My grandma came and took me to the airport yesterday. We stopped at the 5-8 for lunch first. mmm Roadhouse burger!! Then it was off to MSP airport! Ok, I forgot how confusing airports can be - signs seem to disappear, even when they are the size of, well, me! Finding the bag drop gave me my first round of issues. Once that was done, I hopped in the growing line for the security checkpoint. The guy in front of me had a carry-on bag with a new PUPPY in it! I learned that you can carry on a puppy/cat if they can fit in the size bag he had - and there are only 2 allowed per flight! The guy was really nice and we chatted through most of the line as we waited to be scanned/groped, whichever your preference. But, to my surprise, myself and the majority of the people in line had to do NEITHER of those things! We just put our things in the bins and then walked through the metal detector! Nice! After that, I put my shoes back on, grabbed my stuff, and was off to the magical land of the terminal. Seriously, after the checkpoint, it is like the golden gates had been opened! There are full-fledged restaurants in there, a TON of shopping places - some of which I have never heard of and a lot of people roaming about. I tell you one thing, the airport is where the people-watching is AT! WOW!
The wait time for my plane once I had made it through the checkpoint and down to gate C-10 (I think it was the 2nd to last gate at the terminal, naturally) I had about an hour to an hour and a half until we boarded our plane. Nevertheless, time went by pretty quickly. I at one point roamed around a little in the terminal looking at some of the stuff they have there before settling in on one of the waiting chairs at the gate.
Boarding went pretty smoothly. For the boarding time, there was a guy in high school, (I later learned from St. Louis Park who was traveling to TX to look at colleges with his dad in the row behind us) and no one in the aisle seat. After the rest of the people had gotten on, the dad came up and ended up sitting next to me. They were both nice once we started talking. We didn't talk for too long, but I think what got us started was the SCREAMING toddler a few rows back. Oh it was BAD! Nothing was working for the kid and you just wanted to go back and see if there was anything you could do for the poor parents. oy vey! It just makes you feel bad for the parents! Finally they were able to calm him down for a short period of time so I was actually able to concentrate on my book. Seriously, the kid's blood curdling screams caused me to read and re-read the same sentence and paragraph in the book numerous times over. But I guess the upside was that I was able to get a little ways into the book on the trip down! The flight seemed rather short - about 2 hours.
After we landed, I texted Ben and let him know that I had just landed and that I had to head to baggage claim yet before I would be outside to meet him. Okay, the Austin airport is SO nice! The moment I got off the plane and out of the gate - I was like wow...very nice! I made my way to the baggage claim and who was sitting there waiting for me?! BEN! haha! It was so good to see him and a surprise that he actually came into the baggage claim area! I ran over, gave him a hug and waited for my bag to drop onto the carousel. Boy, was it HOT here! I wasn't quite ready to be thrown into that, but once the baggage came, we headed out to the parking ramp, I was sweating! Good thing I brought some capris, tanks and flip flops! I am going to get some good use out of those!!
After the airport, we made our way to his apartment (very nice by the way) we dropped off our stuff, let Hurley - his dog outside and then went back in and contemplated where to go for dinner. He decided to take me to Rudy's - a texan BBQ place. OMG yum! I might have to go back and get a bottle of their BBQ sauce for my dad...After dinner, we came back to the apt and hung out, watched some tv and just chilled. so nice - and I still cannot get over the weather here! Crazy!
All that I think may be on the docket for today is an awesome doughnut place, maybe the dog park, maybe the pool, and later, possibly meeting up for drinks with his aunt and going out with one of his bartender friends afterward? Not really sure, but we'll figure it out. I think Saturday is going to be our day to bum around Austin and go see some cool stuff there. I am really really excited to see the Zilkner garden!
Okay, that's all the update I have for now! I just have to wait for Ben to wake up before we can start the day!
-L
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