Wheeling Bridge

Wheeling Bridge
Originally uploaded by klycolllins.

Wheeling, West Virginia. Population: 29,891. Rachelle and I just got back from a wedding/reception back East. My love of Southwest Airlines was sorely tested by this trip. My "direct" flight (direct is supposed to mean you don't get off the damn plane) didn't turn out to be so "direct". We were doing just fine until Chicago. As we were landing, the flight attendants were telling the through passengers (us) to stay seated so they could get a count. Once we landed, the plane apparently developed "mechanical problems" and we had to de-plane. Seems the mechanical problems weren't bad enough that our plane wasn't sent to a different city with a different crew and different passengers. I guess the mechanical problems only affected flights to Pittsburgh. Anyway, we ended up delayed for two and a half hours which (you would think) would give the ground crew enough time to transfer our luggage. You would be wrong. Whatever. We finally got our luggage 15 hours later. After we called and explained that we were in WHEELING, not MORGANTOWN. Easy mistake. They're both in West Virginia.

This is a picture of Rachelle on the Wheeling Bridge, which is the first suspension bridge ever built in the U.S. I've got all sorts of Wheeling trivia after my trip to the visitor center. Something about George Washington, steamboats, blah, blah, blah. The wedding was actually in Mingo Junction, Ohio, but apparently there aren't a whole lot of hotels there, so we stayed in Wheeling. Where there is a hotel. There wasn't much to Mingo Junction, but I'd love to have that on my return address labels. "The Mingo took my baby". It's actually a really pretty area. Don't think I could ever relocate there, but I really enjoyed my weekend. Living in California you forget there are actual "seasons". Late October in Orangevale is still in the 70's/80's. Late October in Nothern West Virginia topped out at 49 on Friday. That's pretty much what I expect in the dead of January. Brutal. Anyway, Rachelle's family was great, no major drama at the wedding, no fights, nobody spilled beer on the D.J.'s equipment, open bar. Rock on.