Travel troubles

    Loftis

Some people might call me a control freak. And they wouldn’t be wrong. It’s sort of my motto to control the things I can control. I suppose a lot of people have that mantra. The rest of mine is to avoid the things I can’t control.

One way that motto manifests itself is when it comes to things that are in motion. I absolutely cannot stand to be on a moving object that I can’t control. Roller coaster? No. Helicopter? No. Kiddie ride at Silver Dollar City? Also, no, and I understand how ridiculous that is. But it’s the truth. I don’t even really like being in a moving elevator.

One surprising exception, however, is an airplane. I rather enjoy flying, as long as it’s on a commercial jet.

My first flying experience came as a college student, when a buddy who had his pilot’s license took a small group of us out from the Little Rock airport in a rented plane, then turned the engine off in mid-air somewhere over Benton. Put me on the ground now, but slowly, I told my “friend” in words not fit for this space.

A big plane is a whole different matter. I love taking the window seat and watching the ground get farther and farther away. My favorite is flying above the clouds, so that they look like a blanket of undisturbed snow.

Given all that, I was very pleased when my wife, Lisa, surprised me with a trip to Colorado to celebrate my 55th birthday about a week and a half ago. We planned to spend some time in the mountains and also take in a ballgame at Coors Field, where my Chicago Cubs were playing the Colorado Rockies.

Our itinerary was to fly out of Springfield on a Wednesday evening, land in Dallas, catch a connecting flight to Denver, then drive about an hour to the lodge where we had reservations. It didn’t turn out that way.

The plane we were supposed to catch in Springfield arrived late — so late that we missed our connecting flight. The airline rebooked us on a flight at 8:10 Thursday morning and offered to put us up in a hotel. But neither of us were excited about the prospect of going through security a second time, especially at one of the largest airports in the country. So, we decided to make it an overnight adventure and sleep in the airport.

Initially, we found our way to the gate where we’d be departing the next morning. But then I went on a recon mission and found some cushioned benches near the security desk. We each stretched out on one and got a couple of hours of fitful sleep before security woke us up just after 4 a.m. and told us we’d have to move along.

I cannot tell you how grateful I was to find an open 7-11 inside the Dallas airport at that time of day. They had coffee, and it was horrific and delicious all at the same time. A few hours later, we were finally on a plane to Denver.

By the time we picked up our rental car, we were both exhausted and I was signing whatever paper the agent put in front of me. I’m afraid to know how much we actually spent on that car. The plus side is the car was a Mercedes SUV, not the Nissan Rogue we had reserved. We finally made it to our lodge at 11 a.m. Mountain Time, 22 hours after we left our house in Berryville the day before.

On the bright side, we had a wonderful time. I had never been to Colorado before, and it was even more beautiful than I expected. We saw deer in the parking lot of our lodge and there was a gorgeous lake a mile or so away. The Cubs lost on Friday the 13th but the ballpark was one of the nicest I’ve seen. I won a little money at video blackjack (I started with $20 and finished with $50; I’m not a gambler) and we even found a Cubs-themed bar and grill on our last night there.

We’re already making plans to return to Colorado next October. This time, we’re going to drive. That way, we can take our fishing gear and not worry about missed flights. And, of course, I can be in control.

••• Scott Loftis is editor and publisher of the Carroll County News. His email address is SLoftis@CarrollCoNews. com.