The first weekend in October was my 7th trip to Tulsa in the past year and what I believe to be my final trip there for 2021.  The themes for this weekend were ATW + Listener’s Choice which meant that we voted on 20 songs via Twitter that would be included in the setlist.  Setlist voting is not my favorite thing because generally the songs I want to hear aren’t included and of those that are included, the ones I would prefer to hear don’t win.  But initially I didn’t think I’d be going 3 out of 4 months so I thought this would be a nice “overview” setlist of sorts.

I made it to Tulsa without incident, but unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for my friends.  The friends I was rooming with were supposed to be getting in late on Thursday, which ended up getting bumped to mid-day on Friday (the day of the first show)  I think I saw them maybe 3 hours the whole weekend.

Friday morning Hanson did a live chat before they released their single for the month, One, and mentioned that these shows would be the longest ones of the series and that they’d be very similar each night.  I was hoping that we would be getting 10 voted songs + 6 songs from Against the World with a handful of “Hanson’s Choice” each night – but they instead decided to do all 20 voted songs + 6 from Against the World BOTH nights.  Now don’t get me wrong, there’s no place I’d rather be than a Hanson concert, but I was pretty meh about it and kind of grumpy through the whole Friday night show.  One of the fans next to me was getting so excited and had pure joy as a reaction for several of the songs as they started and I was wondering if maybe I was the problem and I have gone to too many shows.  (There had been some discussion online about if you’re mad about the song choices you’ve gone to too many shows.)

For Saturday’s show I was hoping they would mix up the order and what was acoustic and what the encore songs were, and they did.  I don’t know what I did to adjust my attitude – but I strongly preferred show #2 to show #1 and it truly did feel like 2 different shows entirely, despite the fact that the songs were essentially the same.  They also did an acoustic version of If Only so there was no jumping and that was a big plus as well.  Unfortunately my excitement was short lived, as I got run over by a motorized wheelchair while we were trying to clear out the ADA area.  I’m ok, but I was a bit sore and stinging after the show and did have a bruise afterwards.

Getting home was also uneventful, which I was glad about.  I decided to order myself some BBQ from one of my favorite places here in CT that has a location near the airport.  It was torture smelling it the whole hour ride home, but definitely worth the wait.

I am looking forward to some Hanson tour dates being announced hopefully by the end of the year? Maybe? But if not, there’s always Back to the Island to hold me over until then.

Sunday night I made my first trip to the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater in Bridgeport. It’s a brand new venue and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.  What I had remembered from going there as a kid when it was a baseball stadium is there were a LOT of stairs.  That memory turned out to be accurate as I had to go up a decent sized flight to get to my seats and then down a few as well.  The entire floor is level, so if I go there again, these stairs are something I’ll have to get used to as the 200s sections are probably going to be my go-to spot.

You probably wouldn’t expect me to go see Ace Frehley and Alice Cooper and well, I wouldn’t have really expected it of me either! But a good friend is on the tour w/Ace so I had to go check things out when he told me that I wouldn’t be totally out of place and should go! I ended up getting a front row seat of one of the 200 sections and it was pretty perfect.  It was raised up enough that I didn’t have to stand because no one on the floor was bigger than me due to how it was situated and it still had a really nice view of the stage.  The guy next to me came down and was like “THESE ARE GREAT SEATS! WE DON’T EVEN HAVE TO STAND!” and while he majority of the floor stood the whole time it seemed like most of the upper levels didn’t.  I thought the sound system wasn’t all that great though and a friend that also ended up at the show agreed.  Otherwise it’s really close to home and a nice mid-sized summer venue. (But how long until it ends up getting no shows just like the Webster Bank Arena next door?)

Ace played for about an hour and I really only knew one of the songs that he did and only because it’s one the Mets play after they win! (My friend on the tour is a Yankees fan and I believe helped put the setlist together so I texted him to thank him for including it because it had been a while since I had heard it :P)

Then it was time for Alice Cooper.  I really didn’t know what to expect. But I wasn’t expecting so many creepy puppet dolls lol The set was a castle and there was a bit of a story line going on throughout the show and it had been a long time since I had seen a stage show like that.  His band was awesome and he played for maybe an hour and a half.  In the end, I knew 3 of the songs – his bigger singles that my Dad used to play when I was growing up. But I don’t think that not knowing the songs lessened the experience any and I really had a lot of fun!

