Rock, Hard Place

or Yay, Pepperoni!

The Saturday morning flight out of Ohare was delayed 45 minutes — probably because the airport was packed with travelers wanting to get an early start on their holiday. We made up most of that time in the air. But then lost it again at the Palm Springs car rental. The Budget Fastbreak desk was a misnomer on both counts.

It was mostly an easy flight. We were two and two; Pam sat next to Nola, and I sat next to Judah. Judah had lots of questions…

How high are we?
How fast are we going?
When will we get there?
Are we there yet?
Why is this so boring?
What does that light do?
How high are we?

We landed in Palm Springs and it was beautiful, maybe a little cooler than we expected. But there was sun — something we hadn’t seen in Chicago for a few weeks — and the sun felt good. Or maybe it was seeing all the palm trees.

We drove to my folks in Rancho Mirage and had a bite to eat. A bagel, some fruit. Pam took a quick nap, and then a quicker nap after that.

“Just 15 more minutes, ok?”

She was tired. We were all tired, but the window was closing. We had friends staying fifteen minutes away…