We'll I'm on my great adventure and have had my first miracle.  I arrive at the Colorado Springs airport at 4AM.  It is deliciously dark with a fat full moon.  There's about a dozen people in the airport, check-in goes well, my luggage does not exceed the fifty pound limit.  I sigh with relief.  My boarding pass, issued at the check-in counter, says gate 9 at 6:10AM.  I slowly meander to gate 9 with two hours to go.  I walk the airport for an hour, so that I don't sit too long, buy a water.  Check out the stores.  Resist buying coffee.  Around 5:30 I am standing at gate 9, where it shows a flight boarding for Houston.  OK, so when they finish boarding the flight to Houston, they'll post my flight to Washington.  There are about six of us still sitting at Gate 9 when the flight is finished boarding.  I look around, there's a big crowd at Gate 12, so around 6AM, I wander to Gate 12.  I squint to see it says Washington on the board.  I ask a guy at the back of the line, if this is the flight to Dulles.  He says yes.  I show him my boarding pass and ask if it is my flight number.  He says yes.  I get in line behind him, the last person on the flight. What if I'd gone to gate 10 or 11?  It was a MIRACLE.  To celebrate, I buy a cup of tea and a  Tapas box for $8.95 for breakfast on the plane.  On my flight !!   It had cheese spread, brochetta, olives, almonds, three kinds of crackers (two without wheat), hummus, and a wet wipe.  I am in heaven.  Then I curl up against the window and sleep on and off for the next hour.  I am one very grateful woman.   I have a four hour layover in Dulles.  Some folks on my flight had ten nimutes to make their connection.  One woman was crying.  If I'd missed my flight in the Springs, I would have been crying as well.  But no, for some reason, I wandered over to see what was happening at Gate 12.  Pretty exciting so far.