Analyze this trip

The drive to another airport is never easy, even at 10 p.m. in the

middle of the week.

As you read this on Saturday morning, my wife and I are in New

York exercising one of the following options:

* We are celebrating the return of the home field advantage to the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

* We are marveling at the pitching skills of Randy Johnson who led

his team to victory Friday and all but assured a Yankees series

victory.

* We are about to attend the game that was supposed to be played

Friday night but was rained out.

Although we have five tickets for the game, we came to New York

not to see the Angels in Yankee Stadium but to celebrate the 60th

birthday of my brother, Michael. The birthday was an excuse to go see

the game.

Our trip from Costa Mesa started with the driver, yours truly,

taking the wrong freeway to get to LAX. I’ve made the trip hundreds

of times, but for a reason known only to psychologists, I took the

Harbor Freeway north instead of staying on the San Diego Freeway.

That blunder was followed by another when I missed the entrance to

Lot C, which is the lot for extended parking. So, I doubled back.

Amateur shrinks are now having a field day.

At the airport, the shuttle took us to a very crowded upper level.

Ten o’clock and it was bumper-to-bumper. Not usually one to complain

on travel days, I muttered to Cay that they should tear down LAX and

start all over.

She agreed and told me that the money we saved by traveling to LAX

and taking a red eye was not worth it. I agreed with that and began

to appreciate John Wayne Airport even more.

At the American Airlines terminal, we used the self-service kiosk

to check-in, then began the misery of two security checks.

As we boarded the plane, we agreed that this was the

slowest-loading plane on which we’d ever been.

Even the flight attendants were getting a little tense with their

admonitions to hurry up.

As much as we are looking forward to the game and to seeing my

brother and his family, we have to admit that the prospect of seeing

the Angels in Yankee Stadium is awesome.

Our second choice would be to listen to the game on the radio,

even if it were televised. That’s a choice on which we both agreed

just a few days ago as we were listening to game two.

That may be because these two, type-A multi-taskers can get

something else done while listening to the game. Television, on the

other hand, commands one’s full attention.

If we had to watch the game, it is always fun to go out to a bar

or restaurant to watch the game. In both Costa Mesa and Newport

Beach, there are many good places to watch a sporting event.

Had we been home and willing to watch the game on television, we’d

choose Mi Casa, or Wingnuts on Harbor Boulevard.

In Newport, there are too many good options to mention. Going out

to a bar or restaurant to watch is a camaraderie thing. After all, if

the game is on TV, why go out to pay for food or drinks when one can

watch it at home for free?

If we go to the game at Yankee Stadium, we may be taking our lives

in our hand for we will insist on wearing Angels attire. Having sat

in the Yankee Stadium bleachers during a game a couple of years ago,

I know just how brutal New York fans can be.

When I described them to my kids, I explained simply that “they’re

not human.”

The trip to LAX does not make me wish we had an airport under

construction in El Toro.

Actually, the trip confirmed our decision to oppose the El Toro

version because we could not wish the madness of another major

airport on anyone.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(714) 966-4664 or send story ideas to [email protected].

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