I love to travel, and I love taking advantage of any chance I get to ride my Glide and enjoy this beautiful country I call home. Riding my motorcycle on the open road is probably my favorite way to get from point A to point B, but due to my limited time off work, I sometimes have to chose an alternative mode of transportation. Now and then, you find yourself with too many miles to go and not enough time to get there, so enter into the equation a very expensive, and probably the most stressful mode of travel... flying!
Don't get me wrong! I love to fly! I am just usually doing it on two wheels! LOL! However, the airports can provide some of the most unusual experiences and allow you a peek a boo view of our world's most interesting individuals. Simply put, I call it "People Watching". While on my trip to Billings, Montana for Thanksgiving, here are a few of my most memorable observations.
Person # 1... Funny Man. Youngish college age dude, clean cut, dark framed glasses, carrying one back pack and very involved in reading his book. This guy seemed harmless enough, and with the shortage of open seats in the gate waiting area, I chose to sit next to F.M. Within two minutes, I noticed he would giggle every now and then and mutter some comment. I thought to myself, "Hmmm, his book must be pretty good."
This would not have been so bad, but he began to lose track of the fact, that he was in a crowded area full of strangers, because he began to outwardly laugh and giggle, while talking to himself. I noticed some people were looking at me as well, wondering if the close proximity of our seats meant that I was with him. I chose to ignore their questioning glances and kept my head down while I tried very nonchalantly to see the title of this powerful book of giggles and self conversation. Have any of you heard of
"Are you there, Vodka? It's me, Chelsea" Hmmmm. Very interesting, funny man.
Person # 2... Iron Legs.
Beautiful tall model like woman, walking at pace with the best of us, wearing... stiletto heeled fashion boots! With absolutely no exaggeration, these heels must have been at least 5 inches! We're talking tippy toe walking here folks! I would not have been able to take five steps, while holding a walker, in this pair of beautiful boots, and here this chick is, kicking it down the concourse hallway like there was no tomorrow! I was in complete awe of the woman with iron legs.
Person # 3... Dog Boy. I really feel sorry for the parents that have to put a leash on their kids. I understand that this is for their own safety, because
my mom had to put a leash on me when I was a wee tot.
(Hmmm. This explains a few things, heh?) The looks these parents have to endure from other non understanding folks, is really nothing compared to the grief they may feel if something terrible happens to an uncontrollable child who runs off from you.
While walking down the concourse hallway, I came upon such a family, waiting off to the side for their plane to start boarding. The young boy was having a good time with his tethered predicament, because he was jumping around with his tongue hanging out, and barking and yipping like a real dog. His parents didn't seem to care, as long as he didn't pull too hard, they just let him play. He stopped jumping long enough to notice me when I walked next to him, and gave me a quick smile and a pant or two. I decided to get into my inner child at that moment and gave him a playful bark in response. After, his eyes widened for a moment, he recovered quickly with an out loud giggle and we just laughed at each other as I continued past them. Nice puppy.
During a 2 hour layover in the Denver, CO airport, I discovered this Harley Davidson retail store while I was walking around. Of course I had to take a quick little look see. The first few shirts I saw had price tags on them that would have made you drop your teeth if you could. A simple T-shirt had $98.00 on it, while another one with a little more detail went for $135.00. Geez! As I meandered through the store, the very friendly clerk struck up a conversation with me. Come to find out, the three large boxes she was working out of, were all on sale. Hmmm? "Yes", she said, "just look through them. They're all $15.00 and $20.00." Jackpot! I of course found a couple of shirts to add to my bag for Harley and myself. I was very pleased with myself when I walked out of there not spending more than $35.00 and had TWO shirts! Woo Hoo!
In addition to the colorful array of people you see, and the lucky shopping stop, trying to keep up with the accurate time was another challenge. I went from Mountain time, to Eastern time, to Central time, all in an 8 hour period of time. Of course, this allows for more weirdness. Where else can you get a full Mexican meal, complete with rice and beans at 5:00 in the morning. Not only that, you can have a beer with that, or for you hard dogs... whiskey and rum is yours for the purchase! Airports are great!
I hope you forgive me for the quality of the pictures, but I tried to get some shots while I was high in the sky. I wasn't near the window much, except during my flight from Denver into Billings. I had a birds eye view.
It was really cool to watch the terrain change from flat and quilt like, to the early ripples of earth that would soon turn into mountains.
In my imagination, these clouds resembled the ocean waves breaking on a sandy surf. I thought it was kind of neat how one part of nature can mimic another part.
After all my fun flying the friendly skies, I felt like a stone skipping across the top of the water, bouncing from one airport to another. From Atlanta, to Chicago, to Denver, to Billings, then back via Billings, to Denver, to Atlanta. Not to mention, I have a two and a half hour drive between Montgomery and Atlanta, where I started all my airport fun. I appreciated the bird's eye view I had and remain amazed at the beauty our country holds.
Taking it to the road on two wheels still gives me the enjoyment and pleasure that cannot be matched, even by the view of a bird. I'm sure I'll travel by plane again, and have a little fun playing my "people watching" game. But in the mean time, riding my Glide still remains my favorite mode of travel.
Lady R
I took this pic last September during Thunder Beach Weekend while Harley and I sat and enjoyed a beer with our pals. We were at a place called "No Name's", a local bar with an outside deck, that sits at the base of the Hathaway Bridge. You're looking across Saint Andrews Bay toward Panama City's beach front area.
