We made it!

So here we are a mile or so up in the air...yes, really! Isn’t technology amazing. Actually what is even more amazing is that we made our flight! When we are on a road trip it takes us absolutely forever to get out the door; the truth is we often leave about 4-6 hours later than planned, because I feel like I can’t enjoy a vacation without all my ducks in a row. So the thought of making a morning flight made me just a little nervous...we have been known to miss flights a time or two in our married life! Did I tell you our flights were free? We earned them through spending money on our credit card...so at this point Alan would like me to remind you all that they were anything but free! He just rolls his eyes and shakes his head when I talk about our "free" tickets! Last night at dinner he asked me the amount we had to charge over the years to get these tickets...I told him that was confidential! Actually it's not as bad as it sounds because it's taken us over 5 years to accumulate the miles and I have charged just about everything...instead of writing checks I would charge whenever possible, then pay the bill off each month.

So anyway, when I booked the flight I had the choice to leave Harrisburg at 10:50 AM or 6:00 AM. Alan was mad that I didn’t book the 6 AM flight. Leave the house at 4 AM? Who’s he kidding! So anyway after 4 hours of sleep two nights in a row we made it to HIA a full hour before our departure time. This was the perfect day to fly...the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. The airport was deserted and we got checked in quickly...all 6 of us plus our 11 bags. That would be one duffel bag each, a bag of jackets and ponchos, one more for shoes, a bag for assorted books & stuff, and the cosmetic bag, Then we each had a carry-on and we were set! Man how much do you tip the guy for that? Alan thought $2, I thought $20, and we settled at $10. Next a quick stop for donuts and time to go through security. I need to take you back and remind you about our security nightmare at Orlando International a few years ago when Emily got searched & interrogated because the security guy found a pair of child’s scissors in her backpack. So as we packed up this morning, I reminded the girls, "NO scissors!"
One thing I’d looked forward to about our four-hour flight was a chance to work on my counted cross stitch project that I only work on every couple years on vacation. It is Elly’s birth project...really! I told her 5 years or so ago that I’d cross-stitch her something and she picked a very ornate cherub project. It’s been "almost" done for a year so I planned to finish it on the plane. Alan put all the carry-through bags on the conveyor belt and the kids & he went through the metal detector. As I came through they’re all pointing their fingers at me and laughing along with the security guard. I joined in their laughter figuring someone had just told a funny joke until I realized the joke was on me. Alan said, "She’s the guilty one...trying to get scissors on an airplane!" He said the security guard found scissors in my sewing bag & kept them. Oh man was I mad!! My sewing scissors! I really liked them...they were little and sharp and I’ve had ‘em for years. Didn’t the guy know these were sewing scissors and not a weapon?! It mattered not...they were his now. Probably take him home to his wife and give her a nice pair of sewing scissors. What do those security guys do with all those things anyway?? Now you see why I’m typing rather than sewing right now.

The kids did really well on the flight...after about two hours Coleman told me to open the window so he could "check it out." As he surveyed all the white clouds, he announced loudly (his only volume!), "Yep, we’re still in the air!" A comforting thought for everyone who heard (keyword here is EVERYONE).

As we made our final approach into Denver I told the kids to start watching for the mountains. Which probably made any native Denverites aboard snicker. Because the truth was as we looked out all we saw was reddish-brown earth, lots of ranches and dirt roads. Looked very desert-ish to me. After we got our bags and walked outside looking for the mountains we saw nothing...this came as a surprise and disappointment to us. I should mention it was extremely overcast so maybe we’ll see them in the morning...maybe.