Thursday, May 21, 2009

Day 1 of a Super Vacation

9:21 am. Finally, we are in the air. The delay wasn’t so long but just seemed that way. Matthew was getting frustrated along with the rest of the passengers so I asked if we might be allowed to pre-board. The attendant was very accommodating but little did I know that half the plan was headed on during the pre-board time. We had difficulty even getting to the line what with all the pushing and shoving going on. “Who are these rude people?” Rebecca asked.
You’ll be glad to know that all my worry about our carry-on bags was for naught. They all fit easily in the overhead compartment. Bob kept telling me that our bags were small in comparison to others and he was right.
So the good thing about this delay is that our wait in Chicago will be cut dramatically. We are anxious that our flight out of there is on time… it’s a three hour drive to my sister’s from Raleigh. And while we have been there before it’s kind of tricky to find her house in the dark. We took a look yesterday and the GPS doesn’t have directions for the last mile. We’ll have to trust our map reading skills.
I am not happy with Starbucks. They have been promoting a gluten free snack but evidently it’s not at all stores yet.
More turbulence… more later…


10:36 (REBECCA’S PERSPECTIVE) Aw, man. This flight is cold! I should’ve listened to Grandma and worn my sweater on the plane. Oh, the things I don’t think about when I live in 105 degree weather… Well, the flight really isn’t that bad, just a bit long, and a bit delayed. We’ll survive, we now have 3.5 hours to spend at O’Hare instead of 4. You wouldn’t BELIEVE the people though! Boarding this flight was rather irritating, we asked to preboard for Matthew, so when the preboarding was announced, a multitude of non-handicapped impatient baby-boomers raced up to the check-in and congregated there, as if a mass of people would actually get on the plane faster than those organized into a single file line. Either way, we were shoved to the back of this throng, but somehow survived amidst scowls.
Oh look! Mom has just presented me with a quinoa cookie! Is it good? Only one way to find out….why, yes! Yes indeed. I highly recommend it with a glass of milk, though.
Back to the day’s events. We don’t have much planned except driving, and sadly I am still 3.5 years away from being able to drive a rental car. Mom thinks we may have a Dodge Charger for the week, how exciting is that?!?! That’s almost as awesome as driving a bright yellow 2010 Camaro.
Oh, short story before I leave you for now. You see, Matthew has brought along a new Marvel Hero coloring book, and there are at least 3 “Spot the difference” sections within it. So Mom turns to one, and asks Matthew, “OK, which one is it?” He immediately points to the first one of six, while Mom and I search to find the difference. We struggle to find the difference, but lo and behold, when we did, it was the first character. After flipping through this little book, another “StD” comes up, and he points to the last one. Again, I take far longer to figure it out, and once again Matthew is right within two seconds! This happens once more (where Matthew points out the right character immediately, and I confirm it finally five minutes later), and after three times, I am convinced that it isn’t just a fluke. Just goes to show that you gotta give credit where credit is due.


4:00 Chicago time: Well sitting here watching people has been great fun but it’s almost time to get on the next plane. Rebecca is quite worried I will take a “bump” and a later flight. Hey, what can I say…three free tickets is a good deal.

7:05 Eastern time: We’ll be landing shortly in Raleigh. We are on a small commuter plane—only two seats on each side. And nary a leftover spot. Apparently this is a busy travel time. While we haven’t seen too many families we have seen a good number of college age kids. I expect many are headed home for the summer. Or, as in my sister’s son’s case, returning to school for the summer session.
I really have to compliment the crew at Chicago. After the pushing and shoving in Phoenix (and it wasn’t by Matthew) I asked if we could board early. They let us on at the same time the United Gold members boarded…we felt pretty special and Matthew was much more comfortable.
Okay, I think that’s it for today. We have a 3 hour drive to get to the coast. So probably will not write anymore today. Pictures later…

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