Take a Little Trip

My sister and I got to travel to South Carolina to spend a weekend with our dad and his girlfriend, Karen. We got up very early in the morning to ride the bus to the airport. We were flying standby and had a connecting flight at Dallas/Fort Worth, so I figured It would be a better bet if I carried my suitcase on. One agent for the airlines we flew told me my suitcase would be all right even though it woudln't fit perfectly into the metal frame to check the size. The wheels made it just big enough that it might not work.

While we waited to board the plane, the ticketing agent told me she couldn't let me board the plane with the flip flops I was wearing and asked if I had packed another pair of shoes. I had only the shoes on my feet. Luckily, Danielle had an extra pair of shoes in her suitcase and let me wear them. They weren't bad shoes at all, but to wear them with a skirt, I felt really strange. The flip-flops looked much better.

Then as we were boarding the plane, the flight attendant told me my shuitcase was too big and it wouldn't fit since it was a full flight. I had to check my suitcase at the gate. I was beginning to wonder if I should have even gotten out of bed that morning!

We got onto the plane and found our seats. This was the seating assignment....

...and this was the view out my window.....

This was not a good arrangement for a person with mild claustrophobia. See, this flight left at 6:00 in the morning and the sun hadn't yet risen...and the view out the other side of the plane was...well...JUST LIKE THIS ONE. When we started to move, I could feel that we were moving, but that was when the real panic started to set in. I closed my eyes and listened to the loud engines just outside the window and tried to calm myself. Then, Danielle leaned over to me and told me it felt like we were in a big washing machine......oy vey!

Eventually, the sun did come up and afforded us some light to see a little better. It wasn't a very long flight and we landed at Dallas/Fort Worth without incident. I had some great tunes loaded on my iPod and a small, portable knitting project with me for distraction.

We rode the train around to our next gate and wandered around a little. I was amused to find a vending machine for iPods. I had to take a picture of it with my camera phone, even to send to my kids while they were at school! They were intrigued as well. They started putting in their requests of items they'd like to receive......rrrrriiiiiiight, guys!

We stopped at one of the many Starbucks and got coffees and then found a lounge where we sat back in the cool air, rested in the leather armchairs and....even cut up and were silly.

See? They aren't bad shoes at all....i just really felt mismatched because I was wearing a skirt. Apparently, no one is supposed to wear flip-flops on an airplane.

When it was time to check in again, we learned we had FIRST CLASS seating. We were so excited about that. We did little happy dances in the airport, and even took pictures of our tickets with our phones and cameras to share with our friends and family. We got on the plane and were so jubilant, Danielle was sure we gave it away to all who travelled with us that we were newbies to the first class realm. Oh well! We were having a lot of FUN!