A week in Texas

A week in Texas

I don't get to Texas very often but this trip is a revisit from last year.

I started my morning as usual by getting up at 2:30 am.  This gives me about an hour to get my stuff together, into the truck and down the road.  I have about a 1.25 hour drive to the airport.  Being that early in the a.m. it's usually just me and a few semi's on I-80.  Since this was my first flight of the year, I like to be a little early to the airport just in case some new TSA rules popped up in the past few weeks I've been at home.  The drive was uneventful as usual.  I save the company a couple dollars by parking in Economy.  I only use the parking deck if the weather is really foul so I'm partially sheltered getting to the airport entrance.  As I walked towards the Delta counter I could see the line was enormous.  It was now just after 4 am and they hadn't even started to set up the lines.  I used the kiosk to check in and print my boarding passes and proceeded to wait.  I could tell the frequent fliers were all irritated by the wait but by 4:30 am we were moving along.  Being able to use Sky Priority is a plus for days like this.  During most of the year the Atlanta flight is at 6 am but probably due to the necessity of deicing, it was scheduled for 5:40 am.  I checked my bags, did my usual stroll through pre-check and claimed my usual seat by the gate.  Getting that seat is partly why I get there so early. We boarded, deiced and had a pleasant flight to Atlanta.  I did score First Class so the I was able to have some hot tea and snooze a little.  With a little over an hour layover I headed for the Sky Club by T6.  Met up with my colleague and had some cappuccino with a bagel.  Boarding in Atlanta is real fun.  When they board the Premium cabin that includes all Diamonds in Atlanta, it pretty much means half the passengers.  I didn't get a seat in first but did get a window in Economy Comfort. Better than the back or middle.  The accommodations were a little tight but livable and it was a fairly short flight to Dallas.  Arriving at Dallas early at 11:30 am made it even better.  

Now comes the rental car bus.  The first one we get to is packed so we decide to wait for the next one.  When it arrives, a whole slue of people come out of the airport and start piling on cutting in front of everyone that was already waiting.  We were packed in like sardines.  The gentleman standing behind me was at the doors and you could here the wind coming through them as we made our way to the rental car facility.  Every time the bus turned a corner I almost imagined the guy flopping out as the doors popped open.  We finally made it to the facility and on the board for Avis Preferred had CTR next to my name. So out to the Preferred Center I went to find out what car we were getting.  They gave us a Mitsubishi SUV.  Roomy enough to fit all our bags and us.  I set up the blue tooth for my phone, plugged in the address for my GPS and off we went.  It would be a 2 hour drive from Dallas to Palestine, TX so we stopped for lunch at a Denny's along the way.  After all the holiday foods I wanted to cut back so I had a grilled chicken sandwich.  We arrived at the customers facility by 3:30 pm.  We replaced the suspected part and the system worked.  I rewired all the temporary wiring I had done last year so they could run and tested the system.  There was another problem but with the equipment connected to ours and helped them fix that problem as well.  Once we were finished we packed up and headed towards our next customer.  We planned on staying at a midway point as we did last time in College Station, TX.  We chose the same TownePlace Suites we had stayed at last time.  Finally ending our day at 7 pm when we checked in.  The rooms are very nice and spacious.  Many restaurant choices as well.  We opted not to go anywhere else tonight and figured we'd meet downstairs at 7 am to checkout.  We'll have breakfast at the Denny's up the street as we did on our last trip here.

Tomorrow we head to Alleyton, TX...

Arrived in San Marcos, TX

     The trip to the airport went smooth.  I didn't get my upgrade to Atlanta but it is times like this that keep us humble plus I was just going to sleep anyway.  I had some time between flights so I stopped into the Sky Club for a bagel, cappuccino and some email.  From Atlanta to San Antonio was first class but it was a fairly old 757.  Watched a movie on my iPhone through the Delta Studio app.  The luggage arrived in a timely manner which doesn't happen too often.  After riding the rental car shuttle over to Avis I needed to check-in at the Preferred counter.  It seems they didn't have the style vehicle I had reserved and offered me a Caravan or a Mustang.  Another perk of status and being an Avis First member allowed me to get a Mustang upgrade at the same price as the reserved vehicle.  So yes, I picked the Mustang.  Although I'm not a fan of them, it is a nice change from the usual cars I end up with.  The problem with the Mustang is that it is difficult to see out the sides and you're looking over the hood to see what's in front of you.  The trunk is actually quite large but the opening can be a challenge.  I've had several upgrades over the years, Mustang, Challenger and the Camaro.  Honestly I must say that I'd pick the Challenger if I had a choice of the three.  It's a sports car but is still practical for the traveling person regarding luggage and in my case tools.

