Round The World and other travels

I managed to repeat that somewhat uncanny old trick again : waking up just ahead of my booked wake-up call. After getting myself organised for the day ahead, I made my way down a floor and was delighted to find the very pleasant Club Lounge. The selection of food seemed just right in that it matched what I felt like eating, i.e. nothing too heavy. I enjoyed a very nice breakfast, with scrambled egg and smoked salmon as its centrepiece. I was ready in good time to catch the 9am shuttle round to the airport. It was crowded out with a group of convention types who all seemed to know each other.

Soon enough, I arrived at the AA domestic terminal and found the First Class queue. That's when the latest nasty little surprise struck. It seemed my reservations had been cancelled due to some defect in the booking   The good news was that, in spite of the fact that the day's flights were all very busy indeed, seats were found for me on alternative flights. The bad news was that I now had 7 hours to spend in MIA and wouldn't arrive in San Diego until nearly 11pm. Not ideal, but there wasn't anything else for it.

I made my way to the Admiral's Club, realising that it was going to be my home for an unusually long time. I began to reflect on how I seemed to be having something of a run of bad luck which included, among other things, a nasty cold, falling on the ice in Washington, a very minor traffic accident and now two cancelled flight reservations. I refused to let it get me down, however. I was pleased to be able to purchase a day's worth of Internet access and made it my first priority to contact Bruce in San Diego to warn him of my new arrival time, then I was able to catch up with what was going on at home and bring my trip diary reasonably up-to-date. I got some lunch and then watched the movie Air Force One on my laptop - perhaps a strange choice prior to flying, but there we are! By the time I'd done all that, I realised with no little surprise that some six hours had passed and it was time to head for the (changed) gate.

Although my next flight was leaving from just in front of the entrance to the thoroughly familiar Terminal C Admiral's Club at DFW, I decided to forego another visit, as it looked as though the flight would commence boarding shortly.

Unloading the luggage took an inordinate amount of time, but thankfully Bruce was on hand to pick me up in his car for the swift drive to his home in Escondido, where I was to be a guest for the next few days.