Gluten-wise, yesterday was pretty much 50/50. I didn't go out of my way to avoid gluten, but I also didn't deliberately look for it, either. Here's how the day unfolded:
Up at 4:30 CDT, like I had done throughout the week prior, staying in sync with Eastern time, so I wouldn't have to deal with any kind of jet leg (even an hour can make a difference). This also gave me an extra hour to pack and get going, so I wouldn't have to rush. And, finally, it allowed me to, should I choose, leave for the airport early (which I did, and it turned out to be a very good thing).
Breakfast was the usual Isagenix products: Ionix, minerals, lithium oratate, M/V cleanse, and M/V shake. Nom. Got all that in my belly, packed up my bags, made a final check of the room, and was down at the lobby just before 6:30. Checked out, saw the cab was ready to take me to the airport, so off I went.
As we're heading for the on-ramp, I see a fire truck go speeding by on the overpass. Ruh Roh. Sure enough, we've gone not 2 miles when traffic grinds to a halt, and we crawled for about 10 minutes before getting to the scene: first I see a wheel (no tire, just the actual wheel it goes on), followed by a fire truck diagonally across three lanes, and beyond it, a pickup truck on its side, facing the wrong direction.
No, the fire truck was fine; it was there to help force traffic to merge into one lane. Even the pickup truck didn't look too bad...for a truck that had obviously rolled over. There were no ambulances there by the time we reached the scene, so I do not know if anybody got hurt (hopefully not). So we're all trying to merge from four lanes into one, and this is in the midst of a massive construction project that seemed to be affecting all of Dallas. I have no idea what the circumstances were, leading up to the accident, but they certainly picked an interesting place to do it in.
Anyway, we get clear of the accident, and it's smooth sailing into the airport. Which, in and of itself, is a city. Overpasses, ramps, spirals, exits here and there. How anybody can find their way around (even with the massive signs) is beyond me. I think my brain would just overload itself were I trying to drive and make my way in DFW. Holy...
Anyway, I get to the ticket counter, check my bag (not carrying it on for the return trip; if it doesn't make it all the way home with me right away, it's not the end of the world), and manage to get quasi-upgrades on my tickets (which have me in a middle seat from Dallas to Charlotte and then to Boston. Eww). I say quasi-upgrade because I still have a middle seat to Charlotte, but it's right behind the exit row. The guy who got the window seat actually has no seat in front of him, so he can stretch his legs out, meaning they're not wandering into my area. Well and good. And I scored an aisle seat for the Charlotte-Boston leg. Not on an exit row, but it will do.
Had my last IsaLean bar while waiting to board the plane in Dallas. Hit the spot. Supposed to be for lunch, but I was hungry now, and didn't have the conference snacks to rely on. Plus I knew I would have some extra time in Charlotte for a sit-down meal, so it just made sense.
As it turned out, all three flights were better than I had expected, because they were all about 20 minutes shorter than expected. Must have been some damn good tailwinds that day. I amused myself pretty much the entire way home by reading on my tablet (finished my reread of The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien - a tough read the first few times through but now it's starting to make a bit more sense - and started on the latest Charlie Parker novel by John Connolly - if you are a fan of supernatural thrillers and Maine locales, then I strongly urge you to check out this series, starting with Every Dead Thing - be warned; he doesn't pull any punches, gore-wise), and the occasional chat with my seat mate(s).
Rolled into Charlotte, sat on the runway for 20 minutes waiting for the gate to unblock. Serves us right for getting there early; who do we think we are, anyway? Got into the gate, realized my departure gate was about 200 feet down the concourse, and there was a restaurant to the other side and a restroom directly across. Excellent. 2 hours to my flight. Outstanding. Let's eat.
Restaurant was a burger joint, and I was tempted, but the Asian chicken salad caught my eye. Hmm. That sounds really good. OK, I'll do that. And it was quite good, if a bit heavy on the dressing (sesame soy peanut). I imagine there was gluten in the dressing, and there was definitely gluten in the chow mein noodles (fried), and, oh yes, in the 14 oz glass of Stella Artois I enjoyed with the salad (back when I thought I might get a burger). So, 50/50 for lunch. Not bad.
