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| Muskegon airport | Photo by Roger Schultz |
I started to talk about Seattle in Part I, but I'm going to back up a tad. As you can tell, my parents and I made it to the lovely state of Washington, but let me tell ya, we weren't always sure it would happen.
First of all, I am a schedule freak. I thrive in environments where I know the details and am confident that everything is organized. When I woke up the morning of our flight, I was in go-mode. I did my last minute packing, double-checked that I wasn't leaving anything important behind, and when I heard my dogs stampede down the hardwood stairs, I knew our ride to the airport had arrived.
My parents were all ready, so I did the goodbye routine I have perfected from going away to college: grabbed my doggies and gave them a million kisses (snout, ears, forehead, paws), snuggled them, and said I loved them. Then I hopped in my grandma's Dodge Durango and buckled my seat belt. I sat there, waiting for everyone else to get in - I wanted to get this show on the road. As I continuously looked at the clock, I got more and more impatient with every ticking minute. I've had the privilege to travel with organizations at Central Michigan University in the last couple of years, so if I've learned anything, it's that you have to be early when you travel - and it wasn't happening
Finally my grandma got in, then my mom, then we waited. And waited. And Waited. My dad was taking so long because for some reason, he was trying to get my brother to say goodbye to me. For all of you that know my brother, you're probably half giggling right now because you know that this task is clearly impossible. After 10+ minutes of me arguing that I didn't need to say goodbye, my brother reluctantly walked out as my dad forced him to say goodbye....and hug me. Wait, what? Yup, my brother actually took me in his arms and embraced me.
With that out of the way, we were finally on our way. And just to be clear, we made it through airport security with time to spare, so I guess I should admit that I sporadically overreact.
But here's the thing, this setback wasn't even the beginning.
We took a puddle-jumper from Muskegon to Chicago, got off the plane and were ready to get on our plane to New Jersey. Yeah, you read right, we were going further East. The plan was to fly from Chicago to New Jersey, and the same plane would then take us to Seattle. As we sat waiting to board the plane in Chicago, we heard an announcement saying we were now departing from a different terminal, so we grabbed our carry-ons and hurried over there. After pushing back our departure time a few times, we finally boarded. Those delays wouldn't mean anything, right? I mean, we are on the plane to Seattle, so they can't leave without us, right?
Haha, think again.
I guess even though the tickets said we were taking the exact same plane from Chicago to New Jersey, and from New Jersey to Seattle, that just wasn't the case. We missed our flight. So did many other people. As we soon would learn, there wouldn't be another flight to Seattle until the morning.
My dad got us a complimentary hotel room and gift cards for dinner, courtesy of United Airline - even though I told him it wasn't worth traveling to a room when we had approximately eight hours before we had to be back at the airport.
I was grateful for a bed and food other than the minor selection they had available during the wee hours of the night. Needless to say, we conked out as soon as our heads hit the pillows - clothes, shoes, everything perfectly intact. I mean, what's the point in taking off clothes you'll probably just put back on when you wake up. Saves you time.
We woke up extra early because this was not the tiny Muskegon airport that only has one flight boarding at a time. When we got to the airport, I was surprised to find that there was no wait through security and there was only one restaurant in the food court open - literally a ghost town. As my parents dozed off in front-row seats to our terminal, I read poetry.
Day two was full of traveling. Our flight from New Jersey went to Dallas and then we would fly to Seattle. Although I would've rather have been exploring Washington on that second day instead of being cooped up in an airplane for hours on end, it made our arrival sweeter. I was excited to finally reach our destination, relax, and experience the state I had been trying to picture for months.
My dad got us a complimentary hotel room and gift cards for dinner, courtesy of United Airline - even though I told him it wasn't worth traveling to a room when we had approximately eight hours before we had to be back at the airport.
I was grateful for a bed and food other than the minor selection they had available during the wee hours of the night. Needless to say, we conked out as soon as our heads hit the pillows - clothes, shoes, everything perfectly intact. I mean, what's the point in taking off clothes you'll probably just put back on when you wake up. Saves you time.
We woke up extra early because this was not the tiny Muskegon airport that only has one flight boarding at a time. When we got to the airport, I was surprised to find that there was no wait through security and there was only one restaurant in the food court open - literally a ghost town. As my parents dozed off in front-row seats to our terminal, I read poetry.
Day two was full of traveling. Our flight from New Jersey went to Dallas and then we would fly to Seattle. Although I would've rather have been exploring Washington on that second day instead of being cooped up in an airplane for hours on end, it made our arrival sweeter. I was excited to finally reach our destination, relax, and experience the state I had been trying to picture for months.
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| Boarding the "puddle-jumper" from Muskegon to Chicago | Photo by Roger Schultz |
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| View from one of the plane rides (so many connections, who knows!) | Photo by Roger Schultz |
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| It's always so busy in airports | Photo by Roger Schultz |
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| Finally on our way to Seattle | Photo by Roger Schultz |
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