I've said this two or three times in the past month and it's starting to worry me a little... but I really am starting to feel older!!
We always travel GREAT together as a family but this trip was just HARD! The trip down was fairly uneventful except we didn't get in to Dad's until after midnight.
We had a great time with Dad and Marilyn over the weekend... even though there were typical Florida showers, we got in some great ocean time!! It was great seeing my dad so much stronger than he was last year at this time. Last year, the waves knocked him over and he could barely stand 5 minutes in the ocean. He was much better this year!
Don and I were excited about WEVA but we were also excited about having a few nights - just us!! We get that occasionally when we are at Mom's - Katie will stay with Mom and MomMom and we stay in a hotel but it's usually just one or two nights. This was going to be THREE nights! :)
WEVA was great, we got a lot out of most all the classes and both of us have come home with our minds spinning with ideas. Katie did great with Dad and Marilyn and we met close to Daytona on Wednesday, which was half way and picked Katie up and had lunch.
We did enjoy the first two nights of it being just us but by Tuesday night, we were looking forward to having Katie back.
Well, two things made me feel pretty old this past week. First, like overnight, I need bi-focals. All of a sudden, I can't read close up with my glasses. It was so frustrating being in these big classes and taking notes and using my laptop but also needing to see the screen at the front. So, I need to call Monday morning and make an appointment.
The other thing that made me feel old... coming home!! First of all, as great as the trip was, I was SO READY to come home! I missed our bed, even though we were in a brand new Hilton with a nice cushy bed. I missed Hogan and Brinkley! I missed Lakota! I missed my friends! I just missed home!
Second, the trip home was hard! We got to the airport, returned our rental car and when we were checking our luggage, somehow, even though I had not done ONE BIT of shopping, my suitcase gained 10 pounds!! How is that possible? So, Allegiant Air was nice enough to not turn me and my suitcase away but they did charge us $50 for taking my now marked "HEAVY" suitcase.
We got through security with no problem, boarded the plane with no problem... seemed like a typical trip home... until we sat, and sat, and sat.... the plane started getting warmer and warmer. The stewardesses kept trying to get people on the right side of the plane to keep their shades down on their windows.... hotter and hotter. Maintenance men coming on and off the plane... the pilot announcing that there were discrepancies and that they were trying to get an air conditioner hose out to the plane. Hotter and hotter... we were just about to make them let us off the plane because of the fact that Katie can't handle extreme heat when the air conditioner hose arrived.
After almost an hour of this, the pilot finally announces that they can't fix the discrepancies and the plane wasn't worthy of flight and so we were going to have deplane and board a spare. Like my Facebook and Twitter friends pointed out, basically the plane was broken... but at least they realized it before we were airborne.
Well, all of this put us getting home 2 1/2 hours late... which compared to stories you hear on the news is really not that big of a deal. But, Don had a rehearsal to get to and we get to baggage claim and again... it's a waiting game. We waited for over 30 minutes before our luggage ever started coming down the baggage thingy.
We finally get our luggage and we head to the parking garage and something is wrong with the elevators. The sensor that normally senses when a person or object is in the elevator doorway was broken. People and luggage were almost getting eaten by the elevators.
I turn to Don and say "What else could possibly go wrong"... :) Don't ever say that.
We get to the exit, Don inserts the ticket to the un-manned machine to pay for our parking by credit card and the machine eats our ticket. Meanwhile... a line of cars has developed behind us.
We finally got an attendant who fixed us up and we were on our way and my lips were sealed. Don literally dropped Katie and I off at home and kept going and made it to his rehearsal in a ball cap and jean shorts. Something, he never would ordinarily do... but at least he made it.
The good news in all of that... the staff at Allegiant, the passengers, the people at the airport... everyone was very pleasant. I never got frustrated but man... all the travel trauma wore me out!!