I am not sure I’ll head back to this venue without a friend to help me out if needed with all the stairs, but I’m hoping next summer they’ll pull some acts that would otherwise have me driving all the way up to the casino. *fingers crossed* (And hopefully they figure out how to enhance the audio system)

Back in early 2020 Ben Folds had announced an orchestra tour.  I thought that would be absolutely SO COOL to see – but his show in Connecticut was billed as “solo piano”.  In March 2020, the show ended up  getting postponed.  Wednesday night, we finally got to see the show, now part of the “In Actual Person Live for Real” tour.  In order to be allowed into the venue, you had to be vaccinated and show proof with your ID as well as pass a temperature screening.  There was no option for testing instead of being vaccinated.  Masks were required at all times inside. After Ben’s first song, he stopped to tell us that he appreciated us all being vaccinated and masked and trying to keep each other safe.  He also mentioned that he was going to try to have us not sing and instead hum – except for him – because do as he says and not as he does. He didn’t know if it would work, but he was hoping that it wouldn’t lead to one of us going home and getting someone else sick from being there with him.  He also said that if the person next to you was singing, don’t punch them in the nose.  The humming was kind of funny and a lot of times it ended with everyone giggling – during “You Don’t Know Me” he told us just to think The Muppets Show and we’d be ok with it, which just led to more giggling.  When someone shouted out a song request after he had already started playing a song, he said that requests such as that should start with “Fuck that! Play ___”  During Rock This Bitch he sang about his day and how he woke up in Connecticut and was looking for somewhere for breakfast that was unpopular and had outside seating and that we were in Ridgefield where the houses are old and big. “We’re fucked, that’s what the old pianist said, we’re rocking this bitch with masks, that’s fine.”   Another request was yelled out, “Give me back my black t-shirt!” and he said it reminded him of a joke where someone was requesting “That’s What You Are” but the pianist didn’t know the song and asked the guy to sing a few bars and he sang “Unforgettable… that’s what you are.”  The song is called “Song for the Dumped” and “And don’t forget to give me back my black t-shirt” is one of the lyrics within it.   The show was highly entertaining and it was nice to have a normal-ish heart rate during a show for once with the feeling that things were hopefully a bit safer with the precautions in place.  When I got home, I remembered he was going to be playing in New Haven as well later this month.  That venue is MUCH closer to my house so I thought maybe I’d like to go see him again – only to find out that the show had been postponed until August 28, 2022 earlier in the day! I don’t want to commit to anything that far out, but we’ll see if I end up there.  I’m still holding out hope for getting to see him with an orchestra too, though.

Initially I wasn’t intending on going to Tulsa for the September shows, in addition to holiday weekend flight prices being ridiculous I was trying to tell myself that 4 out of the 8 shows was enough.  Well, after the August shows, even with Tulsa holding me hostage for another day, when I got home I decided to book for September. (And now am kind of kicking myself for not trying for July as well – although those flights were ridiculously priced or else I probably would have caved.)

The night before I was supposed to take off, the remains of Tropical Storm Ida came to my area and gave us a month’s worth of rain in one night.  There was massive amounts of flooding and I wasn’t even sure I’d make it to the airport, but fortunately I did.  My flight out was at 8am and I saw that the 6am flight still had not left yet (despite it being almost 7) It turned out 4 days ago their plane had hit a bird and whatever fix they had done got undone in the trip to Hartford so they were delayed while it could be fixed again.  They did not end up leaving until 9:30am and I was very glad for once I didn’t opt for the super early flight.  I had 2 little kids in front of me during the first flight that were making up songs about the trip with lyrics such as “we are riding on a plane plane plane and it will be fun!”  And I think they did have fun – until their ears started popping.  There was also a lot of other layover drama with a woman who didn’t know how to order Five Guys and didn’t order fries (but a stranger gave her hers, which was sweet but… covid?), a guy whose mother passed away getting in a “YOU WERE MEAN TO MEEEE” argument with a gate agent, a family missing their flight by mere minutes and then more littles in front of me on flight #2. (So sleeping did not really happen.)

Thursday night I was hoping to go see the Tulsa Drillers baseball game since I was in town, but it was supposed to be mid-90’s at game time and that didn’t seem like a fun way to spend my evening. (They lost, 10-1) so I ended up ordering some BBQ and hanging out in the room watching Big Brother and Netflix.

