Sunday, February 22nd, we had a 6:00 a.m. flight out of Gulfport. Gulfport is about a 45-50 minute drive when traffic conditions are good, which they usually are. I prefer to fly out of Gulfport when I can because the airport is smaller, everything is closer, and it’s 45 miles through the swamp instead of 45 miles through Metro New Orleans to Kenner.
A 6:00 a.m. start was a challenge. We were pretty much packed, but didn’t load the car the night before so we could load up the last couple of things in the morning. We got up at 3:30 a.m. and were out the door by 4:30 a.m., but we were really pushing it.
DH dropped us off at the entrance and I spent five minutes at the wrong counter (Delta vs. Continental). I got in the Continental line. There were only two check-in terminals, and one guy was taking a REALLY long time. By the time we got to the counter we were past the deadline for checking our luggage, but the ticketing agent was able to override the kiosk. One bag was overweight, but it had Mardi Gras beads in the outside pocket. We moved some of those the other bag, which brought the weight down to 49.4 lbs. Whew!
We got to the gate and almost immediately began boarding. The flight to Houston was uneventful. The flight to Portland was, too, although we were sitting in front of an exit row with seats that don’t recline, so after 4.5 hours I was really ready to get off that plane. We picked up the rental car, a Dodge Liberty SUV.
The next phase of our Sunday journey was the road trip. The Columbia River Gorge was absolutely beautiful. Next time we make a trip like this we will plan it out a little better so we can spend some time sightseeing along the way. As it was, we briefly noticed Multnomah Falls, (flickr pic) but it would have been nice to get a closer look. We did not take pictures.
We stopped in Hood River, where we had lunch with my friends Caroline, Catherine and Tom. I had a yummy chicken soup with dee-lish homemade tortillas at a Mexican joint in town. Flan for dessert. Mmmm, flan. Tom and Catherine treated! I had a wonderful time and it was great meeting these long time friends in Real Life for the first time.
The final leg of the trip was the drive from Hood River to Yakima. We drove east on I-84 through The Dalles. Calvin remarked that he didn’t know of any other place in the US that had a definite article as part of the name. Wikipedia explains it all. We crossed through the Cascades over Satus Pass. The Kid was exhausted by the time we got up into the mountains, and we couldn’t even interest him in looking at the snow.
By the time we got to our destination, the swinging hot spot of Yakima, Washington, we were absolutely exhausted. We had been traveling for 14 hours on only 4 hours of sleep. It was a huge relief to say hello to my daughter and her family, give everyone hugs, and head back to our hotel for some sleep.
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