Sunday December 20th - Day 1 of fly and drive trip to Oregon - Flying from Rochester NY to Eugene OR

After yesterday's hike, Brian dropped me off at the Rochester Airport Best Western  and I did my best to go to bed very early.  First I had a short but intense workout in the increasingly precious fitness center which, unlike at our apartment complex, was still open.  Then I took a bath using the Epsom salts I brought from home.  Finally I watched a little Hulu in bed before trying to sleep.  The sleep quality was somewhere in that vast middlle between great and awful.  It took a while to fall asleep but once I fell asleep the few times I woke in the night were brief.  As is often the case, the best sleep was probably the minutes just before my iPhone obediently blasted 'Rich' by Maren Morris.  The 45 minutes I allotted to get ready this morning flew by and I was borderline frantic for the last few minutes before heading out to the van for the very short ride to the terminal.

I was pleased to see that Dunkin was open and not busy so I got a Beyond Sausage sandwich which is by far my favorite item on their entire menu.  I am writing this first part of today's entry from my gate in Rochester.  Thankfully it's time to board the first of my 3 (!) flights today.

Really big TV console video game at Rochester's airport


Cool Christmas light show in tunnel of Detroit's airpor



Really dirty carpet and seating at Seattle's airport


I'm not sure what the issue is but Sea-Tac continues to be an also ran airport.  For as long as I've been flying through it (about 15 years) it has always been a little thread bare, a little crowded and a little dated.  It is operated by the Port of Seattle but it shows none of the vibrancy or welcoming spirit that Portland's airport, owned by the Port of Portland, shows.  I looked around concourse A and B for dining options. Some were open, some were not as I expected with Covid.  But some, like the Manchu Wok appear to never have had dedicated seating and once you pick up your to-go package of hot, steamy, wet food, where are you supposed to eat it?  I ended up eating on the counter of a Covid closed lottery kiosk.  It was awkward since it was literally in the concourse walking area but at least it had a counter that was higher than the knee height little tables in the gate seating areas.  Have you seen me eat?  I need all the help I can get and balancing hot food on one arm while shoveling it in with the other was sure to end badly.

One more flight.  2 hours to kill at SEA.  

Flight to Eugene was fast and easy. It's nice to be here finally with family.  We picked up to-go food from Red Lobster and ate it at home.  I'll probably be in bed early since I got up at 12:45 am Pacific time.

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