Fly or Drive

Honestly, I debated long and hard about whether to fly or drive to Massachusetts this year. I drove last year after several years of flying. What finally convinced me to fly again this year was the convenience. I REALLY like to hike every day, up to five miles or more a day. But driving to Massachusetts almost certainly meant spending more time in the car rather than on the trail. The cost, I figured, was about the same. What's more, by flying, I was able to fly AND hike in the same day, even with the unexpected delay this time in getting out of Richmond. On this particular trip, I was able to hike again one of my very favorite sections of the Norwottuck Rail Trail (above).

Close Call!

It was a really close call. My plane landed in Philly shortly after 11:30am. I thought the gate where my next plane was waiting was right next door. Nope! Turned out it was on the far side of the adjacent terminal. Oh jeez! 

So I basically power walked to the next gate and arrived just in time to find that all the other passengers already boarded and the plane on the tarmac primed for flight. Sheesh! 

Still, I made it. Moments later, as soon as I was safely settled into my seat, we were barreling down the runway on our way to Hartford, Connecticut.

Flying over Freehold, New Jersey. That's the Atlantic in the background.

Weather Delays

Went away for a few days over the holiday. Caught an American Airlines (AA) connector flight from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Only the flight out of Richmond, originally scheduled to leave at 9:40am, was delayed because of all the bad weather last week in the southeastern United States. In fact, I was on my way to the airport when I got word that my own flight was going to be delayed until 10:40am. That presented me with a problem, because my flight from Philadelphia to Hartford, Connecticut, was scheduled to leave at 11:43am, leaving me almost no time to hoof it across the Philadelphia airport to my flight out. Probably not the best idea.

What to do? Well, an AA agent kindly looked up some alternatives and suggested that maybe I should catch another flight out of Richmond leaving at 9am. Well, that would have been great . . . except for the fact that even that flight was delayed until--get this--EXACTLY 10:40 am. So there I was back to square one.

Well, what to do? Again, the AA agent went to work and suggested that just maybe I could still catch the Philly flight out if she seated me at the very front of the plane, so I could make a quick exit. I was a little dubious. But short of any better alternatives, I took her up on her suggestion.

Find out in tomorrow's post what happened. :-)

View from my 10:40am flight out of Richmond, Virginia.

Corpus Clock

This last image from England was taken just moments before I hopped into an Uber ride after dinner at King's College: 

"The Corpus Clock, also known as the Grasshopper clock, is a large sculptural clock at street level on the outside of the Taylor Library at Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom, at the junction of Bene't Street and Trumpington Street, looking out over King's Parade. It was conceived and funded by John C. Taylor, an old member of the college.

It was officially unveiled to the public on 19 September 2008 by Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking. The clock was named one of Time's Best Inventions of 2008." -- Wikipedia

Wesley House

After singing at Great St. Mary's, I happened to pass by the Wesley House. Curious to see more, I was very cordially welcomed by the staff and even given a brief tour.

"Wesley House was founded as a Methodist theological college in Jesus Lane, Cambridge, England. It opened in 1921 as a place for the education of Methodist ministers and today serves as a gateway to theological scholarship for students and scholars of the Wesleyan and Methodist traditions from around the world. It was a founding member of the Cambridge Theological Federation, an ecumenical body of theological colleges in Cambridge which is affiliated to but independent of the University of Cambridge." -- Wikipedia

Cambridge

Panoramic view of Cambridge University from atop Great St. Mary's tower.

Stephen Hawking

Interesting note: Stephen Hawking's (1942–2018) funeral was held here at Great St. Mary's on 31 March 2018 prior to his cremation and interring of his ashes in Westminster Abbey.