I am currently 'enjoying' cold wet weather in Virginia. My daughter purchased the tickets on Jet Blue for my flight east. She asked me if I preferred changing planes in California at 9 PM or New York at 3 AM. I chose changing planes when I was nominally conscious, but I didn't know about Long Beach airport when I made the choice. Fortunately she warned me that I would have to wander around, leave the entrance terminal and come back through security. It was like a third-world experience. Long Beach airport consists of many small buildings and I went through at least four of them to reach the departure gate, with open air between. The airport is clean and well maintained but definitely dinky. You have to get in and out of the airplanes via stairs or ramps and walk a block or so to reach the arrival terminal. Going through security again I forgot to take my laptop out of the bag--senior moment. By contrast, when I reached Dulles Airport the arrival terminal is in the middle of the field, accessed by the usual closed connector tubes. You take a specialized bus from the field terminal to the main terminal which looks pretty much like a space port. You never see the outside until you go out to meet your 'ground transportation'.
In a few days I will be in Florida where I expect to risk getting a sun burn. 8)
