I am accompanying Brady to Arkansas to see his girlfriend.  Well, he is going to see his girlfriend.  On behalf of Amanda, Jeannie, Darren, and myself; I am going to "meet the parents".  It seems that despite Brady introducing Victoria to Amanda and me and Victoria introducing Brady to HER parents (in D.C. this past Summer, where they met in person for the first time), neither of them had the good sense to introduce the parents to each other.  They then did a good job of being upset when none of us (parents) would let either of them go see the other.  Maybe some day they’ll get it. 

ANYHOW, we left Syracuse at 7:30 this morning, flew to Philly, short layover there before our flight to Charlotte, and are now waiting a couple of hours before our flight from Charlotte to Little Rock departs.  Victoria lives in Mena, Arkansas, which is about a 2.5 hour drive from Little Rock. 

Aside from looking forward to meeting new people and seeing new places and trying new food, I love watching people.  Not the same people I see day-in, day-out; but NEW people.  Some people stand out:

– The guy on the plane who thinks the safety regulations don’t apply to him and leaves his tray table down despite several instructions to raise it. 

– The parents with a very small child who get on the plane, get seated and all their luggage stowed, and then–as the last of the passengers are trickling onto the (smallish) plane–THEN ask if they have time to change the little one’s diaper.

– The older sister (about 3) of the dirty-diapered little one, the parents of whom don’t seem to think that she needs to wear a seat belt. 

– The woman in the airport terminal who sits, looking furtively around with her mobile phone stuck to her ear for over 10 minutes without saying anything.  (On hold?  Nervous?  What?)

– The women with stiletto heeled, elf-toed boots.

– The people–including myself–wandering forlornly in search of AC outlets, which airports seem to go out of their way to HIDE from people. 

Brady and I had lunch in Charlotte at a BBQ place.  I had pulled pork, a fried pickle of all things, and "hush puppies" (which I mistook for mini corn dogs but were nonetheless delicious in their own right).  We have a long layover and are lazing about the terminal awaiting our flight.

More ramblings as time permit.  And check out Facebook for more pics as the trip progresses!