Between the excessive amounts of trips to Tulsa and the heat, Friday my only time leaving the room was to go to Antoinette’s bakery for a sack of treats.  Friday night’s show was Shout It Out and it was a pretty decent set (until it wasn’t?)  I got to hear 2 songs for the first time – Hard to Handle and the new single, Stronger, which I opted to not listen to until hearing it live.  I ended up regretting that decision slightly because it was hard to really hear/understand the lyrics and I think that it would have been better if I listened to it just once before the show.  Personally, I would have rathered skipping out Where’s the Love and Man From Milwaukee for something else a bit rarer, but it’s not my job to put the setlists together. (Yet?)  But overall it was a solid show and I had just thought to myself that morning they hadn’t played “I Was Born” in what seemed like a while so I was happy it made it into the set. They did skip 1 song from Shout It Out – Zac’s “Use Me Up”.

Saturday afternoon we decided to check out Nothing’s Left, a brewery that has beer slushies.  I tried a Cotton Candy Chaos IPA which was too bitter for my liking and Deez Nuts Stout which was peanut butter / chocolate and soooo good. I also tried the dole whip soft serve – totally worth the trip right there – but the Strawberry Pina Colada slush I didn’t particularly like as it tasted “too beer-y”.

Night 2 was the Anthem show.  I was really looking forward to hearing Lost Without You as full band and not a Taylor solo, and I was able to get my wish. This set didn’t have anything I hadn’t heard before, but I was able to go into hearing Stronger again with having watched the video and heard the studio version and was able to appreciate it more.  Before Isaac’s solo, he talked a bit about how he is fans of his brothers.

“So Zac said, oh, you can’t stop us is a hard one to follow. I will go with that’s harder to follow [Zac’s solo]. So I’m going to say something that is, well, I’m going to say what I was thinking. So, one of the coolest things about being in this band is being able to be a fan of the people you are on stage with. I am a big fan of songs that Taylor brings to the table and helps us be a part of in some way or another. Sometimes it’s just little things and sometimes it’s lots of things. But it’s really fun. The same for Zac. When he sits down and goes, here’s this idea and it just wrecks me and I go, well that lyric is brutal and beautiful and important and I love it. So I feel lucky to be in a band with guys that I can be big fans of. So hopefully they feel the same way. No pressure. haha”

I would have liked if they stuck to the setlist and did Tonight as the encore, but it is what it is.  (Friday night I watched them change the setlist out on stage 2 times, so there were 3 versions, it seems like they weren’t really able to make up their minds on what to play and I’m very curious to know what else might have been swapped out!) I also didn’t even realize they had completely skipped Tragic Symphony and Annalie until some fans were talking about it after the show!

After the show we waited for the guys to come out and my friend had gotten me a setlist so I was able to get that signed.  It was very, very pushy and I didn’t feel stable enough to try and get any photos with the guys this time.

Sunday I had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta and when I got through TSA in Tulsa they pulled my backpack, apparently the croissant from the bakery I hadn’t yet eaten and decided to bring home with me was suspicious. After landing in ATL I needed to get to A18, by the time I reached A18 it got changed to A33 which was nearly the last one in the hallway… and then found out nope, I actually needed to be at B7.  Good thing I had such a long layover!  Things were much calmer on the way home as well and I made it back to my house by 9:30pm instead of my usual 1am.

I have a lot more concerts coming up this month and then another trip to Tulsa at the end of the month… I’m going to be exhausted…  I don’t know how I used to do this constantly!

Saturday night I did my first big amphitheater concert. It had been 1469 days since I had last been at Xfinity Theater in Hartford.  Of course, every weekend before they posted all their policies and set times for that weekend but were radio silent for this one.  I got to the parking lot early to snag a handicapped spot. There wasn’t that big of a line to go in but heads up – they have instituted a clear bag or small clutch policy to make security quicker and so they can avoid touching all your stuff.

The show started at 7 with Cat Power. She never said her name throughout her whole set that I heard and was pretty mellow.  Not many people were in their seats. She dedicated a Rolling Stones song to Charlie Watts who has recently passed. I liked her rendition.

After Cat, it was time for Garbage. I guess being a 90s music kid meant I knew way more songs than I was expecting to going into the show. Their set was really great and Shirley was sure to thank us all for being there plenty of times – even if she did also say we were all weirdos 😉

I’m not really sure what I was thinking picking a 5am departure time to go to Iowa. I got to the airport before precheck was even open and of course my brace set off the scanner and I had to take it off to push it through the x-ray.  I had 2 young boys in front of me on the plane that honestly were not all that obnoxious at all, I slept through most of the flight but one of the boys said “sorry how we acted on the flight when you were trying to sleep” when he got off and I assured him he was fine. (I’ve had to put up with much worse!)

