It was a pest at times, it was the Dulles-est of times, wandering the concourse, one stand-by flight after another (#7 on the list, then #2, then not listed for the flight delayed past my confirmed flight).
Highlight of the day: I was on a wobbly seat near an electrical outlet outside the Red Carpet Club, when a young-ish Euro-guy saw me with my laptop, and asked about wireless internet. I told him it was spotty, and $9.99/day (and didn't work with iPass), and there were also internet kiosks. He wandered off, then returned and asked about getting to DC and back before his evening flight. Off the top of my head I knew about the Washington Flyer to the East or West Falls Church Metro (I can never remember which). He asked about cheaper alternatives, and I vaguely recalled the WMATA bus, which I found on the net (cash fare: $3.10 each way, to Rosslyn), and he headed off.
I arrived home safely (on a big ol' 777, even) on the 5:20pm flight, which took off around 6pm and landed around 9pm. Then to the BART station, where (highlight of the evening) I spotted Linc Madison, who I chatted with until his stop, and then I transferred to Fremont, where Jonathan took me home.
Lowlight of the return-trip mess: I didn't get to visit the Mack Truck Museum, just on the other side of the airport in Allentown (only open 10am-4pm, Mon-Wed-Fri): http://www.macktrucks.com/default.aspx?pageid=40
Beware the IAD's of March
Highlight of the day: I was on a wobbly seat near an electrical outlet outside the Red Carpet Club, when a young-ish Euro-guy saw me with my laptop, and asked about wireless internet. I told him it was spotty, and $9.99/day (and didn't work with iPass), and there were also internet kiosks. He wandered off, then returned and asked about getting to DC and back before his evening flight. Off the top of my head I knew about the Washington Flyer to the East or West Falls Church Metro (I can never remember which). He asked about cheaper alternatives, and I vaguely recalled the WMATA bus, which I found on the net (cash fare: $3.10 each way, to Rosslyn), and he headed off.
I arrived home safely (on a big ol' 777, even) on the 5:20pm flight, which took off around 6pm and landed around 9pm. Then to the BART station, where (highlight of the evening) I spotted Linc Madison, who I chatted with until his stop, and then I transferred to Fremont, where Jonathan took me home.
Lowlight of the return-trip mess: I didn't get to visit the Mack Truck Museum, just on the other side of the airport in Allentown (only open 10am-4pm, Mon-Wed-Fri):
http://www.macktrucks.com/default.aspx?pageid=40