At least she's scheduled to. With all of our problems with Northwest/Delta yesterday regarding flight schedules, cancelled flights and rescheduling issues, who knows for sure.
This morning the temperature is right around 32 degrees, the sky is gray and there is a light snow/rain mix falling on and off. The winds are calm.
I'm going to take care of cleaning chores around the house, then sometime around 1:30 p.m. John and I are going to go fishing. I figure even if we stay out three hours, that will still give me plenty of time to have dinner, take a shower and go into Cass Lake and Bemidji to the liquor store and grocery store before I have to pick up Kathleen at 11:30 p.m. It will be a long day and a late night for both of us.
John and I went fishing from 2:30 to 5:00 p.m. The rain had stopped, the wind was calm, the sky was gray and overcast with just a few spots of blue and the temperature was 37 degrees. We fished the entire time at The Birches.
Unlike yesterday the bite was slow. I caught a number of small- to medium-sized perch, as did John, but he added a couple of nice jumbos that went into the live well. I also caught a small northern.
When we came ashore I received a call from Kathleen saying her flight was delayed. Delta/Northwest has got to be the lamest airline in the nation. Both were bad before the merger, and now after the merger things have gone from bad to worst. I'm not alone in feeling this way. Check out this guy's blog entry.
At 6:30 p.m. CDT, I checked and Kathleen's flight had taken off from SF and was due to arrive in Minneapolis at 9:37 p.m. Her flight to Bemidji departs at 10:10 p.m., so she just might have enough time to make it if she runs very fast. I'm going to drive into Bemidji in hopes she makes the flight, but there is a good chance I'll be driving in tomorrow morning as well if she misses her connection.
Did I mention that Delta/Northwest suck?
As I was typing this Kathleen sent me a text message saying the flight has NOT yet left SF. Northwest's web site says the plane left at 4:15 p.m. PDT, but at 4:41 p.m. PDT Kathleen sent me her text saying that they're still on the ground. What a horrible airline!
Kathleen's plane finally took off from SF at 5:00 p.m. PDT, or 7:00 p.m. CDT. I've been on this flight dozens of times, and the fastest I've ever made it from SF to Minneapolis is around 3 hours. Which means even if the plane finds some incredibly strong tailwinds, it is unlikely that Kathleen will make her connection to Bemidji, which is scheduled to leave at 10:10 p.m. CDT.
I called Kathleen's sister Mary, and Mary has agreed to meet Kathleen at the airport in Minneapolis should she miss her flight. Kathleen would stay at Mary's tonight and catch either a flight tomorrow morning, or if Northwest can't get her on that flight, then Kathleen will probably rent a car and drive up here. Northwest is a horrible airline.
It is now 9:30 p.m. and according the flight map on NWA.com, Kathleen's flight is still over South Dakota. It is looking less and less likely that Kathleen will be here at Leech Lake today.
Kathleen finally landed in Minneapolis at 10:30 p.m. Her flight to Bemidji had been pushed back to 10:29 p.m., could Kathleen run so fast to her next gate to arrive at the gate before they close the door.
Luckily Kathleen is a runner in good shape. She ran 15 minutes to the gate only to find out that the Bemidji flight was delayed until 11:30 p.m. The plane actually left Minneapolis at 11: 50 p.m. and didn't arrive in Bemidji until 1:00 a.m.
We made a quick stop at the hated Wal-Mart for half-n-half, milk and bread for breakfast, and drove back to the lake. We finally made it home around 2:30 a.m. I was right earlier in the day when I said it would be a long day and a late night for both of us.
The good news is Kathleen is here at Leech Lake.
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