[PrincessSharon]

This is Thread 2. If you need to catch up, check out the Pre-Trip Report here.

Day One – Friday, May 30
Not Much Happened

My DF drove me to the airport as usual. When I got out of the car, I realized I hadn’t taken the stuff out of my purse and put it into my carry on bag like I usually do. So I just figured I’d keep my purse with me as my second carry-on item. BUT, I threw it in my suitcase temporarily until I could get to the check-in kiosk. I’m sure you all know what happens when you do things like that.

There wasn’t even a big line of people to wait behind, so like 30 seconds later, I was standing at the kiosk, checking my bags. I don’t even have the excuse of a long delay. I just completely forgot about my purse. Until right after I dropped off my suitcases to be loaded. I thought about the contents and figured there wasn’t anything in there I’d need on the flight, so I decided against disrupting everything and going back for it. Then I realized that my cellphone was in there, and it was on. Dun dun dunnnn!!!!

So what did I do? Nothing. I hoped it wouldn’t screw up anything (I was sure it wouldn’t, because I’ve seen people using their cellphones next to me on planes mid-flight ). I was actually just hoping there wasn’t some kind of sensor or anything, because then I’d have to fess up!

The line at security was quite long (relatively speaking). There were about 15 people ahead of me, but it moved quickly. Once through, I stopped at the pizza place to grab some dinner and watched and wondered about the construction going on there. (Turns out Spirit Air is moving in to our airport. Well, by now, I guess they’re moved in.)

After my meal, I went to my gate and found one of the nice, comfortable chairs with electrical and USB outlets right next to them. I checked in on the boards a bit. I noticed I had an admirer, who started singing loudly and looking at me to see if I was impressed. I was not! Luckily, we started boarding. I’ve forgotten what my number was. I seem to recall being first in my line, so I guess I had A31.

The flight was uneventful and we took off and landed on time. I collected my luggage and then went to get my rental car. I used Alamo, so you just pick one from what’s available. I’d rented a midsize SUV, and there was a nice RAV4, but it was white and I figured white would just blend in with the sea of other white rental cars in the parking lots, so I tried for first a Jeep Liberty (black) and then another one that I can’t remember the make of. They both, unfortunately, reeked of cigarette smoke. I didn’t feel like living with it (I’ve made that choice in the past and regretted it). And one of them was also pretty dirty (badly stained seats). I decided that the RAV4 was the cleanest, so I took it!

I had my suitcases ready to load, but unfortunately I couldn’t get the trunk to open. I kept hitting the unlock button, but it wouldn’t work. While I was standing there (directly in front of the trunk with my suitcase sitting on the ground, with the key in my hand) a woman comes along and asks me if I’m taking this car. Duh! Of course I am, you ninny (seriously, she hadn’t witnessed my inspection of the other cars or I would’ve been OK with her question. And I’d been standing at the RAV4 for a couple of minutes by then) She kind of had an attitude about it. I guess she didn’t like the other choices, but I got here first, lady! I finally figured out you have to hit the unlock button twice in a row (quickly!!!) to get it to open the trunk.

I finally got the stuff loaded in and I headed out. I made it to Mystic Dunes with no problem and check-in was painless. Also, I didn’t have to leave a credit card deposit the way I had to the last time I stayed. I found my room and hit the sack!