My layover was in Chicago and the gates were supposed to be directly across from each other but of course that was not the case by the time I landed and they also had no wheelchair waiting like I was told they would when we took off. It also made me do a sleepy double take when I was waiting on if I was going to get wheeled or walk and everyone was talking about Tulsa!  For once, I was not headed to Tulsa! lol I made it to my new gate and waited to board the tiny plane to Cedar Rapids. When they sent me down the jet bridge at first I thought a van was waiting at the bottom, surely it was too small to be a plane! But no, it was a plane.  Also strange was one of the guys on my flight out of Hartford was on the flight too – seated next to me!

Upon landing I found my friend and we were on our way! We made 2 stops in Cedar Rapids, the Czech bakery Sykora and a scrapbook shop. At the bakery I opted for a poppy seed kolache. They didn’t have any of the cookies like my Nana used to make, so I couldn’t compare, but the kolache was very good!  The scrapbook store was supposed to open at 10am but no one was there at 11 so we left, turns out they had a miscommunication with who was supposed to be working so we left for Dubuque before they opened at 11:15. Ah well.

In Dubuque we did the Fenlon Elevator which is the shortest and steepest of its kind. It is 5 steps up and out of the car and then 5 steps back down in to go down. I braved it and tried to take a video looking down (I don’t recommend doing that) but never actually hit record!  Figures… We also went to see the historic shot tower and drove around a bit to see the port.  After a 5am flight I was exhausted so most of the time was spent in the hotel. (And the 2 stops we did make were my only 2 on the ‘to do’ list anyway.)

Monday morning we got up and headed to Dyersville for the Field of Dreams.  We started with a tour of the house and then wandered the corn fields, ball field and gift shop. I loved the gift shop because it had a lot of “baseballism” shirts that would go over the head of anyone who isn’t a big baseball fan.   They were taking down the MLB field but we were told next year they’d play again and it would be the Cubs. While I enjoyed watching the game, I’m not sure if it’s something that should be yearly because it will kind of kill the thrill about it, but hey if it makes money MLB is going to be all about it.  There’s also a museum about the film but was unfortunately closed on Monday so we just took a photo of their mural on the side of the building.

Next up was Ames where we went to the gardens to see the butterflies and the world’s largest (concrete) gnome.  The butterfly garden was a lot of fun chasing the butterflies (and them chasing my cane) and trying to get pictures of them. The garden had an exhibit of origami statues so we tried to find all of them while making our way to Elwood (the gnome). I thought the admission prices were a bit steep, but it was a nice mile or so stroll through the gardens and they were absolutely beautiful so when you think about the cost of upkeep, that’s probably where most of the admission price is going to.  They also offered free scooter and wheelchair rentals which right there made the admission worth it for those who might need it – and made the gardens a whole heck of a lot more accessible for everyone and I certainly can’t be mad about that!

Then we made our way to Des Moines to get ready for the Iowa State Fair the next day.

We got to the fair about 1pm which was probably the hottest part of the day and started with some cookies and fried cheese curds.  We also had fried pickles and corn dogs and I had lots and lots of water.  I’d have wanted something stronger, but driving the scooter around all day with people who were freaking oblivious was not going to end well if I was a little tipsy.  (I am not sure why all the responsibility of driving it has to fall on me and no one else has to pay any attention at all and can be mad if/when I run into them – WHEN I HAVE NO BRAKES – but it is what it is.)  At one point we heard the Beach Boys start soundcheck along with John Stamos singing “Forever” and then we heard Hanson join them for Where’s the Love.  A bit later Hanson took the stage for their own soundcheck so we knew that Hanson would most likely be doing Where’s the Love with the Beach Boys and not part of their set.

Finally 7pm came and doors opened. None of the volunteers knew what to do at all… but we managed to get our wristbands and get the scooter parked and I got to my 4th row seat that was pretty much dead center.  Most of the people in front of me sat for Hanson and I was able to sit for the whole show and still be able to see!  I hadn’t used my camera in so long, it was nice to be getting some decent photos again.  I was surprised that Hanson didn’t play any of their 4 new singles – nor did they even mention that they had a new project coming out in November when they had a whole crowd of potential new fans in front of them… but it is what it is.  They also kind of seemed to mess up a bit during Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’ but quickly found their groove.

