I recently returned from a trip to and from Yellowstone. It took 6 days for a trip that would have taken me about 8 hours had I driven it myself. But who wants to drive when they can take several Amtrak trains to get there instead?? :lol: I had an intinerary that The Traveler would approve of. :lol:
The trip began with a flight from Spokane to Denver and then a flight from Denver to Midway in Chicago on August 2nd. My flight to Denver left Spokane at 6:20 AM and I had spent the night in a nearby motel rather than drive the 60 miles to the airport in the dark. While beginning the process of going through the TSA rigamarole, I had a very pleasant surprise. As I was standing in line, an agent said that anyone with a Southwest Airlines TSA pre-check notification on their boarding pass could by-pass the long snaking line and basically waltz through. No taking of shoes, belts, etc. Just empty pockets, get a cursory pass through the machines, and that was that. What may have taken 10-15 minutes and include the hassle of taking off belts, shoes, hats, etc and putting them back on took maybe 30 seconds. And since there were so few of us, just a few seconds to be reunited with belongings. I don't know what I did to get on that list, but as I told the agent, "I'm not about to argue!" He replied that he sure wouldn't, either. I wonder if the TSA would be so forgiving if they knew, as a high school lad lo these many years ago, I and a couple of friends went fishing using a pipe bomb.
h34r:
At any rate, the plane was packed, and as I was waiting on board to take off, I noticed out my window that in a nearby parking lot there were about a dozen vehicles with their car alarms going off. Somebody with jumper cables was going to be busy! 
My flight into Denver was early, about the only thing early that would happen on this whole trip. My flight into Chicago was delayed by 35 minutes as the incoming plane we would be flying out on had mechanical issues and we had to wait for another one. After waiting 20 minutes at the baggage carousel in Midwat , we got the announcement that our bags would be arriving at a different carousel. As there were many bags already rotating on it, I had to wonder how many minutes our luggage had been there before they decided to tell us. At any rate, I grabbed my bag, and headed out to catch a cab to the Summit Amtrak stop, where I would ride down to Bloomington-Normal with my uncle, who had ridden to Chicago earlier that day and would ride back with me. As had happened last year, I got a rather surly cabbie who got totally upset with me because I wanted to go to somewhere he'd never heard of. Believe me, it gave me great pleasure to proceed to tell him where to go and how to get there. :giggle: Twice that's happened and I think it will be the last time. Next time I fly into Chicago to meet with my uncle I think I will take the CTA Orange Line from Midway. The hassle of getting luggage down the stairs at Quincy to me sounds more palatable than putting of with jackasses for cabbies. Besides I can splurge for a business class ticket for the Lincoln Service and relax in the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago Union Station for a bit first than rushing out to sit in a shelter at Summit. At any rate, the Lincoln Service train I took was right on time into Summit and I met my uncle there on the train. The trip into Bloomington/Normal was right on time, and we got there with no problems. My uncle lives between Bloomington and Champaign, and he, his two granddaughters, and I were going to leave on the CONO early the next morning out of Champaign to Chicago, where we would board the Southwest Chief. From there, we'd take the CS from Los Angeles to Seattle, and then the EB to East Glacier Park, where we would rent a van and drive to Yellowstone for a few days, after which we would return to East Glacier, where I would return to Spokane via the EB and they to Chicago and (hopefully) make the same day connection with the CONO to Champaign. That was the plan, and it ended up working out just fine, though not without a few unexpected twists and turns along the way. So stay tuned!
next up: August 3-5 City of New Orleans and Southwest Chief.
The trip began with a flight from Spokane to Denver and then a flight from Denver to Midway in Chicago on August 2nd. My flight to Denver left Spokane at 6:20 AM and I had spent the night in a nearby motel rather than drive the 60 miles to the airport in the dark. While beginning the process of going through the TSA rigamarole, I had a very pleasant surprise. As I was standing in line, an agent said that anyone with a Southwest Airlines TSA pre-check notification on their boarding pass could by-pass the long snaking line and basically waltz through. No taking of shoes, belts, etc. Just empty pockets, get a cursory pass through the machines, and that was that. What may have taken 10-15 minutes and include the hassle of taking off belts, shoes, hats, etc and putting them back on took maybe 30 seconds. And since there were so few of us, just a few seconds to be reunited with belongings. I don't know what I did to get on that list, but as I told the agent, "I'm not about to argue!" He replied that he sure wouldn't, either. I wonder if the TSA would be so forgiving if they knew, as a high school lad lo these many years ago, I and a couple of friends went fishing using a pipe bomb.
My flight into Denver was early, about the only thing early that would happen on this whole trip. My flight into Chicago was delayed by 35 minutes as the incoming plane we would be flying out on had mechanical issues and we had to wait for another one. After waiting 20 minutes at the baggage carousel in Midwat , we got the announcement that our bags would be arriving at a different carousel. As there were many bags already rotating on it, I had to wonder how many minutes our luggage had been there before they decided to tell us. At any rate, I grabbed my bag, and headed out to catch a cab to the Summit Amtrak stop, where I would ride down to Bloomington-Normal with my uncle, who had ridden to Chicago earlier that day and would ride back with me. As had happened last year, I got a rather surly cabbie who got totally upset with me because I wanted to go to somewhere he'd never heard of. Believe me, it gave me great pleasure to proceed to tell him where to go and how to get there. :giggle: Twice that's happened and I think it will be the last time. Next time I fly into Chicago to meet with my uncle I think I will take the CTA Orange Line from Midway. The hassle of getting luggage down the stairs at Quincy to me sounds more palatable than putting of with jackasses for cabbies. Besides I can splurge for a business class ticket for the Lincoln Service and relax in the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago Union Station for a bit first than rushing out to sit in a shelter at Summit. At any rate, the Lincoln Service train I took was right on time into Summit and I met my uncle there on the train. The trip into Bloomington/Normal was right on time, and we got there with no problems. My uncle lives between Bloomington and Champaign, and he, his two granddaughters, and I were going to leave on the CONO early the next morning out of Champaign to Chicago, where we would board the Southwest Chief. From there, we'd take the CS from Los Angeles to Seattle, and then the EB to East Glacier Park, where we would rent a van and drive to Yellowstone for a few days, after which we would return to East Glacier, where I would return to Spokane via the EB and they to Chicago and (hopefully) make the same day connection with the CONO to Champaign. That was the plan, and it ended up working out just fine, though not without a few unexpected twists and turns along the way. So stay tuned!
next up: August 3-5 City of New Orleans and Southwest Chief.