Leaving on a jet plane

After my fun, girls night at the Taylor Swift concert I had about 2 hours from the time I got back from the concert till I had to get up to head to the airport to fly home for a long weekend filled with family, the highly anticipated baby shower, turkey hunting, and catching up with friends. Silly me thought that by booking an early flight it would minimize the chance for any travel problems and it would give me almost an extra full day at home. Ha! That was not the case...

I got to DIA with plenty of time to spare (around 4 a.m.ish) and had no problems getting checked in and going through security. Reagan, (My almost 2-year-old, crack squirrel, Yorkie, for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting her) was my traveling companion and she was being a perfect angel, calmly drugged up on her "happy pills" and not thrashing, barking, or trying to dig her way out of her flying bag--it seemed like it was going to be a pretty uneventful day of travel.

I had a feeling my day was going downhill while I was sitting at the gate and a baby about 6 months old wouldn't stop crying or screaming. I give it to the parents they were trying everything they could to get it to stop...I of course was praying that the little thing wasn't going to be on my flight...of course it was. And then we ended up having a minor delay, no biggie. It was a direct flight I figured the pilots would make up time in the air and I would land at the perfect time of 7:30 a.m. or a little after. Perfect! It would still leave me with almost a full day at home.

We boarded the plane, which was less than half-full so I got an aisle to myself which I planned on fulling utilizing for a much needed nap since I really hadn't slept yet and I figured that no better time than a direct flight leaving before the sun is up to catch a few zzz's.

After boarding the plane we sat there for about 45 minutes, mind you the baby is still screaming bloody murder and by this time I had fondly nicknamed this poor child exorcist baby and was just waiting for his head to start turning around and for it to start puking green stuff...it never did. That may be a little insensitive of me to give this poor,screaming, unhappy child such a harsh nickname but remember I had yet to have been to sleep and I was feeling a little impatient. Also, I was paying $75 to fly with my little drugged up crack squirrel that no one knew was there and exorcist baby was disturbing the whole flight and was flying for free. Parents, supposedly a little bit of Benedryl can go a long way, I'm just saying.

So after sitting there for 45 minutes they announce over the intercom that we were having mechanical problems in the cockpit and we were just waiting for maintenance to come and fix it. This resulted in us sitting for about another 20 minutes while being serenaded by exorcist baby before they said that it wasn't going to be able to be fixed and we had get off the plane and sprint to another gate (which of course was on the complete opposite side of the airport) to a plane that they were holding for us that would now be taking us to Las Vegas. Once we boarded the flight crew announced to all of us that were supposed to be on the flight to LAX that they had no information for us and in a round-about-way they were pretty much telling us good luck. I figured if I got stuck in Vegas I would high tail it to the nearest bar and order a double Bloody Mary ASAP to drink away the screaming I had been dealing with for the past hour and then maybe gamble a bit in the airport. There are worse places to get stuck.

Fortunately, when we landed in Vegas (exorcist baby had done a great job continuing to serenade us the whole flight there) they were holding a plane to LA for us--we just had to sprint (again) across to the opposite side of the terminal to catch the flight that was already delayed waiting for us. By this time I am fully prepared to have no luggage and I was already plotting and planning a shopping trip... after my much needed nap took place. I figured with as many plane changes (with all them pretty much being last minute) there was no way I would have luggage...yes I have no faith in airlines. I had the joy of sitting in the seat in front of exorcist baby on this flight, and the good lord must have been watching over me because miraculously he only cried for half of the 40 minute flight. After listening to the little thing for about 3 hours I didn't know how much longer I could be cordial. Mind you all of this is taking place before the sun is up...we were leaving Vegas just at day break.

And then we land in the beautiful sunny, LA. The weather was a perfect 78 degrees, my luggage made it, and there was a Starbucks outside my gate. It may not have been a Bloody Mary but I settled for it. The airport even had a little doggie play area where I let Reagan out to do her business and stretch her legs. You would think that after that debacle things would start looking up. They didn't.

Since LA is about 2 1/2 hours from my parents and traffic usually blows they make me take the bus to Bakersfield, which I detest. This time I had to wait over 2 hours for the bus which means I could have been about home before the damn thing even got there. This trip on the bus was no different than normal (horrible!), and it just added to the day I had already experienced. Reagan's "happy" pills wore off about a half hour before the bus got there and her true crack squirrel behavior came out and it led to me having to give her more "happy" pills, which I don't really like to give her in the first place. The air system on the bus was broken, the driver couldn't turn on the a/c and the heater wouldn't turn off...so it was sweltering. I had just left 4 inches of snow and 40 degrees so I thought this 80 degree temperature, plus the heater running, plus over half-full bus was going to end me. Also there were some sketchy characters on this bus...I'm talking claiming colors, tatted up, pierced, non-english speaking characters. Also the driver told me the dog had to stay in the carrier...I of course did not follow that rule because not only was I miserable but my travel companion wasn't taking things well either.

All I have to say is I am glad I trained my parents well. Once I finally got to Bakersfield (in quite a peachy mood I must add) dad met me with the saving grace, and it also saved him from having to deal with me having a major princess moment, which I have a tendency to be famous for. It wasn't a Bloody Mary but at that time it was even better...a #2 animal style, with extra crispy fries, diet coke, and cup of water for Reagan from In-N-Out. By having that on hand dad saved lives...mainly his own.

So all before the sun came up I had a flight that was delayed, cancelled and rerouted, I had dealt with an exorcist baby, and there was no bar open serving cocktails...it made for a rough morning.

This is going to be a 2 part blog so the fun stories and pictures are soon to come!