For the Beach Boys set, I felt wildly out of place.  Most of my peers know the Beach Boys from their parents being fans, but my parents were not fans so the only songs I knew were the ones that were really, really big or covered elsewhere (or featured on Full House!) Even with the lyrics being put up on the big screen for a lot of the songs, I didn’t really sing along.  But the guy behind me was absolutely having the time of his life singing off beat and off key along to every.single.word.  I was also masked for the entire concert because despite it being outdoors, everyone was squeezed in a little bit too close for my comfort. So as long as I bopped my head along to the beat, no one really knew if I was singing along or not 😉  (There’s your pro tip for the day lol)

For the Beach Boys encore, Hanson came back out, as we expected – but Mike Love said that John Stamos liked to play Summertime Blues so they started with that song (one that Hanson knows well and has been covering on their tours on and off since 1998 – and was probably included in many of their pre-fame sets as well!) and then went into Where’s the Love as well as Fun, Fun, Fun.  It certainly was Fun, Fun, Fun to see everyone up on stage and having an absolute blast.  Despite surge pricing, I managed to find an Uber and get back home to the hotel just after midnight.

 

My flight out of Des Moines was not until 4pm but hotel check out was noon so I got to the airport super early.  Despite nearly every piece of signage in the airport saying “mask up” the guy in front of me did not have his on and TSA made him put it on before checking his ID.  Then he took it off AGAIN to go through the metal detectors and had to pull out all his bags to find it again and he said he was told he could take it off.  (Uh, no, 3 people told you to put it on…)  Turns out that wasn’t their most problematic passenger of the day – I was.  My purse went through fine, my brace set off the metal detector (belts were setting it off too so it was on a higher setting than I’m used to) so while I waited for a female assist, I saw my bag get pulled off the line.  They started saying something was stuck and my cane never made it through so I had to show them where it was and get one of the agents to retrieve it off the conveyor belt.  My suitcase apparently had something “bad” in it, but the 2nd agent said he didn’t see anything and was giving me it back. This set off a wild afternoon where: a guy walked into the ladies room just ahead of me and panicked and ran out when I walked in, I got bitched out by a lady who thought I was cutting her for the elevator when she was in a wheelchair and had no one to push her, watched a lady have a meltdown in the bathroom about needing to wear a ‘face diaper’ until January, tried to avoid getting touched by the way too many children at my gate who were fascinated by me, fell out of a wheelchair and watched a guy walk through the McDonalds drive thru.  But I made it back to my own bed by 2am only to awake to pouring rain from a Tropical Storm.  Maybe someday I will be caught up on my work emails…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hanson has been hosting a “Summer Concert Series” at their local Cain’s Ballroom in their hometown of Tulsa, OK.  In addition to being in person shows, they also are streaming them online.  For July, I had bought streaming tickets only.  (holiday weekend flight prices were IN-SANE) For August, it was a good friend’s birthday, so I decided to make the trek to surprise her (plus, I hadn’t been able to see her since May 2019!)

The flights there went well, on my first flight, I met a little girl who also had CP and also wore a brace on her left leg.  Her Mom and I chatted a bit about different surgeries we had each had and what ones she had upcoming.  When I landed in Atlanta, they asked us to wait as they needed *8* wheelchairs for the flight.  Good thing I had a long layover to get myself to the next gate! Many were worried they’d miss their flight while waiting for someone to push them.  While I was waiting to board the flight to Tulsa, a little girl came and circled me, inspecting my brace from every direction.  I guess it was to her satisfaction as she then decided she would sit next to me, never saying a word to me at all.

After landing in Tulsa I picked up the rental car, headed to the hotel, ordered dinner and managed to get all settled with 10 minutes to spare before Big Brother was on.

Friday I decided to check out the new Greenwood Rising. It had just opened earlier that week and tickets were free.  Tours are guided (or you can go off on your own, but the guides unmute all the video content) and in groups of about 20.  I was glad that most of my group were wearing masks.  There are several different rooms that show you how Greenwood was growing and prospering.  Then of course, there is the massacre.  There is a video that is played with the story of some of the survivors.  If you think it may be too emotional for you, they have an emotional exit to skip that part of the exhibit and go right ahead to the next section.  I didn’t end up skipping it, but I was glad they had that option for those who might not have been able to handle it, so they could still see the rest of the exhibit.  Every other room it seemed had a spot to sit, which was very nice for me to take a break in between looking and reading the exhibits and checking out the artifacts.  I think that given the chance, I would go through again self guided now that I had seen all the video content that did justice to the Graphic Design Service Subscription, so I could fully read everything in the rooms without being blocked by the rest of my touring group.  The video effects are pretty cool, so I don’t recommend doing self guided for the first time through.

