As if to give us a grand sendoff, Seattle treated us to snow this morning. It looks like about 8 inches. Therefore, we obsessed about how we could get to the airport, whether the plane would take off, etc. When I woke up about 3:30, I could see dark and light patches through the window. These turn out to be snow on the evergreen trees in the backyard. Snow everywhere gives off this ethereal light that makes it almost daylight outside.
Although we tried to get going early, my dad wasn't able to get to our place until the previously appointed fair weather time of 6:30. But after having a bit of fun getting out of the top of the driveway, we were able to get on the freeway and move more slowly than normal, but fast enough to get to the airport at 7:30 for an 8:25 flight.
Of course, we don't actually take off until 9:20. This is due to them having to reattach the wings. This begs the question of why they couldn't have done the wing thing while we were getting on board and before. Alright, they were deicing the wings instead of reattaching them, but the same question applies.
I have no idea what the deicing solution is, but its wonderful bright orange color reminds me of creamsicles. Several people comment on the color - and wonder aloud how environmentally friendly it is.
I remember that Chicago has a deicing station that planes go to before they take off - but here in Seattle, they bring a truck with a Cherry Picker around to each plane. This seems inherently less efficient.
I'll have you know that Houston airport is not just international, its official name is George Bush Intercontinental (Perhaps it's related to it being a Continental hub). On the jetway, one uniformed official asks if we're carrying more than $10,000 while another draws his dog's attention to me. Fortunately, the dog is uninterested.
Of course the flight from here to Quito is delayed for who knows what reason - something to do with removing the luggage of people who didn't show up (but then, how did their luggage show up?).