Well, I am sitting in the Monroe Airport waiting for the security gate to go up. I should have known that I would have had plenty of time to get to the airport and to catch my flight. The place only has 3 gates. And there is no wi-fi access in the airport, surprise. Airports, you really should think about putting wireless networks in at your terminals. Since everything else about air travel is a hassle shouldn’t the waiting at least let people be productive. There isn’t even a gift shop or bookstore here. I should have stopped at a Borders or something before I got to the airport. I wasted my time trying to find the Harley Davidson shop and taking many wrong turns in the rain just to get there and find that they did not have a pin, but rather they had the standard circular oil dot. But they gave me one free so that was nice of them.

So, I’ve been to Louisiana, and yes that is about the extent of my excitement. It was wet and rainy, the demo wasn’t as smooth as I wanted it to be and I can’t wait to get home.

The bright shining part of my day today was going to R.J. Gators. This restaurant bills itself as a Florida sea grill and bar. I got an order of their buffalo wings and my bottom lip is still burning a bit. I also ordered their seafood bucket, which was like a seafood platter with fish, shrimp and clams, but it was served in a… bucket. Actually a metal pail, I think buckets are bigger. Andy, what is the difference between a bucket and a pail? They also served soft rolls with a garlic and parmesan butter on top. Those were dangerous and tasty. I couldn’t finish nearly half of the meal because the portions were so huge. I expected a few small chicken wings and they were monsters. And for the price I expected a small portion of fish and shrimp but that too was huge.

The atmosphere of the place was very fun. They had classic rock and older heavy metal playing. It was like a bar out of the movie Roadhouse, and you know how much I liked that movie. There was a wall of fire where you could try the different hot sauces. They had alligator themed decorations all over the place. This fella (above) got stuck in the wall… while flying, yeah that’s the ticket.

So at the Monroe Regional Airport, Hair Care and Tire Center I was delayed for about an hour. I hope to be getting to Atlanta in enough time to grab something to eat and catch my flight. Most importantly to catch that next flight. And I get to go into Boston instead of Providence. So I will most likely be crawling into bed around 12:00am.

This airport is so small it only has three gates. There is one security line that doesn’t even open up until the plane that is landing is about 10 minutes out. And yet people are still so stupid that they wonder if they are in the right place for their flights. There are only three airlines, they only go to three places. Chances are you’re in the right place. And why do people ask me if they are in the right place? Almost always someone asks me if they are in the right place. I was tempted to tell the guy that no, in fact he was at the wrong place and boarding would begin through the tire center. A free set of radials if you get through security without a pat down.

I ended up getting home about 12:20am. The flight from Atlanta to Boston was delayed. I did end up having enough time to grab a piece of Sbarro pizza and a drink from the most pleasant woman in the world. I also had enough time to grab me some garbage reading. I picked up Douglas Preston’s Tyrannosaur Canyon. Why do I call it garbage reading, well I knew nothing about the book and just picked it up. If it was garbage then I just recycle it after I read it. However the book is pretty good and I look forward to finishing reading it.

Palm Springs, dried up and dusty.

I’m in the Palm Springs Airport, Sonny Bono Terminal, and it is an interesting building. This is the only airport I’ve ever been to where you can sit outside in the open air and where there is an atrium area with a fountain that you can sit around and enjoy the sunshine. And it is protected so if you end up having a rainy day then you will be dry.

Speaking of dry, it is dry and dusty all over this place. It is of course a desert so it will most likely be dry but there is dust blowing all over the place. I got engulfed in a cloud of it on my way to the airport. Staying out in San Bernardino wasn’t that bad but I would have rather have stayed in Palm Springs proper. I really wanted to find something to do there but instead I spent extra time at the hotel and then drove to the airport. Big excitement for my day. Now I have about 5 hours of flights ahead of me. First stop Houston. From there I head to Monroe Louisiana. This will be my first trip to Louisiana. Of course I am blowing in tonight at 8:00pm and heading out at 3:45pm tomorrow.

I am now forced to rent my cars from National Car rental. They suck. When I started we rented cars from Budget and then moved to Hertz and now to National. Did I mention that they suck? I had a Chevy Impala and it was a terrible car. Who puts the shift on the steering column anymore and it was easy enough to blow past Drive and get into D3. Does anyone actually drive in D1, D2, or D3? I have never had the need for that. It is just something to ponder.

When I returned my car, which by the way bounced and vibrated all over the highway, the rental return line was stopped completely. There were two cars without drivers and one woman moving them. Then all the car companies had their own lanes that were packed in together. I was in the National/Alamo line and then was directed to the Avis line. I pulled around and they blamed me for paring in the wrong line. Hello, you just directed me to the wrong line. Then the person who comes to scan your car and give you your receipt could not come to my car for some reason and so I had to go in to the airport to stand in line and get my receipt. That is always fun because they only have one person behind the counter. And let me give you two guesses on the speed with which they do their job. Fast and efficient isn’t one of them.

I finally got my receipt and made my wait to the Continental ticket counter. This is the first time in 5 years that I have had to fly Continental. I didn’t realize that they still existed. But they do exist and I was able to get my tickets and switch my frequent flyer miles to Delta. At least I’ll get something fairly useful for this flight. And it looks like I’m going to be on a little jet for the flight so at least I shouldn’t be totally crammed next to anyone. But that remains to be seen.

At the Palm Springs Airport they have two painted big horn sheep. I took a picture of each one of them. I liked how they had very nice paint jobs with a desert motif. I tried to get some good pictures in Palm Springs but there was nowhere to stop and the air was really crappy so the mountain pictures were not going to come out. I did snap a shot of the windmill farms that are all over the highway. They are really impressive to see when the wind is blowing.

Here is a shot of the windmill farms from the car…

And here is one from the air…

The one thing I do not like about the Palm Springs airport is that they have only one restaurant and it was jammed with people. There was no way to get a seat or to get to a counter to order something. Say all the bad things you like about McDonalds but at least you can get something to eat there in a reasonable amount of time. Since I wasn’t able to get anything at the restaurant I’m making do with some Cheez-Its and peanuts and water. Maybe I can snap something in Houston before my next flight, but that will be tight.

I ended up grabbing some McDonalds before my next flight. With 3 minutes to spare to eat my makeshift dinner. Food kharma got me because I am feeling a little sick right now. I got to Monroe. I finished my book and I found my hotel in the driving rain. And that included taking my car through what could only be considered a small lake in the parking lot of a Shoney’s or something like that. I am at my hotel now and have my high speed internet and blogger is down. What a day.