Quick Trip

Over Oakland.

On Monday I parked the car at Oakland Airport and boarded the Southwest 737. The flight east was uneventful, although there were banks of storm clouds that presaged the thunderstorms that will hit Chicago later this week.

After arrival, I scrutinized the mass transit maps. If I’m traveling light, I like to take the train into the city because, compared to a taxicab, it: 1) is faster, especially during rush hour; 2) is cheaper; 3) pollutes much less; 4) offers better scenery; 5) gives one a better sense of the rhythms of the city.

I worked up a sweat hoofing my bags to the Orange line in the humid, 80-degree breezeless evening and paid $1.75 for the fare to the Chicago & State Street station, one block from the company apartment. (The cab fare was $26 on today’s return to the airport; the spirit of adventure takes a back seat when one is trying to make a flight home.) More hoofing as I transferred to the Red line at Roosevelt Station and reached my destination about 90 minutes after I had landed (someone who knew what he was doing could cut that time in half.)


Tunnel connecting the Orange and Red lines.

Although the trains were clean and fast, there were moments when I regretted my transportation decision, because there were unsavory characters who seemed to be eyeing me and my parcels, and the hour was getting late.

The business meetings went well, and I drank too much and ate too much red meat, as often happens when I travel to the Midwest. But when in Rome....


Chicago's skies were clear on Tuesday

But turned foggy on Wednesday