Dates of Travel: March 7 - March 11, 2009
Itinerary: Visit the Kennedy Space Center for Michael, beach time for Mom
Friday, February 27 - One week until we leave. I've got my to-do list ready and the boys are mostly packed.
Bad News: Michael wakes up with a fever and has to stay home from school. Hopefully he can recoop this weekend.
Good News: The shuttle Discovery was supposed to launch tonight but they've moved it to the March 12, the day after we are to leave. That would be so cool to see it launch while we're in Florida. It would probably make Michael's life. Maybe we can see about extending our trip??!
Wednesday, March 4
Bad News: Only 3 days until we leave and Nicholas now has what Michael had, which was the Rotovirus. Michael now has a cold and has spent the day down and out on the couch.
Good News: The shuttle launch has been changed again and now it is set to launch at 9:20 p.m. on March 11, the day we are to leave Florida. I'm crossing my fingers that perhaps we can stay and see it!
Friday, March 6
10:30 p.m.
The boys are asleep and our bags are packed and in the car. I look at my extensive checklist one more time and am pleased that I have remembered everything. We are ready to go. Our plane leaves at 6:40 a.m. so Jeff and I try to figure out what time we need to leave for the airport by in the morning. I've been thinking 3:30 a.m. all week but Jeff thinks that 4:30 or 4:45 will be sufficient. Sounds good to me, gives me more time to "sleep in".
Saturday, March 7
4:00 a.m.
Beep, beep, beep, beep. The sound of the alarm wakes me from a not-so-sound sleep. I jump out of bed and take a nice, hot shower that is probably too long but wakes me up. Jeff comes in to take a shower about 4:15. I'm almost ready so I finish some last minute packing of the carry-on bag, then do the final check while Jeff moves the cars around.
4:55 a.m.
Finally we're on the road headed for the airport. Jeff's nervous because we've left so late. I'm surprisingly calm. Nicholas is awake, which I'm not too happy about as I was planning on the boys to sleep on the drive (every little bit of sleep helps!). He's going to be one tired little boy later, which means he'll be a bear, which I don't want to deal with.
6:00 a.m.
Thanks to my husband's fast driving and no traffic on the road we make it to the airport in an hour. We'll have to hustle if we're going to make our flight.
And then we make our first mistake... At the park'n'go place at the airport we get on the wrong bus. We're flying Northwest so we need to go to the McNamara Terminal. Everyone else on the bus is going to the other airport terminal. The bus driver has to drop them off first then makes his way to the McNamara Terminal.
By now we're cutting it close. We rush our 2 kids, 2 suitcases, 2 car seats, and 3 carry-on bags, plus a stroller to the NWA ticketing area. However, when we try to check in with our pre-printed boarding passes, we discover that our flight is actually a Delta flight (Northwest and Delta recently merged and apparently are still experiencing some hiccups) and we have to go back downstairs to the Delta ticket counter. We grab our bags and our kids and do an OJ Simpson down to Delta.
6:20 a.m.
At the ticket counter we are told we're too late for our flight. The next best we can do is to catch an afternoon flight, switch planes 2 or 3 times, and arrive in Florida at 10:30 p.m. Jeff and I look at each other with a "You've got to be kidding me!" look in our eyes. We know that going this route with two young children aged 3 and 5 would be like committing travel suicide.
After looking at our tickets again the agent realizes we purchased them with air miles and sends us back to Northwest so they can figure out what to do with us. Luckily we don't have to trek back upstairs: there's a NW counter on this level also. I send out a prayer to the traveling gods: "Please let us get on an earlier flight!!"
We haul our baggage and brood up to the counter where we are met with a very pleasant ticket agent. Jeff tells her our sob story. She tells us she'll see what se can do and checks her computer and checks her computer and checks her computer. Finally she gives us the news. We're expecting the worst but what she says surprises us: "I can put you on a 9:00 a.m. flight to Cleveland where you'll change planes and then fly into Orlando at 2:30 p.m." Jeff and I look at each other with big smiles. Yes!!
Now we'll see if our luck holds. We ask her if she can change our return flight by a day so we can see the shuttle launch. Our luck holds. There is a flight available. We cross our fingers and wait and wait and wait as she talks with a World Perks representative on the phone. When she's on hold Jeff asks her how much the change is going to cost - it usually costs $50-$100 per ticket.
"Right now, nothing" she answers. I can't believe our luck. The travel gods have sent us a travel angel!
7:20 a.m.
We take our tickets, thank the agent profusely, and head out to security. We have just enough time to grab breakfast and then it is time to board our plane, a small 35 seater. The flight to Cleveland is short at just under an hour. After we land we have a 2-hour wait for our connecting flight - just enough time to make some adjustments to our travel plans, play a game of UNO with the kids, and grab some lunch. Nicholas is so tired he falls asleep in the stroller as Jeff takes the kids to get "Old McDonald's". This means that he won't sleep on the plane and so neither will I :(
12:30 p.m.
When it is time for us to board our plane we discover that our seats are in First Class! Oh joy of joys! Each seat has its own television screen too! So the kids settle in to cartoons and I, even though I am tired and should sleep, start to watch "The Secret Life Of Bees". Since the kids are content to watch tv the whole flight it is smooth and uneventful, thank the lord!
2:30 p.m.
Finally we are in Florida! Hurray! I want to kiss the ground. Sun, sand, and shuttle here we come!
5:30 p.m.
We have arrived at our hotel and are now on the beach. The boys run wildly into the surf, oblivious of the "undertoad". It catches Nicholas once, but I am quick on my feet to prevent any major water intake. I'm so excited to see what Michael thinks of his first time in the ocean. "Michael, dip your finger into the water and lick it," I tell him. "What does it taste like?" I'm of course expecting him to answer "salty" but in true Michael fashion he answers "Boogers!"
Stay tuned for more Florida fun with the Byrnes family...
