Can I carry your bags?…. this is a question I get asked over and over……
"Sure" but it’s not as glamorous as it sounds….. take this morning for instance.
I’m a stickler for having everything planned and ready the night before I leave…. my plane was due to leave at 9.10 am… I figured I would leave the hotel at 6.45…
I woke at 4.00 am and couldn’t get back to sleep so I got up and worked on the computer….
Now Tom Tom (GPS) was going to show me how to get the 8 miles to the airport…. in fact I had driven past there some 4 times.
The luggage fitted nicely into the mustang… it has a surprisingly big trunk for a sports car…and I was going to be sad to give it up. Some 5 miles into the trip I realized I was going the wrong way…. I ended up at a municipal airport because I had put in the wrong address. No problems turn around… and go back to the hotel and retrace you steps Pamela… the fact that the traffic on the 8 lane highway was building to a crescendo was of little concern now my schedule was jiggered….
I drove through an exit and gave out a loud Australian expletive……S…t!!!!   I was stuck on a toll road.  I drove two miles until I found a service station and I went in and asked for the correct address of the Airport.
Several of the girls tittered behind the counter…. I don’t know if it was my orange shirt or the stress in my accented voice.
You have to drive 20 miles south, then come back and the airport is 2 miles past that road…..
Gees I was only 2 miles away and yet I had to drive 43 miles to get there…..
I took off, watching the clock…. and finally got to the toll booth…. the kind lady smiled much nicer than the twittering girls… just go to the lights and go back she said kindly…. but I did have to pay the toll.
Panic began to rise. Tom Tom was so nicely spoken… however his well modulated voice didn’t calm my fear of missing the plane.  I’m afraid I was doing 80 +in a 65 zone….. (well so were the other cars, I was just keeping up with them)
Yes, I made it…. I gave back the mustang and ran to the check in and just had to time to buy a coffee before boarding. It was a close shave I can assure you….
At least I sat next to a really nice Pilot and we had a great chat….and I drew a little….
My host picked me up and I accepted the offer of lunch after no breakky and a stressful trip.
Now I have a coffee by my side, Handel playing in the background, the shoes are off, the computer is set up and I have to finish an endorsement and class preparation this afternoon…..
I’ve had a few heart starters like that this trip….. still want to carry the bags?