Delays, Rental Cars, and Winding Roads

Work sent me to NCTC again in December during the week preceding Christmas. In preparation for the trip, and the resulting time crunch upon my holiday to-do list, I spent much the lead-up week writing Christmas cards, baking cookies, and reveling. I think perhaps, in hindsight, I may have done too much reveling. On the morning of my flight to Virginia, US Airways called to notify me of a flight schedule change. I looked at my itinerary, and thought, "Well, that's only a 5 minute delay. I will head to the airport as scheduled." It wasn't until I was nearly to the airport that I realized that it was noon, and the new departure time that US Air notified me of was the LANDING time for my flight, as it was originally scheduled. In my hazy, sleep-deprived, over-partied state, I had not connected to the dots before packing up the Corolla. After a call to the airline, and to my ground transportation provider in Virginia (I was supposed to meet a shuttle that took passengers from Dulles Airport to NCTC), I realized I would miss the shuttle and have to rent a car.

As I sat in the Tampa airport for 3 HOURS, I got directions from Dulles to NCTC. And 7 HOURS from the time I arrived at the Tampa airport, I was in Dulles airport, looking for a rental car. I hopped in my rented Chevy Aveo and headed out into the dark night. Curving country roads were not taking me home, but through the cold, dark hills of the Virginia/West Virginia border. An hour and a half later, I was checking in, and miraculously, the NCTC staff asked which hot dinner entree I would like to take with me back to my lodging!! The salmon was still warm and delicious when I rolled my luggage into my room.

The next day started a week of intense conversations between team members about how to keep my two favorite corals from going extinct. The next day's dinner also resulted in my first ever experience with food poisoning. I was amazed that I made it through Peru without a single incident, then I get to NCTC (which is know as "Club Fed" in this biz), and I have a 12 hour attack that decimated my energy and appetite for the remainder of the week. I went to bed early every night, and really only ate lunch. It took until about a week later that I felt back to normal.

Work for the week was intense, and productive. Our team worked well and accomplished a lot, and that made everyone feel good as we headed into the holidays. The day of departure brought a lovely cold rain to the area. I had a late flight, so I decided to see if I could catch a visit with my friend Suz and her adorable baby girl, whom I hadn't seen in a good many months. Fortunately, the timing worked out, and I got a brief visit in before she had to go out for the day. It was nice to see a friendly face, and laughing toddler, before slogging back to Dulles to return the rental car and try to snag the earlier flight. The weather was wreaking havoc on flights, as the Northeast got pounded with an ugly wintry mix, and so many flights blinked up "Cancelled" on the departures and arrivals boards.

I made it home in the twee early hours of the morning, and regretted that my Club Fed visit included a bought with food poisoning and only the briefest of experience with snow. The rest of the time, the weather was that disgusting combination of temperatures in the 40s and rain. One can never seem to get warm under those conditions. Yick.
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Trip Stats:
Number of offending chicken breasts: 1
Number of deer spotted on morning walk: 7
Number of wheel gripping twists and turns on country roads: 1,000 +/- 500

Sarah Too