Monday Nov. 26, 2018 – Travel Day to Omaha/Tekamah, NE for Work

Up bright and early in order to catch our flight to Nebraska this morning. We dropped off the truck at a local mechanic recommended by our host, who then drove us to the airport in Tampa. We had checked out under the hood yesterday and saw the new serpentine belt was already getting chewed, and knew it had to fixed before we dare take it on the road again, particularly towing the trailer. Grrr! Getting awful tired of putting money into this truck! Still cheaper than a new truck, but honestly, it’s been a big expense this year! Anyway, we got to the airport in plenty of time, but unfortunately we received a notice that our departure was delayed by 20 minutes. Our layover in Charlotte is only about an hour, so that’s cutting it pretty short for us, but we still thought we could make it. The flight from Tampa to Charlotte had so much turbulence they never even tried to have a beverage service, so all I got was a glass on cranapple juice on the runway before we took off. Not much extra service for first class… Anyway, we and 34 other people had very tight connections in Charlotte, and fortunately there was a wheelchair ready and waiting for us at the end of the jetway, so we were up the ramp and racing down the terminal seven gates to our connection, which had almost completely finished boarding when we arrived. Got settled in, had a much appreciated quick glass of wine before the plane took off (not taking any chances this time!), and settled in while we passed through the same turbulence for a while, though it eventually settled down. They served our choice of two cold lunches, but they were large and filling, and neither Hubby or I could finish them. We arrived at dusk, collected our rental car, and ventured out into the pitch black countryside for an hour, getting a little lost because the roads had few markings and were gravel, long stretches through the middle of farmers fields, until we at last we found it. The group we’re working with had all gone out to dinner, so we settled into a “cabin” separate from the lodge and were soon in bed. Alas, the bed was only suitable for one because it was so soft in the middle we both rolled into it, so I opted to come out and sleep on a big hard leather couch. Tough day, but ready for whatever comes in next! P.S. 82 degrees in Tampa when we left, 18 degrees at retreat by the time we arrived.