Monday, February 20, 2006
Chapter 4: Nothing Is Ever Easy
0805. “Well folks, we are on a taxiway and we have gone past the point to where we could turn around. The aircraft in front of us is disabled, so we’ll just have to wait here until they can move it.”
0820. We start moving again, and pass by a United British Aerospace jet being attended to by a fire truck. So, it could be worse.
0822. We are holding short of 35R-17L. I see four aircraft lined up for the approach. “Folks, we are holding short of a runway and the tower isn’t letting us cross yet. We should be moving again soon.”
0836. We are still holding short of 35R-17L. The last airplane is rolling out… to the 8000 foot turnoff.
0838. We are taxiing. The flight comes to rest at the gate finally at about 0845.
0910. I am off to see if Alamo will be renting us a car, or not.
0915. Not.
0920. I am heading back to the terminal. Marybeth has the luggage and is headed for the other car rental agency.
0925. I catch up to them. We get the car – I upgrade to a minivan-like Pacifica and we are on our way to Snowmass at 0945. The car has 383 total miles on it, and the new arrangement costs me $50 more than the arrangements I had made in October. The car is All-Wheel Drive. I feel some sense of consumer retribution.
We reach East Dillon at 1045. Burger King is closed. We press on. The kids are sleeping. A few more exits and we get off at Dillon for a drive thru snack, cocoa and personal needs break. The restaurant is closed, so we go to the gas station. We are back on the road to Snowmass.
It’s snowing in the mountains. I am able to maintain 35-55 mph speeds depending upon the curvature and slope of the highway. There are about 2 inches of snow on the road.
We arrived in Snowmass at 100am on Monday, the 20th of February. We started at 0430 on Saturday the 18th….
I am starting to rethink the practical options of flying from Virginia to Denver. It’s about 12 hours, in a 172, 16-18 with stops. Obviously, something with a little more speed and payload would make this very possible.
0820. We start moving again, and pass by a United British Aerospace jet being attended to by a fire truck. So, it could be worse.
0822. We are holding short of 35R-17L. I see four aircraft lined up for the approach. “Folks, we are holding short of a runway and the tower isn’t letting us cross yet. We should be moving again soon.”
0836. We are still holding short of 35R-17L. The last airplane is rolling out… to the 8000 foot turnoff.
0838. We are taxiing. The flight comes to rest at the gate finally at about 0845.
0910. I am off to see if Alamo will be renting us a car, or not.
0915. Not.
0920. I am heading back to the terminal. Marybeth has the luggage and is headed for the other car rental agency.
0925. I catch up to them. We get the car – I upgrade to a minivan-like Pacifica and we are on our way to Snowmass at 0945. The car has 383 total miles on it, and the new arrangement costs me $50 more than the arrangements I had made in October. The car is All-Wheel Drive. I feel some sense of consumer retribution.
We reach East Dillon at 1045. Burger King is closed. We press on. The kids are sleeping. A few more exits and we get off at Dillon for a drive thru snack, cocoa and personal needs break. The restaurant is closed, so we go to the gas station. We are back on the road to Snowmass.
It’s snowing in the mountains. I am able to maintain 35-55 mph speeds depending upon the curvature and slope of the highway. There are about 2 inches of snow on the road.
We arrived in Snowmass at 100am on Monday, the 20th of February. We started at 0430 on Saturday the 18th….
I am starting to rethink the practical options of flying from Virginia to Denver. It’s about 12 hours, in a 172, 16-18 with stops. Obviously, something with a little more speed and payload would make this very possible.
# posted by Bob @ 1:23 PM 
