Travel Day 1: Dulles Airport (January 8, 2011)

Ride to the airport: No traffic, courteous driver and companions, good conversation, fun radio station (classic rock). Grade: A+

The drop-off: Hugs from Nicky and Brian, butterflies in the stomach (mine), some tears (not mine), pang off homesickness (mine, for a person, not a place... when I get homesick it's always for a person). Grade: B, marked down slightly because of that mild sinking feeling in my stomach.

Check-in: Electronic kiosk and friendly desk staff, fast and easy. Grade: A

Security: Surprisingly fast and non-intrusive. Dulles has greately expanded its security area since I was here last. There are a lot of x-ray machines and a lot of staff. No enhanced pat-down or, as the TSA agent who answered my questions called it "The Full Monty." I guess that means if I ever score my enhanced patdown, someone is going be naked. And at least one TSA agent has a sense of humor about it.  Grade: C for efficiency and friendliness, significantly downgraded because most of these supposed "essential" security measures are a load of baloney.

Trip to the gate: Praise the lord, I did not have to ride on that bizarre giant bus that everyone hates so much. Instead, Dulles now has a people-mover/train, then some wide underground walkways to get us to our gates. Grade: B because it would still be a hike for handicapped or older people.

Wait at the gate: Sadly, the gate area is still the old and crowded Dulles that I remember from previous trips. There's not enough seating and not enough space, especially since everyone is now required to get to the airport so much earlier than we used to. (An aside to Nicky... you were right, 3 hours ahead of time would have been too early to arrive at the airport. It turned out 2 hours was also too early, but I'd rather be early than having heart palpitations on the Dulles Toll Road because I'm afraid I'll miss my flight.) The gate agents are also not super communicative and some guy with one too many bags is unaware that his butt is about 6 inches from my face. Grade: C-

Wifi Access: We have to pay for it!?! Seriously, Dulles, every coffee shop in the country offers it for free, and you should too, you cheap mofos. Until you do, you suck and you get an F.

The flight [reviewed after landing]: Quiet, orderly and on time. I was expecting the flight (and pretty much every flight on this trip) to be a circus, especially on a completely full flight like that one. Good job, United. I even managed to sleep for a few hours, probably because I finally felt relaxed. Grade: A- with the minus because coach stinks no matter how nice the flight.