Category: Travel

Categories
Travel Weather

Monday Night Countdown

Here are today’s TOP 5 travel events as experienced by me:

1.  Shortly After 9:30 AM CDT – I arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. It’s chilly and rainy outside. It’s unusually quiet inside. There’s no lines at the self-service kiosks, the ticket / check-in counters, or even the security checkpoints. I’m amazed.

2.  11:20 AM CDT – That’s when my American Airlines flight was supposed to depart for Miami International Airport. That didn’t happen. The flight (apparently originating from Kansas City) couldn’t land at DFW due to the heavy rains and the low ceilings. It flew right past us to Austin.

3.  1:45 PM CDT – Two gate changes later – including a trip on the Skylink (monorail) to a completely different terminal on the other side of the airport – and my flight was ready to take-off. Apparently this was the same flight that was diverted to Austin. It replaced a previous Austin to Dallas flight (that was cancelled), and it became the new DFW to MIA flight. Who’s confused ?

4.  1:57 PM CDT – We actually pulled away from the gate at DFW some 2 hours and 37 minutes late. Our co-pilot was a laugh riot over the intercom system. I think that he would make a great radio deejay – or a cruise director. He sounded like a loud Chicagoan – not that there’s anything wrong with that.

5.  Shortly Before 6:00 PM EDT – I’m back home at MIA – nearly 3 hours later than originally scheduled. That puts me al aeropuerto at the heart and soul of the evening rush hour. My suitcase was one of the first dozen to show up on the baggage carousel (a miracle), so I did a grab and go. On to the shuttle that showed up rather quickly (another miracle). It picked me up and delivered me to my car at the off-site parking. Through the Dolphin Expressway / Palmetto Expressway / Don Shula Expressway / Florida’s Turnpike rush hour I went and long story short here I am at home.

My long weekend vacation is now history. Home Sweet Homestead.

Categories
Blogging People Travel

Blatant Promotion

It’s nearly 8:30 PM CDT here in the northeastern suburbs of Dallas Texas, and that of course is 9:30 PM EDT back home in America’s Riviera. My long weekend vacation here in the Metroplex is nearing its end, as my flight from DFW to MIA returns back to home turf at around 3 PM tomorrow (Monday) afternoon.

‘Monday Night Countdown’ is on tap for tomorrow night here on the big green blog, and that of course leads up to the ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’.

I obviously wasn’t at Life Pointe Church in Homestead Florida this morning, so if you really wish to know what happened there then simply ask this guy, or this guy, or this guy, or this guy, or this guy, but don’t bother reading about it in writing because none of them really blog much anymore. That’s right – I’ve pretty much been abandoned deep in the blogosphere, but it’s all good. I will single-handedly hold down the blogging fortress until the next generation of fresh new bloggers emanate from the crowds.

Until we blog again think global, act local, and keep your radio tuned right where it is. This is NBC – the National Broadcasting Company.

Categories
Animals Bugs Travel Weather

The Major’s Walk-A-Thon: Special On-Location Edition – Dallas Zoo

Dallas Zoo

Yesterday me and my brother visited the Dallas Zoo for the first time ever.

Here are my takeaways – ‘Mini Thoughts’ style:

– It’s an old zoo – established way back in 1888 !
– It’s the largest zoo in Texas – covering 95 acres alongside I-35.
– We were there for about 3 hours.
– It was a hot and humid day in Dallas with heat indices in the mid-90s.
– The zoo is expanding !
– A whole new area of ‘Wilds Of Africa’ called ‘The Savanna’ is under construction.
– The penguins were soaking wet – and hot.
– We got up close to a Western Lowland Gorilla.
– Only a strong window separated him from us.
– He just laid against the window as all of us humanoids watched his every move.
– He would look at us sometimes in a curious yet friendly manner.
– He was most interested in scratching his itches.
– He’s just like you and me !
– Much of the ‘Wilds Of Africa’ exhibit is seeable via the monorail alone.
– So we took the monorail around the continent.
– It was a cool 25 minute tour through the wilds from up above.
– The chimps were not out to play.
– They were in seclusion due to the birth of a new member of their family.
– We walked through an entire exhibit on BUGS !
– Bugs are constantly working at creating a new habitat for themselves.
– The’re never satisfied with what they have.
– Bugs – The’re just like you and me.
– We saw ENORMOUS tortoises crawling around.
– The’re the biggest of their species in the entire world.
– They were just taking their time to get from Point A to Point Z.
– The’re OLD !
– MASSIVE ALBINO ALLIGATOR !
– Check out this recent newspaper article on it.
– I don’t think that I’ve ever seen one like this before.
– It’s 9-feet in length, 200 pounds, and totally white.
– It doesn’t appreciate the Sun, and it’s blind.
– As we watched from a boardwalk above it was feeding time.
– But the albino alligator wasn’t very hungry.
– The other standard alligators around him were hungry though.
– A lot of the animals outside were hidden away.
– They were probably too hot.
– I wondered how those African animals cope with the snow in the winter.
– The zoo is open year-round, and it can get totally freezing here in Dallas.
– Only the soaking wet penguins would appreciate that !
– We had a fun time at the zoo.
– We both agreed that it was bigger and nicer than we originally thought.
– We’ll hopefully visit it again in a couple of years.
– Maybe on my next visit to Texas we can visit the Fort Worth Zoo.
– That would be cool, as I so dig hangin’ out with the animals.
– The’re just like you and me !

Categories
Animals Blogging Food Health Music Travel

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– As I begin typing this blog entry it’s 10:12 PM CDT in North Texas.
– That makes it 11:12 PM EDT back home in America’s Riviera.
– I got in to DFW just before 5:30 PM CDT.
– The airport has more germs per square foot than any other place in the world.
– It doesn’t really matter what airport I’m talking about.
– I take that back because airplanes are even more germ-infested.
– Cough. Sneeze. Cough. Sneeze. Cough. Sneeze. It’s the soundtrack of my flight.
– Backpacks and suitcases of all shapes and sizes should be banned as carry-on.
– Those should be mandatory check-in items.
– I listened to my hits on my iPod Shuffle while inflight 7 miles above the ground.
– I even took a short cat nap.
– My brother and his wife picked me up, and we went directly to Fuddruckers.
– I haven’t eaten there since – the last time that I was here in the Dallas area.
– I had a half-pound bacon swiss cheeseburger with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles.
– That’s shredded lettuce, two tomato slices, and a mound of pickles.
– I don’t add any ketchup or mustard to Fuddruckers burgers.
– Tomorrow morning me and my brother are headed to the Dallas Zoo.
– Both of us plan to take a lot of pictures of us with the animals.
– I plan to pull a Kelly J. by posting an all-picture blog entry to mark the event.
– Tomorrow night is ‘Blogroll Review’ night.
– You’ve gotta be in it to win it.
– Make sure that you get your blogs updated between now and then.
– One of you reading this will win this week’s covetted ‘Major Bloggie Award’.
– Will it be you ?
– Well I’ve had a real long day today.
– I woke up shortly after 5 AM EDT this morning.
– That was nearly 19 hours ago.
– I’m ready to call it a day.
– Until we blog again peace be with you.
– And also with you.