UA8024 IAD PVD 0815 0944 ERJ 4C

Boarding, I dono, as I arrived in the middle of it.
Quick, moderately loaded flight, most of which I slept
through. I did note that the pax who had been jubilant
about getting 1A, 2A, and 3A were somewhat less so when
told to go behind row 15 for weight and balance. My choice
of 4C looked pretty good. I snoozed well in 4C.

We got in pretty early, and I'd never seen the new WN
terminal at BWI, and I've seen PVD a zillion times, so
I scampered to the gate to see if I couldn't get on the
9:30. No gate agent. After that flight left, I waited 15
minutes to find out that as I had what the nasty lady said
was a "heavily discounted Internet fare" (the receipt said
$400 plus 68 in taxes, which is $25 more than the walkup
fare on DL/NW) I'd have to pay 130.00 (the difference from
full Y) to get on the 10:30! I said it probably wasn't
worth it. What I really wanted to say was, well, beyond
words. Others say that Southwest does well by them. This
airline has, on the contrary, consistently treated me
shabbily and actually refused to let me use travel credits
from a cancelled flight several times, until they expired.

I went to the nice quiet US Air end and fiddled with the
computer (began this report, actually) for 3 hours.

WN 141 PVD BWI 1405 1525 733 17A

I obediently queued up about ten deep in group B and had a
rather jolly chat with a retired archeologist who was quite
happy that I was going to Albuquerque and Santa Fe. We
started chatting by telling Southwest jokes, then airline
jokes, then railway jokes. And while we chatted, they called
group B, and all these young people crashed the line, damn
them. So I was lucky to get a window at all. Slept through
the flight; woke to a shrewish agent screaming, do you want
to get off the plane or don't you? This would have been a
bit of an embarrassment but for the fact that she had been
yelling at the people in row 5 or 6.

My sweetie was there at the gate to console me with kisses,
and we went off to Church's for a snack. Terminal A, though
airy and potentially okay, has been crapped up with lots of
cheap-... shops and junk restaurants. As the main reason I'd
wanted to get on the earlier flight was to see the new digs,
it wasn't such a big deal that I waited at Providence, where
there was a quiet place to tap away, rather than at this
waste-of-opportunity zoolike facility. Carol had the chicken
fingers, which tasted sour and were as nasty as the general
consensus about the place. On the other hand, two thighs
were moist, fresh, tasty. On the other other hand, a side of
okra was greasy, slimy, squishy, and altogether horrid.

WN2081 BWI ABQ 1645 1915 73G 7EF

We had just enough time to wash our hands and get in line
at the nether end of group A and B, respectively. Carol
went ahead to claim some spaces, and I enjoyed listening
to the interesting problems of people in the end of group
B and group C. One lady was adamant on getting on this
plane ahead of us, as she was group A. Problem was, of
course, that not only had she missed the A cattle call and
thus had no standing, but in addition to that, she held a
boarding pass for a Denver flight, and we were going to
Albuquerque. There were a bunch of Cs trying to crash the
line, and other phenomena, such as the guy who hoped that
we would go to Tucson first, as he was behind schedule.

Carol got a prime seat in row 7 and had put her tiny bag
in the overhead, so there was room for mine when I got
there, heh heh. Flight took off on time, bumpily, flew
fast, bumpily, and landed half an hour ahead, I was ready
to say bumpily, but actually the landing was very clean.

I had a Bourbon with a water back, paid for with coupons
provided by TransWorldOne. The FA had me repeat my order
and then have me describe what I meant. I guess he doesn't
sell much Bourbon.

The snack services are: peanuts and a box of Nabisco
products - peanut butter cheese crackers, Fig Newtons, and
low-fat Wheat Thins in the 100 Calorie pack (you get a small
handful of them; I remarked that you could get one of those
330 mL Guinness bottles and consume the same number of
Calories with much greater satisfaction).

Carol had made a reservation at the Econo Lodge Old Town,
which is actually right near Old Town and is quite pleasant
in a declasse way. The accommos are decent and clean, and
the staff are friendly. They recommended that we walk into
Old Town (about 4 to 6 blocks) and see what was open.

So we walked around sniffing the air until we came to the
Church Street Cafe, in one of the oldest buildings (a former
residence) in Albuquerque. It looked kind of dubious, but
we accosted some folks leaving, asking how it was. They said
it was terrific, and in fact their friends, who were locals,
had sent them there. Turns out we got there just in time:
the greeter informed us that they'd just closed (it was
around 9:30), but no problem.

The place was still hopping, but I did notice that most
folks were well into their meal by the time we were seated.

The usual chips and salsa were pretty decent, the latter
offering a pleasant tingle.

I ordered carne adovada, a respectable version, somewhat
mild, sided with rice (nasty) and spinach (underseasoned
but for some chopped jalapenos); Carol had the combination,
Christmas, with chile relleno, pork tamale, and a cheese
enchilada - these were of a decent standard, no surprises.

Carol downed a couple agave margaritas - these are made
not from tequila but from agave wine, which makes them
less lethal but with more of the agave spiciness. I had
a Rio Grande Outlaw Lager, a decent amber-colored beer,
followed by the Rancho Verde Chile Beer, which tasted quite
green and with a bit of spicy kick, but hardly any beer
taste. Could have been vodka and soda with jalapenos, for
all I could tell.

For afters, sopaipillas. They were really closing the
kitchen, so we got one nice puffy one, two semi-nice
semi-puffy ones, and one failure, which we didn't eat.

Next day we discovered that our motel had those advertising
cards entitling each diner to one of those weak margaritas
for free.