Our Flying Adventure

The day after we said good-bye to Maren, Glenn and I flew out to Utah (July 24th).  Sirie was getting married, and we wanted to be there for all the festivities.  We were able to be there longer than Paul because he couldn't take that many days off work.  Paul joined us after a week or so.  Glenn was excited to travel on airplanes again.  We had Sirie's father-in-law, who works for an airline, get us buddy passes...which meant that we were on standby for the flights.  We made the mistake of not booking a direct flight.  I thought I would save us some money and I knew Glenn would have more fun riding more than one airplane.  

Well...I just didn't think very well.  : D  

We took the convenient flight out of Dulles at 6am.  When Paul dropped us off, I forgot to grab the car seat for Glenn.  I checked in the other bags and was about to go to security when I remembered.  I called Paul and made him come back to give me the car seat.  I didn't have time to check it, so I had to just drag it along with me.  When I finally got through security, we had to rush towards our gate.  One thing I've never really understood is why airports don't have more clocks!  I didn't know what time it was--so I thought I had plenty of time.  But then over the speakers I heard, "Final call for passengers Kayley and Glenn Jensen for flight...."  What?!  Thankfully the gate wasn't too far from where I was, but we still had to run to get there.  I dragged the car seat, and held Glenn's hand while we ran.  Poor Glenn-he was tired.  It was pretty early still and I was trying to go fast.  At one point I dropped one of our tickets, but someone was nice enough to get it to me.  We finally made it to the gate and boarded the plane.  

And it wasn't long after that that we were in the air.  

Phew!  

I took only one picture of Glenn in the airplane...but he had a lot of fun sitting by the window and looking out, pointing to all the buttons, and seeing what everything around him did.  He liked getting apple juice and pretzels and cookies.  (After that first flight, he couldn't wait for them to come around on all the other flights.)

I was grateful that we were able to get on that flight and had a lot of hope for the next flight.  Little did I know that it would be a long time before I would finally get to Utah.

We landed in Detroit for a short layover.  I got a picture of the map of the airport where I landed to show how far I walked and walked!  I landed in gate C30, I believe and the connecting flight was A74. So I got Glenn, the heavy car seat and the carry-on bag and started the trek over there.  I don't know exactly how long it was--too bad I wasn't wearing one of those pedometers!  But you've all been in airports before and know about how far it is from one gate to another....  I think there were 3 escalators, and a long tunnel to get from Concourse C to Concourse A.  By the time I got to the A gates, I was pretty tired.  I asked someone working there if there was a quicker way to get all the way down to my gate.  He told me about a little train up a level that would take me about to gate 68 or 70.  We took that-thankfully-and then we still had to walk to A74.  When I got there, I asked where our names were on the standby list.  She said it didn't look promising.  But I waited there until I was absolutely sure I wasn't getting on that flight.  I asked if they would take my car seat and just leave it there in Salt Lake, but they said that since I wasn't on the flight they couldn't.  So I had to keep it with me.  

They transferred our names to the next available flight--which wasn't until 12:00 or so.  That first flight I missed was at 8:30 or so.  I don't remember all the details-sorry.  But I would have a couple of hours until the next flight to Salt Lake.  Thankfully the gate for that was in A70.  So Glenn and I camped out a spot there.  We had a few snacks and thankfully he fell asleep.  

Then it was time to see if we were going to make the 12:30 flight.  When it wasn't looking like we would, I asked when the next flight would be--and they said that all the flights were pretty solidly booked and it didn't look like I would get on any of them.  So I called Tracy McCoy-Sirie's father-in-law.  He had been monitoring things and seeing other options.  He saw that the flights to SLC from Cincinnati were much more open.  So he was working out a way for us to fly to Cincinnati and then catch a flight from there to SLC.  He told me where that flight was departing from, and it was C34.  And it was at 1:15.  So I didn't have much time.  I picked up Glenn, tried to carry the car seat like a back pack, got the carry on bag and headed way back to where I came from.  

When I first got there, the agent wasn't there.  But when she finally got there, I asked if our names were on the list.  She said she saw our names, but we weren't on the list because of a difference in payment.  I guess there were a few airport fees and such that we would need to pay by going to Cincinnati.  Tracy McCoy thought he had taken care of it, but they said he hadn't.  So I was trying to get that figured out.  This was the only time where I got a bit teary-eyed.  The agent said she would help me, but she needed to get that flight going.  She knew it would take awhile and she didn't want to make everyone else wait.  And I agreed.  

So off that flight went and the agent was on the phone with Tracy and with someone else, trying to get things straightened out.  Finally she did!  Yay!  And she got out names on the next flight out.  It was at 3:00ish, so I would have to wait a bit more.  But at least I would have time to make the trek back to the A Concourse.  Yep, all the way back there.  This time it was gate A 53.  But I was so worn out from going back and back and carrying that silly heavy car seat.  I asked if I could borrow one of those wheelchairs that they use for older people and those with walking needs.  Well, I certainly felt that I had a need.  They said I could use one, so I strapped the car seat on the chair, put Glenn in it and the bag on the handle.  It was a much easier trek!

We waited a bit for that flight, but we were able to get on it.  We then landed in Cincinnati and had a layover there for a couple of hours.  It was less busy and it was nice to just sit and relax a bit.  I let Glenn play in the toy store for a bit and we got some dinner at Chick-fil-A.  When it was getting that time for the flight to Salt Lake, I sat right next to the agent's desk so I could know if we were on the flight.  It looked like a really full flight and there were several other people on the standby list as well.  When they finally called our names, I about jumped for joy!  We were finally on our way!  And we finally made it to Utah at about 9:00pm--Utah time--so like 11pm Virginia time.  It certainly was a LONG day!  But we were finally there.  Grandma Esther, Grandpa Don and Sirie were there to pick us up.  It was so nice to have someone else to help with carrying things.  Oh, which reminds me, I was finally able to send the car seat to SLC when we left Detroit to go to Cincinnati.  So I didn't have to carry it with me in Cincinnati.  

The next couple of days my right arm especially was really sore!  I felt as if I had been lifting weights all day! But I was glad to be there and to go to bed!