I could have driven home faster

Single Rider Tour 2008 — part six in a series

So you may recall that when I ended my last post, I was waiting to board my flight home. My flight was scheduled to originally depart LAX at 6:00 p.m. but Air Traffic Control up in San Francisco had issued a ground stop, or something like that (I'm not up on all that fancy-schmancy flying lingo). Well they ended up getting us on the plane by about 6:45 p.m. and within minutes of sealing the door and pulling away from the gate we were informed that SFO was re-issuing the halt for all inbound flights. How long were we going to have to wait? SFO wasn't saying.

There we sat, on the tarmac, watching our satellite TV (when it was working), and waiting for the green light to get home. I should mention that this was my first time flying Virgin America and I just so happened to be one of the first people to be seated in their brand new "Main Cabin Select" class of seats. How was it? I'll post a review of it in a few days. But overall I really have to say that Virgin America has the nicest planes; they don't smell like stale coffee and vomit yet.

Around 8:30 the captain gets on the PA system to let us know that SFO isn't giving them a clear answer as to whether or not the ground halt has been lifted, but even if it is, there are a bunch of other flights that waiting to land so they have plenty of other flights that are due in before we can even think of taking off. The waiting continues. While many other travelers are starting to freak out about the delay, I remain calm. It makes no sense in a situation like that to get all worked up. ATC doesn't feel it's safe for planes to land, and I appreciate that decision because I know they're doing it to keep me alive.

An hour later we finally get confirmation that we are cleared for departure and being taxiing to the runway for takeoff. And then, in a twisted moment of deja-vu we get word that we're being ask to hold. Again. At this point, even I'm getting restless. And I'm getting worried that my car, parked at the San Bruno BART station might be towed as my long term parking permit will expire at midnight.

We finally take to the sky around 10:30. We land smoothly about an hour later. By midnight I've claimed my luggage and wearily head to the SFO AirTrain to take me to the transfer station to catch the BART train back to my car. I arrive at the station to find that the BART station gates are closed and the station is closed. Crap. I'm totally confused as the BART website indicated that the train I needed would be running into the early morning. My only option is to take a taxi to my car. But getting back to the terminal would prove to me trickier as the AirTrain that would normally do that was taken offline for the night and the SFO facilities people gave me bad instructions on how to get back to the terminal. An hour after I've landed and I'm still no closer to getting to my car than when I first landed.

A $20 cab ride later I'm finally at my car. It's 1:30 a.m. and I've still got an hour long drive home ahead of me. And laundry after that. But, I'm alive. Though I'm not sure I'll be mentally alive at work in a couple of hours.