I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane, Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again...

Oh, wait a minute, I'm already back! Today was my jet-setting, quick trip to Sacramento. I had to get my nursing license, and while I've always done this by mail in the past, in California you can get it in one day. If you go to Sacramento.

After comparing costs of driving or flying, with high gas prices, a hotel stay and the two days it would take to drive, I decided to fly. I had no idea if it would take 30 minutes in the office, or 5 hours, so I made my arrangements to land at 9am and leave again at 4pm. That seemed like a safe bet.

I got about 2.5 hours of sleep last night (you know, as a night shift worker it's sometimes hard to fall asleep before 2am -then I had to be up at 4:30 to shower and get to the airport to get through security in time for the first flight of the day). I made it to my window seat in the second row, plugged in my iPod once it was allowed, and settled in for a nice flight. When I landed, it was so nice to just pick up my shoulder bag from under the seat in front of me, and go find a taxi. I've never flown without checking baggage, and it's very freeing!

The taxi driver was friendly (more on that later...) and knew right where I was headed. It turns out that the Sacramento airport is about 20 miles away from downtown, and the Board of Nursing office is about halfway in-between. I had sort of hoped that if there was extra time I'd be able to walk around downtown and explore a bit.

Getting my license only took about 2 hours total. I had to wait for 40 minutes two different times, and the rest was pretty easy! Just paperwork that's usually filled out at home and mailed in.

When I finished, I looked at my watch and realized if I made it back to the airport right away, I could try and catch an earlier flight instead of just waiting around for a few hours. It would've been fun to explore a bit, but there wasn't anything to explore near me, and since I knew I had a lot of packing left, I decided it was worth it to get back home quicker.

I called my taxi driver back, and it turns out he gave me his phone number not only hoping I'd ask for a ride back to the airport, but that I'd join him for lunch... Since he was, well... at least 15+ years older and not at all who I'd be interested in, I was glad for the excuse of catching an earlier flight. It wasn't so much creepy as really awkward... I give him kudos for trying, but really? You think this would work?? He did ask me to keep his number for the next time I'm in town, but, well... I think it got thrown away at the airport...

I luckily got the earlier flight, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and was back home in my apartment by 3pm! I've had layovers longer than my day in Sacramento! What a strange day!

Since I still hadn't slept, I set my alarm for a quick nap, slept right through the alarm, and feel much more rested, but not at all packed... What was with that? I usually sleep GREAT on a plane (asleep before take-off, waking up during landing) but wasn't able to today. Then, I always hear my alarm, but I've missed it a couple of times lately. I have two alarms -I better start setting them both.

Well, this was a long-enough distraction from packing. I better get back to it! I'll finish packing up tonight, then load the car in the morning and leave Arizona. This has been a great apartment on Hayden Road.

That reminds me, did I ever tell you about my blind date with Hayden? It's a funny story. This was back when I lived in Arizona before and I was set up on this blind day by some friends. He took me to this restaurant called "The Salt Cellar". It's an underground seafood restaurant that was way too expensive (note to men: you don't need to spend a lot of money on a date with me -just plan something fun!). Well, as we were driving to the restaurant (on Hayden Road), I made some funny comment on how they named the road after him, and it turns out, I wasn't completely wrong! Hayden is his mom's maiden name and his great-grandfather was the first senator of Arizona! He did things like help create Grand Canyon National Park, he founded the city of Tempe, and there are lots of buildings, schools, roads, and even a mountain named after him. I guess he still holds the record for longest service in the US Congress. So, when I was driving around with Hayden on Hayden Road, I felt a little sheepish saying something! (Just for the record, he never told me all that stuff about his great-grandfather, I just read it tonight on Wikipedia --another procrastination moment.) As you can obviously tell, that date didn't work out. He's a nice guy but didn't really talk much. At all. I can usually carry on a conversation with just about anyone, but it was really a stretch here. I haven't thought about him in years, but living on Hayden Road has reminded me of him again. It was a fairly awkward date, but not the most awkward ever. That would have to be the date where I was proposed to on the first date that I didn't even know was a date. It's a HILARIOUS story that I won't publish online, but if you want to ask me about, ask away. I love telling it! (It's best told in person or on the phone, because there are specific accents and intonations used!)

Okay. Now I've procrastinated enough. I really need to pack! My next post should hopefully include pictures of my new apartment and maybe the beach? I guess I shouldn't promise anything, but I'll get to Jim and Marilyn's tomorrow night then move in on Saturday morning.

See you from California!