Day 4 of my Lecture Tour - VERNAL, UTAH

Greetings from Vernal, Utah! Thankfully, my presentation today in Denver went extremely well and was attended by 62 people. Then came the fun part ---- a flight on Great Lakes Airlines flight #5125 from Denver to Vernal. Oh boy .. what an experience! A very small plane (seats only about 14 people; no toilet and no flight attendant!). Seemed as though most of the Great Lakes flights this afternoon were being delayed for maintenance reasons. Our flight was no exception. We departed Denver 35 minutes late and arrived into Vernal at about 8:38 pm Mountain time. A colleague picked me up and I checked in to a simple room at the Weston Plaza motel. Trust me, this place is nothing fancy! I walked across the street to a Walmart for some food and now it's time for bed to get some badly needed rest. Tomorrow I give my presentation yet again. The 'crowd' here in Vernal is supposedly going to be a LOT smaller than the crowds I had in Anchorage and Denver - they expect about a dozen people to show up at best! Ah well, c'est le vie! I'll give it my best no matter how many people show up!!

Thankfully, after tomorrow's presentation, I am allowed to rest up the weekend and I'll give two more presentations (in two other locations) next week before returning home to Houston. Sorry for not posting any photos but I have simply been so pressed for time!

More later ....
-
UPDATE (Thursday, Sept. 17): I managed a reasonably decent night's sleep although I could have used a few more hours of rest. Still, the "show must go on" and my presentation is scheduled for tonight (Thursday) at 6:00 pm local time. By now, my nerves are settled and I have my lines fairly well rehearsed so that the flow of the actual presentation is quite smooth - if I say so myself!
-
UPDATE (Thursday, Sept. 18): There were only eight (8) attendees present for my lecture. Apparently the Uintah section of the professional society to whom I was lecturing is so small that it is normally hard to coax members to show up for these monthly seciton meetings.

The weather today is excellent!! Sunny skies. Not a cloud around. Sadly, however, I have no rental car and hence must remain here at the motel (the 'Bates Motel' ??). I may walk outdoors a while just to get some fresh mountain air.
-
Replies to Comments:
-
Searching Soul: Thanks for sharing your concern about small planes! I wish I had a picture of the twin-engine propeller Beechcraft. This was a night flight and when one passenger turned off her reading light, the ENTIRE cabin became so dark that the star light outside the plane was brighter than the inside of our cabin!! At least the flight to Vernal from Denver was smooth. Mountain flights can be BUMPY. A colleague here in Vernal has given Great Lakes Airlines the nickname: "Great Mistakes Airlines"!! Or just "Great Frights"!! Care to book a flight?!
-
Al: Indeed I will get some rest!! Keep up the woodworking!!