Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

We made it!

Arrived late Saturday night into Providence Airport

I'm lucky enough to have a wonderful daughter who is very  patient at airports and on airplanes.

We started the day at 5am getting on the airport express, a bus that took us to the airport in Oakland. We arrived there two hours early, which was good because as soon as I got there I realized that two hands is not nearly enough for two suitcases, a stroller, diaper bag and a baby. So I walked the length of the airport looking for the delta terminal. I somehow managed to stack my luggage and roll it over.

Now, I checked out the website to be sure that I could bring my bags on the plane and how much they were... well, SORRY, turns out delta doesn't give you a free bag. (Even though it says that  you get a free one all over the website and terminal) So the man behind the counter tells me he'll check one for free as a baby item. Great , $35 (or so I thought) I didn't have a credit card so I had to have my mother pay for the bags while on the phone with her he tells me to  "be sure to pay for both of them" so we ended up paying $60" I thought it was pretty ridiculous for them to tell me that they would only charge me for one then charging me for both anyways. 

After that I wasn't looking forward to a security check. Alas, it cannot be avoided, but I was very surprised at how quick the security people were and how short the lines were. I think there were only about three families in front of me, so it wasn't stressful which was nice.

So for the next few hours Annabella and I hung out with a little boy and his mama, Annabella shared her snacks and coloring books with him. I spent five bucks on coffee and a water and got on the plane.

The ride to salt lake city was beautiful, we flew over Lake Tahoe and the surrounding lakes, they were all so blue that I swore at some parts I could see to the bottom.

But the salt flats were my favorite to fly over (they also happen to be my favorite thing to drive by) What you can see in this picture is fields of salt in Utah, I'm pretty sure that they belong to Morton Salt. I was amazed at how many different colors there were on the ground.

We only had 45 min till our flight to Atlanta, just enough time to change Annabella's diaper and grab a drink. I was bummed I didn't have enough time to get some real food since our next flight was the longest.

We got on the plane and found our seats next to a little boy who was about five and his mother. Annabella was overjoyed about this seat assignment, but the little boy was not as excited. He didn't find Annabella nearly as interesting as she found him. 

I was surprised at how rude the stewardesses were on this flight, when I asked if the bathroom had a changing table she looked at me like I was insane, jut curious whats the etiquette on changing a baby on the plane if there is no table? The lady told me to just do it on the floor of the bathroom.. EWWW, so I played supermom and just lay her across my lap while I sat on the toilet.. wow

 Annabella fell asleep for the last two hours of the four hour ride so it was a very pleasant trip

 I was also pretty bummed to find  out that the only way to buy food or snacks on the airplane is with a credit card (which I don't have) So I was good with pretzels that Annabella force fed me and a ginger-ale.

Then we got to Atlanta... Grrrrrrr

I don't know if you readers out there in blogland have ever been but this airport is huge, so huge that you have to take a train to get from one terminal to the next, and here I am with 30 min to get to my plane.. OH it was a nightmare, I was running down the terminals with my stroller, then waiting for the elevators was a huge stress, Some janitors acctually cut in front of me with thier garbage bin, leaving no room for me on the first elevator ride down.

We did make it, and it just so happened to be the best flight, it was not crowded at all and Annabella and I even got our own row of seats! But Annabella was so atsy on this flight, we were walking up and down the aisles of the plane, luckily my daughter is adorable and nobody minded.

I would do a few things differently next time, and since I couldn't find too many sites maybe this can help some of you next time you fly

1. Forget books for yourself; I didnt have time to read, and while annabella was sleepign there was no room to read a book, I took a nap and it was well needed for both
2. Bring your stroller; Getting your baby in her carrier can be a pain while trying to get off the plane, I found that having the stroller at the door of the plane was helpful because I could put all my carry-on luggage underneith and just push it (this is especially nice while running through the Atlanta Airport)
3. Bring LOTS of snacks and toys; preferably new ones. Annabella tried out crayons for the first time on the trip and they wre a great distraction
4. Breastfeed: while going up and going down,  it works for popping ears as well as calming baby down
5. Bring a credit card; because you won't be able to buy anything on the  plane without it
6. Bring a changing pad
7. 2  hour layovers, I know it makes the day longer, but it really helps when the little ones can stretch their legs for a while before the next airplane ride

I hope you found some of these tips helpful

Organizing pictures from our trip to New York City, I'll be posting them soon