Trip Home
The boys were up at 6am Monday morning. That gave me plenty of time to finish packing and take Chase to Pine Island. Pine Island is a beach on the gulf, about 10 miles from my grandparents house. He had been asking for several days to go there and play on the "pirate ship." Grandma stayed with Tony and Eric and I took him to play. It was a beautiful morning, and I wasn't really looking forward to driving for 2 hours and being on a plane for 3 hours, but all good things must come to an end.
My plan was to leave at 10:30am and to the airport by 12:45pm, which was 2 hours before our flight. We said our good-byes and were on the road at 10:30. At 10:50, Eric's cell rang. It was my grandma calling to say I left my purse and cell on the couch. I would have asked her to send it, but my driver's license was in there. I can't get on the plane without it. So we turned around. I then called back and asked if grandpa would start driving towards us, to help make up some time. I got my purse and off we went. Ten minutes later Chase says he has to pee. So we pull over at a McDonald's. There isn't a 4- lane highway to take to Orlando from Spring Hill, only 2 lane and a lot of small towns until the suburbs of Orlando. Well, it was Monday, and there were trucks galore. Plus Chase had to pee an hour later. We very well couldn't tell him no, since he is trying so hard. Well, time was dwindling away. We finally made it to the Florida Turnpike and then the toll ways. I looked at the map, and told Eric we still had 30 miles. Chase then says he has to pee again. I finished my water, and told him he was going to pee in the bottle. I held the bottle and he stood up and went! We still had to fill up the gas tank before dropping off the rental car. We were trying not to panic.
We were flying out of Orlando-Sanford. There is only one flight a day from there to Des Moines. If we missed the plane, we would have been there another day. We pulled up to Alamo at 1:20pm. I ran to get two carts, and we loaded up. Of course I picked a car rental company that is 6 blocks from the terminal. We hustled over as fast as we could. We get inside, and the line is really long. Thankfully they had 5 people working at the counter. We only waited a little over 15 minutes. We got up to the counter and I asked if our flight was full. It was indeed, and Anthony would be on our laps, bummer.
We made it through security and to the terminal at 2:05pm. At 2:10pm they started early boarding. Since we were so late in checking in, we ended up in the last row of the plane. The air on the plane was not working very well, so it was really hot. We didn't have a window, we were right by the toilets, and our seats didn't go back. We felt really trapped, especially when the people in front of us pushed their chairs back. When they realized we had Tony on our laps they moved them forward again. When I look back, the boys really did great. Anthony only had a crying jag for 5 minutes. He was hungry, and after I figured that out, all was well. Chase shared his seat with Tony for part of the time. Nevertheless, it was the longest 3 hours and 15 minutes of my life, since we boarded 30 minutes prior to take off. We were so happy to land and deplane. It felt good to be back in the heartland.
My plan was to leave at 10:30am and to the airport by 12:45pm, which was 2 hours before our flight. We said our good-byes and were on the road at 10:30. At 10:50, Eric's cell rang. It was my grandma calling to say I left my purse and cell on the couch. I would have asked her to send it, but my driver's license was in there. I can't get on the plane without it. So we turned around. I then called back and asked if grandpa would start driving towards us, to help make up some time. I got my purse and off we went. Ten minutes later Chase says he has to pee. So we pull over at a McDonald's. There isn't a 4- lane highway to take to Orlando from Spring Hill, only 2 lane and a lot of small towns until the suburbs of Orlando. Well, it was Monday, and there were trucks galore. Plus Chase had to pee an hour later. We very well couldn't tell him no, since he is trying so hard. Well, time was dwindling away. We finally made it to the Florida Turnpike and then the toll ways. I looked at the map, and told Eric we still had 30 miles. Chase then says he has to pee again. I finished my water, and told him he was going to pee in the bottle. I held the bottle and he stood up and went! We still had to fill up the gas tank before dropping off the rental car. We were trying not to panic.
We were flying out of Orlando-Sanford. There is only one flight a day from there to Des Moines. If we missed the plane, we would have been there another day. We pulled up to Alamo at 1:20pm. I ran to get two carts, and we loaded up. Of course I picked a car rental company that is 6 blocks from the terminal. We hustled over as fast as we could. We get inside, and the line is really long. Thankfully they had 5 people working at the counter. We only waited a little over 15 minutes. We got up to the counter and I asked if our flight was full. It was indeed, and Anthony would be on our laps, bummer.
We made it through security and to the terminal at 2:05pm. At 2:10pm they started early boarding. Since we were so late in checking in, we ended up in the last row of the plane. The air on the plane was not working very well, so it was really hot. We didn't have a window, we were right by the toilets, and our seats didn't go back. We felt really trapped, especially when the people in front of us pushed their chairs back. When they realized we had Tony on our laps they moved them forward again. When I look back, the boys really did great. Anthony only had a crying jag for 5 minutes. He was hungry, and after I figured that out, all was well. Chase shared his seat with Tony for part of the time. Nevertheless, it was the longest 3 hours and 15 minutes of my life, since we boarded 30 minutes prior to take off. We were so happy to land and deplane. It felt good to be back in the heartland.
posted by Rachel | 12:43 PM
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