We took it easy this morning. I finished packing and we left around 10:05 in the Jeep.

We went through a McDonald's drive-through so J could get a Sausage Burrito and Hash Browns to go. They forgot to give us the Hash Browns, so J had to go inside to get them.

We reached Denver International Airport (DEN) around 10:55 in plenty of time for my 12:40 flight. J dropped me off and I checked in. As I was waiting to check in, it occurred to me that I couldn't take my tiny Swiss Army knife and small scissors, that were packed in my shaving case as usual when flying, with me in the one bag I was bringing to use as a carryon. So, I checked the bag and just carried my paperback in the small of my back — how stylish was that. The line was really short to go through security.

I had lunch at Villa Pizza after reaching my departure concourse, and the bottom crust of the sausage stromboli was really tough.

I reached my departure gate around 11:50 and discovered that my flight had been delayed and was now a 1:25 departure. I worked up a blog entry then did other things online through the free WiFi connection. This was to be my first flight on Southwest Airlines in years. The last time I flew with them, they didn't quite match up with the major carriers. I was flying them this time so I could take the same flight back as friends from Philly. I like to have a reserved seat and am not too fond of the open seating with Southwest. I was in the last group to board, and was practically the last person on the nearly-full plane. I wandered towards the rear of the plane in search of an aisle seat and discovered one near the back. When I got to the row, I saw that the middle seat and window seat were occupied by a mother and her two-year old — no wonder that aisle seat was open. The kid was really energetic while we were on the ground, but slept most of the time we were in the air. After I sat down, I started reading more of The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein. We stayed at the gate for a long time after everyone boarded. We finally pushed back from the gate at 2:08. The head flight attendant reminded me of Flip Wilson, and after he asked over the PA system, "Did anyone loose a wallet that looks like this?" practically all of the passengers looked up to see the flight attendants holding up the demo seat belts for the safety briefing. :) He had some other humorous additions to the safety briefing too — a nice way to start the flight. We took off at 2:18.

After leveling off, the flight attendants came around to take our drink orders, then brought around a snack tray from which I selected a bag of Ritz Chips and a bag of Chips Ahoy! Thin Crisps. The flight attendant gave me a small bag of lightly salted peanuts too — maybe all passengers are required to get peanuts. Then the flight attendants came around again with our drinks on a tray — no big cart to block the aisle. Not only was I impressed with the way the inflight service was done, I was also impressed by the flight attendants themselves — they looked like they were happy to be there and serve us. For the last several domestic flights on the major carriers, the flight attendants didn't look very happy to be there.

We touched down at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) at 7:25 (5:25 MDT). After disembarking and making a quick stop at the rest room, I stopped at a Sbarro and got a slice of sausage and pepperoni pizza and a bottle of water to consume before going to baggage claim. When I reached the baggage claim area, my bag was on the conveyor belt and I picked it up without having to wait — the dinner stop paid off. I called RA who had come to pick me up and was waiting nearby.

We reached my mother's apartment and she had a light dinner ready for me. :) We had tuna-salad sandwiches on some very tasty rye bread and Sun Chips. We split a slice of funny cake and I saved the Tastykake French Apple pie for later.

I went online through the fast Verizon Broadband signal to check my email. Then my mother and I finished up a jigsaw puzzle. My mother really enjoys putting together jigsaw puzzles, and it was nice to help her with one — it brought back good memories from my childhood.