I found a flight that had a three hour layover in SLC. Sweet! I'll have dinner with my sister before flying on to WA. San Antonio has a tiny airport, and there are no direct flights to virtually anywhere. Thursday morning I took the kids swimming and in the early afternoon Isaac and I waited for our plane which was about a half hour delayed. The flight was pretty uneventful until it was time to land. Winds were gusting at about 40+ mph and several wildfires burned around Salt Lake City giving the air an orange haze. The plane jumped up and down in the turbulence. Within the plane, people were getting sick and I confess to feeling more than a little queasy myself. It's the first time I've ever felt airsick before, and it was by far the roughest landing I've experienced. Fortunately it didn't get beyond feeling sick for me, because I had enough to do Isaac wrangling. Isaac seemed to be fine despite the turbulence.
Andrea graciously picked us up from the airport and took us to dinner. There's this nice little Italian sandwich cafe/fine chocolate shop downtown. I'll ask Andrea for the name of it, I highly recommend it to those in Utah. Regrettably, I was still feeling very green around the gills and couldn't fully appreciate the sandwich or my first taste of an Italian soda. Jeremy works a few blocks away at the KSL building and met us there. He bought me a fantastic chocolate bar which I am savoring as I type. Mmm!
We arrived back at the airport, and saw that the plane was scheduled to be a half hour delayed. Okay, no sweat, this will give Isaac some more time to burn off energy before boarding. The plane finally arrived an hour late, but by then the wildfires had picked up, assisted by the fierce winds no doubt. All of the ramps were closed save one, and the planes in the air had to land before any aircraft could take off. So we waited, and waited. Isaac pushed the stroller and crawled around on the floor. Gross! I know, but what else can you do with a squirmy, gotta move baby? While Isaac scooted all over finding things to amuse him, several flights were diverted to other airports to refuel before attempting to land again in SLC. About three hours into our adventure we could finally board. Isaac was getting quite tired at this point, being well past his bedtime. We get settled and discovered there were 25 jets ahead of us to takeoff. Sigh. Isaac entertained himself at the window for a while and I bribed him with M&Ms when he got bored.
Fortunately he conked out right after takeoff and slept the entire flight. Bliss. It was a nice break from inventing ways to amuse him for the entire flight.
I got him, his carseat, his stroller, the backpack and the suitcase to the curb where we met grandma and grandpa well after 11 PM; much later than the initial 8:40 planned arrival. But we made it!
[I've come to the conclusion that traveling with 1 one year old by himself is nearly as challenging as traveling with 1 one year old and Matthew and Melissa. Matthew and Melissa are pretty good travelers now and really don't add much to the logistical work.]
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