DETROIT and RALEIGH, N.C. – It was a smooth trip for the Maine women, who had the benefit of flying via charter from Bangor straight to Raleigh.

This year, the Black Bears were given the red carpet treatment by package-shipping giant UPS in one of their trademark brown jets.

“They indicated to us that they now fly more than packages,” UMaine coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie said on Wednesday night from the team hotel. “Now they fly people, too.”

The Black Bears touched down at 2:30 after taking off from Bangor at noon and put in a brisk hour and forty-minute workout at the N.C. State practice facility, Carmichael Gym.

Due to NCAA tourney rules, the Bears are unable to practice at the game site, William Neal Reynolds Coliseum, until Thursday.

During last season’s trip to Baton Rouge, La., the Black Bears sampled authentic Cajun food at a local eatery. This year, a popular Wednesday night special at their first choice made getting a reservation for the entire UMaine entourage impossible.

Still, they followed a fine catered manicotti lunch prepared by the UPS crew with dinner at Darryl’s, a steakhouse with a stellar local reputation.

The road to Raleigh, N.C., and the NCAA women’s basketball tournament is a trying one for teams who battle for one of the 64 available bids – and it’s not particularly easy for journalists, either.

The NEWS contingent found that out on Wednesday after waking early, driving to Portland to catch a 9:15 a.m. flight, and flying on a circuitous route via Northwest Airlines to tobacco country.

With airports packed with travelers who had been fighting toward their destinations for days in the wake of the major blizzard that pounded the Midwest, it seemed only a matter of time before even the best-laid plans fell apart.

That time came at 12:45 p.m., and ironically, it had nothing to do with the existing air traffic snarl.

After landing in Detroit for a scheduled one-hour layover before reboarding the same plane, passengers were told the plane they’d just left wouldn’t be heading to Raleigh for awhile.

And when some went back on board to retrieve carry-on baggage, one pilot good-naturedly defended moving passengers to a different plane.

“It’s just as well that this one sits right here,” he said, pointing out that a safety system had indicated the plane may have problems with a rudder control.

“It’s probably nothing, but we’ve got to run it through tests anyway,” he said.

At 3:10 p.m., the replacement plane took off for Raleigh. Taking a little of the edge off the delay was an understanding flight attendant who traded industry one-liners from the old “Airplane” movie with some bored reporters.

At 4:20, the plane reached Raleigh.