I couldn't sleep last night, way too much stress about getting on the plane. I finally just gave up at 5:00 a.m. and got moving, slowly. By now I was already packed so I watched tv and did the morning stuff. One of the channels was playing mockumentary about what would happen if there was a huge pandemic and we lost a large percentage of the population. It was kinda fascinating.
I realized that I was dressed fine and had makeup on so Nick fluffed Barkley and we tried to get the picture of dog and librarian that Arlene wanted. Barkley thought we were trying to play so he was acting the fool. We used my camera so I could choose to email them, or not, that evening. Surprisingly Nick managed to snap 3 really good photos of us.
We left and I was thinking we were leaving a little late, I hadn't factored in the dog fluffing time. We went through the McDonalds drive through just in case I didn't get real food on the trip. On our way to the freeway Nick realized he'd left his phone. A potential problem for sure so we stopped and then headed out again. Now I really was nervous about the timing. I know I can make myself crazy with trying to be early everywhere so I breathed deeply and tried to focus on other things. Technically I only had to be there an hour before takeoff. The problem was that the boarding pass said the time of boarding not takeoff and I guess it freaked me that there was a difference. I would have preferred to be there by 9:30 (an hour before boarding) instead of 10:00 (an hour before takeoff). We go there by 9:40 which was way good enough. There is no curbside check in at the I.F. airport, so the stopping at McDonalds and getting change was completely unnecessary.
There was no screening of passengers being done early so Nick sat with me till that opened up much later. I had confessed to Melinda earlier that I was most nervous about the planes and my weight and she said she'd asked mom to pray about it for her. I asked Min to add me to mom's prayer list. I took Rebbecca's advice and really dressed up for the plane, skirt, blouse, jacket, jewelry makeup and all. I don't know for sure whether it was the dressing or the prayers but for the first time in a long time I wasn't pulled out of line for a more thorough going over. Neither were my bags. (phew) I was through the first hurdle.
Upstairs while waiting for my plane I looked at my phone only to find that it was down to the last power bar. EEP. I bought a bottle of water from the vending machine and plugged my phone into the nearest outlet. I was exceedingly nervous and unable to settle to a task, whether it was reading or whatnot. (there I've used the whatnot word in a sentence like a proper idahoan). I called Nick to let him know he could head out. I didn't have anything on any of my bags that was going to be tossed by the tsa. So boarding was occurring and while the seat looked small, I fit and was able to put both armrests down. The guy who was supposed to sit next to me was able to sit elsewhere cause the flight wasn't full. The seatbelt closed and all was well with the world. It was a short trip from I.F. to Boise and the steward said I'd have plenty of time to get off and buy some food in Boise before reboarding and heading to Seattle. I took his advice and much to the chagrin of the coffee girl bought a simple turkey and provolone sandwich without coffee, treat, or apple. I ate half of it and stored the rest.
Boarding in Boise was complicated by a tribe of children. On the plane I was seated next to a guy (who wasn't squeezed) who was one of the chaperons of this 4th grade class. The class had a teacher who was entered in the Iditerod. They got to build his sled for him. I'm not certain I'd be willing to race in a sled built by 4th graders. Apparently he has done this before and it's been fine. Weird. I also got to promote libraries to the guy sitting next to me. He thought librarians were a dying profession. NOT. But it still points out the problem we have with perceptions.
At Seattle I had to climb some stairs to the main airport, I was able to heft both my purse and my computer bag fine (another phew). Hooray for all the working out I've done for the past 4 months. I stopped at the nearest stand to find out what my next gate was and where it was. Down a hall, down some stairs and to the right then a train ride past two stops. EEEK! I turned around and there was the mob they were headed to the same plane I was so I just trailed along behind the speeding 4th graders. One last trepidation, would this new plane fit me. I got on board and SUCCESS! This one was even better. I ended up surrounded by 4th graders and couldn't have been happier.
On the plane I bought a deli pack. The purchasing of food on a plane isn't a bad idea after all. It certainly means you get more choices. I read, I tried to nap and I played with my Nintendo ds. As we approached the Anchorage airport we encountered a lot of turbulence, but the landing was smooth. I had arrived and no airport drama had occurred. I did do a lot of deep breathing, in part to make sure I was not holding my breath and to also be a bit more calm about the whole thing.
After deplaning I headed out to find my luggage. On the way I found Melinda and Arlene. And off we went. Luggage, car, visit to the gorgeous park by the airport, hotel check-in, unpacking (Arlene went home to feed the kitties) then out to dinner at a diner. The diner had a chili burger so I had to try it. Turns out it was a carne con chili burger, (mostly meat, very few beans) I ate some, but not all. The strawberry milkshake was what I wanted most.
After dinner Arlene dropped us off at the hotel and Melinda and I both crashed.
No comments:
Post a Comment