West Coast Vacation - Day 9
Today is the day we go home. These days are always sad, but we all missed our men desperately by now, so we were excited too.
After such a horrible night's sleep, I felt pretty terrible and the looming Southwest flight made my anxiety flare a bit. Not terribly, just a bit. As I cried over how horrible the day was going to be (Southwest has taught me every flight with them will be a NIGHTMARE), I gave the flight and the whole day to the Lord. He gave me clarity and security that nothing would happen that day that He hadn't already decided to be in His plan. He was in control, and I could stop thinking about it.
My cousin said the night before that we need to give ourselves more than 2 hours to check in because Southwest is delightful like that. So, we arrived at the airport SUPER early. It was nice not to rush though. Each step that we got closer to the plane, I could feel my shoulders relax more and more.
When we got the last tankful of gas in the rental car, I felt better.
When we returned the rental car, I felt better.
When we got on the shuttle to the airport, I felt better.
When we saw that the Southwest line wasn't horribly long, I felt better.
When we checked our luggage and got our boarding passes, I felt better.
When we saw the security line wasn't too long, I felt better.
When we started walking toward our gate and I saw how early it still was, I felt better.
We got to our gate and still had 2 hours before the flight was supposed to leave. Ah, I'm ready, not rushing, and feeling very good. Now I'm realizing how tired I am, but it's Seattle, so there's a Starbucks on every corner. I treated myself to my favorite insanely fattening coffee there, as well as a cinnamon scone! Kara was sitting with her computer and happy as a clam (I love traveling with that girl) and now it was time to just relax.
Even though we took this exact flight last year (from the same gate, even), I kept telling myself that this flight wouldn't turn out like the last one (delayed for hours, the re-routed to Columbus, then arriving home 4 hours late). God already decided how this flight was going to be and we'd all be home eventually that night. We'd live.
Then it happened. We got our first delay. Our 12:30 flight was now a 1:30 flight. Here we go.
Then God sent us a present. Who walks up and sits right next to Kara on her computer but a friend from work! She's going to be on the same plane with us! All the talking and laughing with her made the time go quickly and kept me totally relaxed. I went and got some food (because you know Southwest won't feed you, no matter how long the flight is) and 1:30 was here before I knew it.
We actually were on the plane and ready to go at 1:30 and believe it or not we took off! It was the best flight I have EVER had on Southwest. They even brought over a huge selection of free snacks and let us have many at a time. I took the window seat and saw the beautiful country, including the rocky mountains and Mississippi River.
Kara was an angel, my movies and audiobooks were fun, and before we knew it, we were landing in BWI! We're actually home and it's only an hour late, NICE.
We collected our luggage, lamented over returning to humidity (yes, it's only like 40% humidity this time of year, but it felt like so much more than the west coast), and headed home. By the time we got showered and went to bed, it was late, but we were on west coast time, so we were good.
It took a full week to get back on east coast time, but we are home and have the memories of a fantastic trip fresh in our minds.
Now, that was a great way to start the summer!!
After such a horrible night's sleep, I felt pretty terrible and the looming Southwest flight made my anxiety flare a bit. Not terribly, just a bit. As I cried over how horrible the day was going to be (Southwest has taught me every flight with them will be a NIGHTMARE), I gave the flight and the whole day to the Lord. He gave me clarity and security that nothing would happen that day that He hadn't already decided to be in His plan. He was in control, and I could stop thinking about it.
My cousin said the night before that we need to give ourselves more than 2 hours to check in because Southwest is delightful like that. So, we arrived at the airport SUPER early. It was nice not to rush though. Each step that we got closer to the plane, I could feel my shoulders relax more and more.
When we got the last tankful of gas in the rental car, I felt better.
When we returned the rental car, I felt better.
When we got on the shuttle to the airport, I felt better.
When we saw that the Southwest line wasn't horribly long, I felt better.
When we checked our luggage and got our boarding passes, I felt better.
When we saw the security line wasn't too long, I felt better.
When we started walking toward our gate and I saw how early it still was, I felt better.
We got to our gate and still had 2 hours before the flight was supposed to leave. Ah, I'm ready, not rushing, and feeling very good. Now I'm realizing how tired I am, but it's Seattle, so there's a Starbucks on every corner. I treated myself to my favorite insanely fattening coffee there, as well as a cinnamon scone! Kara was sitting with her computer and happy as a clam (I love traveling with that girl) and now it was time to just relax.
Even though we took this exact flight last year (from the same gate, even), I kept telling myself that this flight wouldn't turn out like the last one (delayed for hours, the re-routed to Columbus, then arriving home 4 hours late). God already decided how this flight was going to be and we'd all be home eventually that night. We'd live.
Then it happened. We got our first delay. Our 12:30 flight was now a 1:30 flight. Here we go.
Then God sent us a present. Who walks up and sits right next to Kara on her computer but a friend from work! She's going to be on the same plane with us! All the talking and laughing with her made the time go quickly and kept me totally relaxed. I went and got some food (because you know Southwest won't feed you, no matter how long the flight is) and 1:30 was here before I knew it.
We actually were on the plane and ready to go at 1:30 and believe it or not we took off! It was the best flight I have EVER had on Southwest. They even brought over a huge selection of free snacks and let us have many at a time. I took the window seat and saw the beautiful country, including the rocky mountains and Mississippi River.
Kara was an angel, my movies and audiobooks were fun, and before we knew it, we were landing in BWI! We're actually home and it's only an hour late, NICE.
We collected our luggage, lamented over returning to humidity (yes, it's only like 40% humidity this time of year, but it felt like so much more than the west coast), and headed home. By the time we got showered and went to bed, it was late, but we were on west coast time, so we were good.
It took a full week to get back on east coast time, but we are home and have the memories of a fantastic trip fresh in our minds.
Now, that was a great way to start the summer!!
Comments
Glad you had so much fun though! And La Push looks GORGEOUS!!!
I am glad to say I had to great flights - one out to SFO, and one home to BWI. One United and one Southwest. :-)
We saw so much beauty, from Fisherman's Wharf all the way up. Our country is so amazing!