California, here we come

Tuesday was travel day. We got up at 4:30 a.m. for our 6:30 flight out of Harrisburg. We were a bit late leaving, so rather than park in the remote parking, we chose the short term lot, and presumed upon our daughters to retrieve the car later in the day.

We found at check-in that Larry's large suitcase exceeded the weight limit by 8 lbs. leading to a $50 surcharge. So much for packing together to save space. There was a modest line waiting at the security check, but it quickly filled up behind us. There were no surprises there, however, just the routine 3-1-1 reminders (all liquids in the carry on must be 3 oz or less, fit in one 1-qt size Ziploc bag), computer out, shoes off, and all that.

We boarded and left Harrisburg in a timely manner with a short flight to Dulles. We took a shuttle to our departing gate and again, boarded and left Dulles on time with no problems. We did get a phone call from our daughter, Fran, who said that as she drove in the lane to sleep at our place after working overnight, she met heifers coming out. It never fails, it seems. Larry goes away and something happens with the animals. We called the farmer who rents the pasture, and he was soon on his way to get them back in the pasture.

The flight to San Francisco was scheduled to be just over 5 hours. The plane was full. We were served a beverage and tiny little package of two biscuits. Breakfast trays, snack paks and alcohol were available for $5 each. Gone are the days when the airlines provided food to economy class!

There were two movies during the flight, Spiderman III and Shrek something or other. I didn't listen to either, couldn't help but see some of it.

When we got off the plane in San Francisco we learned that the temperature was in the 60's, quite a difference from the mid-90's in PA. I noted with interest that there was a Rosetta Stone kiosk in our concourse. Rosetta also had the back cover ad on the flight magazine from SF to Monterey.

The flight from SF to Monterey was delayed by about an hour. Evidently the morning fog had delayed flights for the rest of the day. The flight was fine, very short. Our checked luggage arrived on the conveyor in good shape. We caught a cab to the Hyatt Regency and checked in. It was about 1 p.m. local time -- 4 p.m. at home and we'd eaten nothing but a couple biscuits and a handful of almonds. Time to find something to eat!