interactive airport piano

I spend the morning with last minute pre-travel prep — no smelly laundry, no moldy dishes, make sure bills are paid, and then watch a hummingbird sit on one of my balcony ledge plants and look to and fro while waiting for his dining mates. Caleb will refill the feeder before we leave so they can continue to snack, flit about, and cause the tiniest stir that their rapid wingbeats and petite throats will allow.

art in the airport

Caleb is the most excited to leave that I’ve ever experienced. We get to the San Diego airport before noon and usually passengers aren’t allowed to drop off bags until three hours prior to boarding or lift-off, but the agent made an exception for us; especially since she was quick to print our three checked bag tags so the company could transfer our 90ish pounds of dive gear over 7.5 hours of flight time. We used Caleb’s airline miles to book, so we had to transfer through Denver and Houston to get to Belize.

books on display

We’ll walk to the USO for snacks before getting in the zigzagging line for security. From here, we appreciate the rotating art exhibits as we pass to use the United lounge for lunch (when traveling first class or internationally, etc. on Caleb’s membership level) which is mostly filled with people in suits talking about work, conferences, and some asshole that dropped the ball. We pass our time with cupcakes and crosswords. Caleb will let his pant legs unroll themselves as we leave the warm space to stretch our legs.

a view of the United lounge

As we walk past a gate I hear, “They’re just now deboarding.. I could’ve had another beer.. sigh.” We return to the lounge after finding a $50 on the ground. Caleb points out the guy smiling into his phone with his belt laid out on his stomach, similar to an ex-family member I shared a few meals with in Washington and Arizona, and I giggle. Then I wonder what the guy fiddling with the multiple locks on his carry-on could possibly have in there that’s so private. Caleb will bring us more snacks while we people watch and read, me having downloaded An Atlas of Extinct Countries for the flight.

our aircraft marshaller don’t step, step, he sits

I’ll also sit and think about how nice it would be if more people had access to comfier seats and fresher food (as I sit in this lush lounge), but that’s a political debate as airplane seat sizes seem to be in the news more creating heated discussions. Circumference is one topic, but people can’t choose their height and not all tall people can afford to buy more legroom. Though airlines also need to address the issue of multiple large carry-ons to avoid checked bag fees as they’re constantly having to ask for volunteers now for lack of space in overhead bins.

northeast into the sunset

One of the stories in my book was of Princess Margriet, born in Ottawa in a hospital marked as Netherland territory by the Canadian government so there’d be no issue with her as heir back home. She is currently 80 and 8th in line to the throne. We use Gate 41 to board Flight 541 and are the third passengers on board. I could get used to this type of travel. I post our first-class seats picture to Instagram and am soon formally greeted by last name for dinner, which doesn’t come in the usual easy-to-pack for later dish, so we’ll wrap the rest of Caleb’s burger in napkins.

Denver Airport at night

Dinner is bland, but the creamy, and peppery, balsamic dressing fixes that. We’ll listen to Enya, not because she is a best-selling Irish solo artist and second best musical act behind U2, but because she has a relaxing voice which provides a white noise against the din of crowds in public places. I’ll read while Caleb naps through the turbulence that leaves the seat belt sign on for most of the flight. We land in Denver at 11pm and walk a bit to find bottled water since the fountain tastes like dirt and we have five hours to wait.