Another delayed post....and the "trip of a lifetime."

Well, I lied.........I didn't do a good job of keeping up on my posts. Here it is February 2nd, almost 2 months since my last posting........I'm a very bad boy!.....anyway, I'll try to catch you up with what's been happening.

The big news in December was the weather. It was COLD AND SNOWY! Christmas happened, but all of our schedules were changed..either moved up a day or two or delayed significantly due to the weather. But, despite all that, we still had a wonderful Christmas! Probably the biggest change this year was that the "Pratt Christmas" was not held at our house. Gail had moved into her new home earlier this year, and she hosted Christmas for the family at Hays. We had a wonderful time!

A couple of weeks ago (mid-January), Lynn and I went down to Goddard/Wichita on a double mission. In the a.m., we watched Kennedy's "fun-ball" team CREAM the other team in basketball. We were about 30 minutes late, as we had a blow-out on Interstate on the way there. Then, after lunch, all of us - the Gottschalks included - drove out to Augusta and picked out a little West Highland Terrier puppy from a litter of three. They were only 6 weeks old, so we won't pick our little girl (Vegas) up until the 20th of February.

Now....the "trip of a lifetime".....I hope. Last week, Lynn was on a Human Resources trip to Advance Auto's national headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia. I had dropped her off at the airport in Wichita on Monday, and I was supposed to meet her at 10:30 pm on Thursday. As the week went on, predictions for bad weather got more and more definate. On Thursday, they were predicting it would hit Wichita about 6 pm.

As Lynn was boarding her return flight home, they announced that the flight was oversold and they needed 5 passengers to give up their seats. When she found out that there was alternative transportation available which would terminate in Kansas City - and she would get a round-trip voucher - she jumped at it.....so my job was simple: Leave Salina at 6 pm and meet her at KC at 9:20......should have been simple.

Since it had been a while since I had been to KC's airport, I took along our Tom Tom navigator "just to be safe." We had a very save trip...all was going well...until I was on "final approach" to the airport...coming in on I-29 South toward the airport where there is a branch off with I-435. The Tom Tom told me to take 435 toward St. Louis. I wasn't sure, but the highway does exit off to the right toward the airport, so I followed it...knowing that I should see airport signs in just a mile or two.......or three........or......four.........or 5........or..........6......................Where the Hell are the airport signs? After a little while more, the Tom Tom told me to exit on highway 169 and then make the next turn left..............That left me in the middle of an unlighted residential area of Riverside, Missouri...............I was Lost!!!!

I decided to turn around, go to 169 and back on 435 (which would have been a disaster, as it was taking me away from the airport-although I didn't know it at the time.) Just as I was about to get to the access ramps for 435 my cell phone rang with Lynn informing me that her flight had just touched down....now the pressure was on to get there. Luckily, the call distracted me and I took the wrong ramp, ending up on a two lane rural street/highway. About a 1/2 mile ahead I found a 24 hours store, ran in and asked the people there how to get to the airport. They had two or three ideas, all confusing....Finally, the clerk said, "why don't you just stay on this street, going the opposite way, and it will take you right to the airport." When I asked how far, she said, maybe 4 miles. Another guy there said more like 3 miles. Just look for the signs.

A mile or two down the road I saw a very small sign saying KCI, and I smiled...and drove, and drove, and drove.....no lights-no people-no signs.....no airport. Finally, I saw another 24 hour store and drove in there. I asked the old decrepit guy behind the counter how to get to the airport..........................he looked me in the eye and said: "take an airplane." I didn't know whether to hit him or collapse laughing. Finally, he must have seen how exasperated I was and told me that I was on the right road.....just a couple more miles........................As I drove into Terminal A, Lynn was hauling her luggage out of the door..............but the trip wasn't over.

After checking into the Hampton Inn, we went to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. I told the waitress to bring me a Double Jack Daniels to start! When we returned to the Hampton and got to our room, we tried to turn on the wall heater (remember there was a winter storm brewing), and it didn't work. The desk sent up their "engineer" (label that old, retired, redneck)...He came in, pushed the same buttons we had and said..."This soldier is dead!" He moved us into the adjoining room, with what looked like a new heater. ...... every time it kicked on........all night long, it started with a screech and a howl---waking us up. Then, just after we woke up, there was a knock at the door....the maintenance person was there to fix the furnace. We told him to come back, in no uncertain terms............The good news is, that although we didn't know it yet, our luck was about to turn around.

When we went to check out, and the desk person heard about our heater problems, she "comped" our stay. Since it was on an Advance Auto credit card, that wasn't our greatest reward. After checking out, we went to the Corner Cafe in Riverside for a great breakfast. Then we went to the Argosy Casino.......After about 15 minutes, Lynn hit 4 Aces on a double bonus Video Poker machine and won $200. The trip was getting better by the minute.

After leaving there we headed west. We stopped at Lawrence to see Evan (our son) and have dinner where he works. (Mrs E's-on campus). And after that, we went on home.....................Very tired of traveling!!!

This weekend, we plan to meet Kem and Sharla in Topeka for a Fort Hays State BB game. Next week, I am to travel with Ed to one of his energy company meetings in Atlanta for 4 or 5 days, and then the following Saturday we are to pick up our new puppy. Oh, and the week after that the Pratt's are having a gathering in Hays...........What a month!