So my bike was finally ready (I hoped) for a ride across Route 66, and I had arranged for my friend Jennie to keep Maizie for me whilst I was tramping across the United States. Jennie lives in SC, however, and I live in NY, so it’s a 13-hour drive to get to her. My plan was to drive there, drop Maizie off, and fly out of the Charleston airport the next day. Returning home from Santa Monica, I would fly back to Charleston, pick up Maizie and drive home. And that’s what happened… sort of…. Here’s the real deal:
June 8
1st Post: Milwaukee bound from Charleston, SC. Dropped Maizie off with Jennie L Cannady and her Boykin crew yesterday and hopping on a mid-morning flight. Be in Milwaukee by 4 p.m. Hate leaving my girl.
2nd post: So I had kind of a weird “other shoe dropping” feeling when I boarded my first flight, and sure enough… it was late pushing back, then we sat on the tarmac with the engines at high rpm for way longer than normal.
Now we are deplaning, which means I will miss my connection in JFK, so God knows when I will actually get to MKE.
Apparently they don’t really have a plan other than let us know what’s going on. Fabulous.
3rd post: Chix on 66 travel update: what a shitshow of a day. Arrived at the Charleston Airport at 9:30 a.m. for an 11:00 flight to connect in JFK to my MKE flight. Supposed to arrive this afternoon around 4 p.m.
After they found a fuel leak, they took us all off the plane with no further information. Eventually they said we would know something in a 1/2 hour. At that point they still had nothing, so they said another hour. At which point they said they would rebook everyone. This was maybe 2 p.m.
The line to rebook was super long, and they were taking about 1/2 hour per passenger. I didn’t even get to the desk till after 4 p.m.
It was after 5 p.m. when I got my new flights.
Now I’m booked on a flight to JFK to connect to Boston Logan tonight. Land about midnight. Then I pick up a 7 a.m. flight tomorrow to Milwaukee. Supposedly they will comp my hotel. Big deal. Can they comp me for the second night of not enough sleep for me to function? Didn’t think so.
None of this would bother me except that I have to be 1000% on for the next 2-1/2 weeks. Guess I will sleep when I get home in late June.
So basically I have been in this airport for over 8 hours and I still haven’t gone anywhere.
4th post: This day just keeps getting better and better. Jammed into the very last row of a full jet. I am extremely claustrophobic and when people stand up to get off the flight it freaks me out because they take up ALL the space. Jesus take the wheel. I have handled all I can handle today.
And I just looked for a hotel. Everything around the airport is either sold out or $400+ for the 4 hours I will be in it. So I shall be sleeping in the airport. Fucking fabulous.
I finally got myself and my luggage to Boston Logan Airport about 1 a.m., and “slept” with one eye open till about 5 a.m. when it was time to go through security again and board my flight to Milwaukee.
June 9: I watched my bag get loaded on the plane, in the rain, then promptly passed out from exhaustion. Awoke to beautiful skies and fluffy clouds. Think I’ll groove on this mood for a bit before I nap again.
I touched down in Milwaukee about 8:30 a.m., and Kathy Strobele was landing a little after 9, so I waited for her and a friend of mine, Tom Hinderholz, who lives in Milwaukee was kind enough to pick up both up, take us to our hotel, where we dropped off our luggage, and then took us to a shop called Create Milwaukee where we had stashed our bikes the weekend previous.
The Atomic Shovel 