     I checked into the Hampton Inn and Suites in San Marcos.  Conveniently located right off of I-35 with several restaurants and downtown close by.  The room is spacious and the breakfast area is the typical layout that they have changed to over the last year.  The staff at check-in was very friendly and I picked out my two goodies for my status.  The location is great because it is within 3 miles of where we are working.  They have an exercise area and an outdoor pool, although it may seem warm to me coming from 2 deg F to 51 deg F, I'd say the pool is off limits for me anyway.  It is open and looks very clean and may even be heated.

     When looking for restaurants we found that many were closed on Mondays.  This was the case with The Root Cellar Cafe and the Tap Room.  We settled for a little sports bar that seemed to be out of most everything.  They served wing, which they were out of, pizza and sandwiches.  The sandwiches were good but not enough for me to remember the name of the place.  It is located in downtown San Marcos near the Texas University.  If I find the name before the end of the trip, I'll list it.  It was interesting and may be worth at least a stop in once.  The bartender was very personable and friendly.

Well that concludes day one, until tomorrow then....

Getting ready for the trip to Texas

     Now this should have been posted yesterday but I'll give you a quick overview of trip preparation.  Everybody travels a little differently and has different packing skills and necessities.  I generally have my suitcase always at the ready.  When I get home, everything gets washed and then repacked.  Of course there are the times when one might take some time off and hopefully, if you're a road warrior, you do take some well needed time off.  Times like this would have been my last two weeks of vacation over the holidays to spend time with my family.  This is the only time that the items in my luggage may find another place of residence.  I make every effort to keep everything centrally located for ease of packing but sometimes items may stray.  I started gathering my necessities two days prior to today so that I could go over what I had and find what I may have missed.

     Since I perform service repair, some of my needed items include more then just a change of clothes and toiletries.  I have separate work clothes, safety gear and tools that have to be considered as well.  Dealing with different facilities and different equipment also require several kinds of troubleshooting cables and software.  At times I must even pack some replacement parts or modules that may be needed as well.  Today my suitcase weighed in at 50.5 lbs, just over the usual airline limit.  Delta let me slide on that, so status does make a difference at times.  Hilton now lets you check-in a day in advance so I took advantage of this to select the room I wanted to stay in.  Also I checked in through the Delta app on my iPhone, which I can use it for my boarding pass or print it out at the kiosk when I drop off my luggage at the airport.  

     I also take some time to check that I'm not carrying anything that won't get through TSA.  On occasion, I will get the little bottles of water in first class and stick them in my carry-on backpack.  These are not allowed to go through TSA screening.  I have been flagged on many occasion by forgetting about them.  Since this bag goes with me even when I'm not working, I need to stay mindful that I didn't inadvertently placed a forbidden item inside.  Even a seasoned traveler can slip up from time to time.

     Now that the packing is taken care of, it's time to get some sleep because 2:30AM comes pretty quick.  With having some bad weather in the area plus a little over an hour drive to the airport, I want to be alert for my 6AM flight.  I can always snooze on the plane.

Next up is my first trip of the New Year...

Dedication of this blog...

This Blog is dedicated in the loving memory of my mother in-law Bernadette Bickert.

She had told me before her passing that with all the traveling that I do, I should write about it so others could benefit from the places I see and the things that I do.

So lets get started...

     Since this week is a holiday week, I'm evidently not traveling but plans have been set for weeks for the following week to travel.  First thing Monday morning I'll be heading to the Des Moines International Airport to catch a Delta flight to Atlanta.  From there I'll be heading to San Antonio, TX and driving to Hampton Inn and Suites in San Marcos, TX.  I'll be meeting up with a co-worker to service a costumer in the area.  It's not the first trip I've ever made to Texas but it will be my first flight into San Antonio.  My choices were Austin or San Antonio and the layover in Atlanta was a little more favorable flying to San Antonio.  Now of course I am a little bias towards flying Delta, being a Diamond Medallion and all.  For the record, I have flown the other airlines out of DSM and Delta is the best choice for getting to where I want, when I want.  My co-workers tend to fly Southwest which is fine but the flights out of DSM are limited.  They agree that I should stick with what works.  Now my boss, who lives near Atlanta, is a Delta fan since Atlanta is their main hub.  Hopefully I will still be able to contribute to some knowledge of airports, hotels and restaurants just the same.  Last year I had 151 segments of flights (sat on 151 different planes) and flew over 125,000 miles.  I've sat in the back, middle and up in first class, rode in the CRJ to the Boeing 767 and the occasional prop-job with Alaskan Airlines when flying around Washington and Oregon.  I'll keep you informed with what looks to be another busy year for me.

Cheers and Happy New Year!