Left the restaurant, went to my gate, made sure all was well, then wandered over to an empty gate with lots of free plugs, to charge my various electronics while checking email and chatting with Kelly. I think Facebook Messenger kept me sane on this trip.
Boarded the flight to Boston, took off on time, had a lovely chat about my childhood days in Boston and Southern Maine with a couple of Bostonian ladies (one of them actually lived on Tha VineYaaad), which definitely helped pass the time. We also chatted about what would be a good place to grab dinner at the airport. I, of course, recommended Legal Seafood, and opined that we would probably be in sight of it when we exited the gate.
Well, we rolled into Logan an hour early, and did not have to wait on the runway. Got to the gate, walked up the runway, and we were staring Legal Seafood right in the face. Perfect.
The flight to Presque Isle always flies out of gate B9 (which is right downstairs from Legal Seafood), so I already knew where it was. Headed down to get my boarding pass, but nobody was there yet, not even the Penair agents. No problem, a flight would arrive in an hour, so I would have dinner first. At Legal Seafood, of course.
Went back upstairs, grabbed a seat right by the "exit" (a railing, basically), and enjoyed a nice steaming mug of clam chowder (the correct pronunciation is "CLAY-am CHOW-dah") and a lovely New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. As can be expected, there was gluten in the chowder (most chowders use a roux to thicken them, and that means wheat flour, not to mention the generous heap of oyster crackers I threw in to make it all perfect). And that was just the appetizer. I decided to blow the whole gluten thing out of the water by having the tuna burger (freshly ground and mixed with chili paste). Fries were meh, but the burger was insane.
Resisted the urge to have another glass of wine, paid my bill and headed downstairs to the gate again, to get my boarding pass. That all set, I found another plug and charged my phone while chatting some more with Kelly (who was, at this time, heading down to Presque Isle to have dinner at Ruby Tuesday while waiting for my flight to arrive).
As I was getting ready to board, I realized I had forgotten to take my minerals and evening pill pack. And I didn't feel like buying a $3 bottle of water just for a few gulps on pills (if I drank the whole thing, I'd have to pee halfway to Presque Isle. I'm a small guy, but the bathrooms on those Saab puddle jumpers are downright tiny. I'll do it if I have to, but if I can avoid it, well...).
Well, no problem, They always offer a light refreshment on the Penair flight: water or a soft drink and pretzels or Chex Mix. Perfect. Got all my pills together and tucked them into my shirt pocket. And we boarded. Hmm, looks like they took out a row of seats and adjusted the rest accordingly. Look at all this leg room! Sat back and enjoyed the ride. Got my water and Chex Mix, took my pills, read for a bit, and before I knew it, we were on the ground. Again, about half an hour early. Damn. Charmed flights, for sure. Very cool.
Met my sweet patootie at the gate, gave her big hugs and kisses, grabbed my bag, and home we went. Had a few glasses of wine before crawling into bed and sacking out, but no more food. Good to be home. Oh, yes. I'll unpack tomorrow. :-)
So! The wrap-up. Gluten items today included:
- Chow mein noodles in the salad.
- Possibly the dressing in the salad.
- The beer with the salad.
- The roux in the chowder.
- The crackers in the chowder.
- The bun on the tuna burger.
- The Chex Mix.
Probably more than half the meals, all in all. Maybe less. Dunno. It was yummy, and again I didn't go out of my way to have gluten, it just worked itself in.
So now it is Sunday, and we are enjoying some glutinous items before basically tossing every ounce of gluten out of the house today and tomorrow (with the exception of some homemade meat pies which we will save for a very special occasion; those are a lot of work and we don't want to just chuck them) and are hitting the ground running once again. This time, for good. But for today: one last homemade thin crust pizza session. Wheat dough. Ahh...
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