything except your own soundtrack. And again the music helped pass the time; getting through Dulles takes a long time because of the way it's laid out.
As a result I didn't get to my rental car until 8:00, after having landed at 7:20. But once I had keys in hand I made good time down to my hotel.
Home Away From Home, I titled this entry. That's what this Courtyard Hotel feels like. Between it and the Springhill Suites next door, I've stayed here more times than I can count. These have been my usual places for staying when I've visited my family 10+ years.
Update: Oops, I forgot to include a picture of my Home Away From Home. It's a few blogs later.
Woodbridge, VA - Sat, 19 Nov 2022, 9am
Three hours. That's the answer to the question I posed in my previous blog. That's how many hours of sleep I got while crammed aboard a 5 hour overnight flight in coach class.
The flight was fairly uneventful. At least during the 2 hours of it I wasn't asleep. It took me a while to nod off because the seating position isn't conducive to falling asleep. And then once I awoke just before 3am California time (6am destination time) I couldn't get back to sleep.
Putting on my headset and listening to my music helped the remaining time go faster. In fact, it was a bit of a revelation to have my tunes going, because they blocked out the ridiculously large number of totally insipid announcements the flight attendants were making on the public address system. I know they were insipid because I dutifully paused my music to get the gist of what they were talking about... most of the time. After their minute-plus infomercial for the United Airlines credit card I decided I know enough about commercial aviation to recognize when something urgent is occurring, and blocked out everything else they had to say. I know the drill on wearing seat belts, staying seated, and being careful when opening the overhead bins.
I continued blocking out insipid stuff while navigating through Dulles Airport. Man, busy airports are a lot more peaceful when you don't hear anything except your own soundtrack. And again the music helped pass the time; getting through Dulles takes a long time because of the way it's laid out.
As a result I didn't get to my rental car until 8:00, after having landed at 7:20. But once I had keys in hand I made good time down to my hotel.
Home Away From Home, I titled this entry. That's what this Courtyard Hotel feels like. Between it and the Springhill Suites next door, I've stayed here more times than I can count. These have been my usual places for staying when I've visited my family 10+ years.
Update: Oops, I forgot to include a picture of my Home Away From Home. It's a few blogs later.
no subject
Date: 2022-11-19 08:11 pm (UTC)If you like airplanes, and air and space history, it's well worth seeing.
no subject
Date: 2022-11-20 01:26 pm (UTC)And unless one has no interest in aviation, a half day is not enough!