Or: In which I find I am the only person in America without a smartphone
Or: I am NOT tooling around south-central Texas in a minivan!
Austin, Texas, Jan. 23 — I wanted to be sure I had plenty of time to get to the Omaha airport, with the bad weather conditions of the morning. It was a good thing I did. I counted six vehicles in the ditch and two in shoulders before I got to the US 169 exit. Then, near the Adair rest area, another car, a commercial van on its side, and a semi north of the westbound lanes facing east!
In part because I had yet to see it after construction, I took I-80 into Nebraska and I-480 around, doubling back to the Wendy’s just inside the Iowa border. There I was in for a shock with a $1.69 junior bacon cheeseburger!
The GPS directed me to the 14th Street exit for the airport instead of Dodge, which was surprising, but I wasn’t listening anyway. This would be a recurring theme.
I was flying Southwest out of Omaha because I saved $50 for not paying a baggage fee, and tickets were cheaper in general. Plus, this way, my stop in Phoenix would be “blizzard insurance” should winter weather strike Omaha in a week. (It wouldn’t.)
The plane took off into Iowa and the last thing I saw before the plane disappeared above the clouds were the I-680 bridges.
After landing in Phoenix, I had to switch terminals. Although it was a short layover, I appreciated Southwest’s plug outlets at multiple places.
About two hours in Mountain Time, but not my shortest ever in that time zone.
Arrival in Austin was shortly before 9. The instant after wheels down, people fired up their phones. Every single one of them was an iPhone or Android. Not even a BlackBerry to be seen.
There were five people ahead of me at the Hertz counter. When I checked in, there were no full-size cars left, despite my reservation from October. “You can have a Camaro for $10 more a day, or you can have a minivan or Traverse.” I was not pleased. When he said I could trade it in the next day, I felt better. Fortunately, I had already arranged to be in a hotel nearby.