Friday I was also playing secret squirrel for a friend who decided at last minute she was going to show up and I was frantically tracking her flights to see if she’d make her connection in time or not.  She did end up landing just before 6 and made it down to the venue just before doors to surprise everyone! I was also pleasantly surprised that the venue put together such a nice ADA area right in the front with chairs for everyone.  The Friday night show was ATW + Underneath, Underneath being Hanson’s 2004 release – their first independent album after leaving their record label.  From where I was positioned I couldn’t see Isaac and Zac was blocked by his cymbal, but it was the Taylor show. (And Zac did come over to the piano to sing one of my favorite songs, Broken Angel.)  The guys had been saying they’d play “select songs” from the classic albums during this concert series but they played everything from Underneath except for the bonus track, Lullabelle.  They also threw in a couple of covers from that touring era and all 4 tracks off their new project, Against the World.  After the show I got to hang out with the Birthday Girl for a bit and then headed back to the hotel for the night.  I heard 1 new song during the show – Only Love. (The other 3 new tracks I had heard previewed on the Wintry Mix tour)

Saturday I took a ride down Route 66 and went to the Goodwill because they were giving out free totes with some goodies in them to the first so many people who showed up.  The store was mostly clothes and I wasn’t sure how much room I’d have in my luggage so I didn’t really check anything out.  I also tried to get to to the Kendall Whittier area of Tulsa to check out the bike racks that are all “KW”s (my initials) but they were having some sort of block party so I didn’t get to drive past and wasn’t up for finding parking and walking in. It was H-O-T all weekend.  After the scenic route of the Tulsa highways (I missed an exit) I went back to the hotel and took a trip to Antoinette’s bakery for some treats!

Saturday Night’s show was ATW + The Walk.  There were a couple of long shot songs I was hoping for that I hadn’t heard off the Take the Walk EP and I was sad to see that Isaac had initially listed one (Lay Me Down) as his solo on the setlist, but opted to do A Minute Without You instead.  But here’s the thing – before I saw the setlist – I thought Isaac’s solo was absolutely amazing.  He had the crowd sing the “Oh Yeah”s that are usually Taylor and Zac’s parts and when he finished the song the crowd absolutely erupted! It was the first time hearing a large crowd like that in quite some time for me and was awesome.  So while, yes, I would have loved to hear Lay Me Down, I’m not sure I would have traded that solo for it.  I also had scooted up in my seat a bit so I was able to see Isaac and Taylor for most of the show and Zac only when he went to the piano for The Walk and up front with a guitar for Fire on the Mountain.  Also interesting was that many of my friends had never heard “Your Illusion” live, it had only been played about 20 times before this show – yet some how I managed to be there for 8 of them?  Pretty wild.  In the end, no new songs for me on Saturday, but it was a really fun, high energy show.  After the show, we headed to the back and while I missed Isaac, I managed to get photos with Zac and Taylor that look like we are in jail.

 

Sunday afternoon I returned the car and headed to the airport and was there pretty early.  We were supposed to take off at 3:42 but at some point it became 5:20.  I had about a 3 hour layover in Atlanta and was keeping an eye on the incoming flight which kept saying it would take off in 5 minutes, and then reset the count.  The later it got, the less likely it would be that I would make the connecting flight so once things started getting iffy I asked my friend who was staying in Tulsa another night if I could crash with her (she said yes) and called the hotline to be put on the earliest flight out the next day.  If I stayed the night in Tulsa or Atlanta, I wouldn’t get home until the same 3pm flight, so it made more sense to stay where I knew people.  I did end up having a Hanson sighting as they left the Nightcap recording so I guess that was my silver lining.

Monday morning I left the hotel at 3:30am, got through security without a problem and managed to switch my middle seat on Flight #1 to a window seat.  I wasn’t sure if I had ever had a middle seat before and I don’t think I am suited as a middle seat flier (but if it was that or nothing, I’d put up with it for the 2 or so hours).  My 2nd flight I was #1 on standby with 19 available seats so I figured I’d make it on, and I did, but another window seat.  I tried to switch it and couldn’t, but wished *really, really* hard… and after pre-boarding and my aisle seat mate showing up we started wondering if our window seatmate would even show up.  It was almost time to take off and 3 more people boarded… We figured our luck was up, but nope, the door shut and no one showed up for the window, so I took it!  And fortunately I have a very understanding work manager and was able to work some magic so I don’t have to make up any hours this weekend when I am supposed to be volunteering.

Now to unpack and repack to head off to Iowa in just a couple of days.