Getting Back is Half the Fun

There's not much to say about the return trip after all. One overcrowded flight is pretty much the same as another, and too many people have wound up stuck overnight at O'Hare to merit much additional comment. Just one hint: by today's rules, it's not the airline's fault if you miss your connection thanks to 90 minutes in a holding pattern. Thus, the hotel is on you, not them. You do get to choose Five-star accommodations at a one-star price. When stuck at O'Hare (notice I don't say "if") grab the Doubletree Rosemont. It's under ten minutes from the terminal and is moderately palatial...especially when you get the room at Motel 6 rates. My only regret is that we had less than six hours to enjoy it. That reminds me of a famous motel on the NH seacoast when I was in college, where...Oh never mind!

Then there's the mystery of how our luggage made it to Boston on time, even though we didn't. And that, somehow, was our fault.

The first note to self about an improved cross-country road trip is, naturally, to spend more time at it. Perhaps someone could convince me otherwise, but I think I would still get across the Rust Belt as fast as possible. The same goes for Oklahoma, at least until they dig deeper tornado ditches by the roadsides.

I'd actually drive more of Route 66, and do it when I hadn't been on the road for 14 hours and wasn't desperate for a meal.

Mostly, I'd spend about a week in New Mexico and Arizona. It'd take very little arm-twisting to induce me to retire there. I might even learn to like Winslow.

As for getting back, I like the idea of driving California 1 up the coast and continuing to Seattle before turning East. It would be instructive to see more evidence of green things in California. If I could ever arrange another one-way drive, the alternative return would be via Amtrak...If the US manages to have the mother wit to see the merits of rail service, that is.

Enough of that; back to other ponderings eventually.