Four Ladies and a Birthday! About This Page:

[Luvsun]

Well, I left off at my pre-trip report here Four Ladies, a birthday, Wishes desserts and MNSSHP! Pre-Trip Report!.

I have shortened my trip report title just because the other title seemed extremely long!

The day had arrived! Wednesday, Sep. 30! I was heading to my home away from home!
With my bags packed filled with goodies for the ladies, Allen woke me up early (before the crack of dawn early!). We were out of the house by 5:10 a.m.!! He drove me about 20 minutes away to the bus station where I would board the shuttle to Chicago Midway airport. My flight was at 12:50 p.m. but it takes the shuttle service 3 hours to get to Midway with all of the stops. Since I was traveling without my dh, I wanted to make sure I got there in plenty of time to get through security without completely falling apart! You see.....the last time we flew, we were coming home from California after seeing our son Zachary. I was a crying mess (I hate leaving my kids!) and I forgot to take out my laptop from my carry-on. Naturally, I got pulled aside....checked thoroughly, emptied out my carry-on, etc. The people behind us in the security line were not to happy with me! So, my hope was to get to Midway in plenty of time to check my bag, and head to security in a calm fashion!
We arrived at the bus station in plenty of time. The first bus of the day was to leave at 6:00 a.m. That was the plan! That was what the schedule said! Yep...6:00 a.m.!! But...the bus had mechanical problems! After waiting almost 45 minutes, they finally decided to get us a different bus. Boy was I glad my flight wasn't any earlier! Once the second bus arrived, we were all boarded and we were off! The bus driver announced that because of the delay, we would be skipping two stops on the way to Chicago. I am not sure what happened with the people at those stops.....but we arrived at Midway just 20 minutes later than originally scheduled! Not bad!
Once at the airport, I got in a line for Southwest that was only 5 people long! I was shocked! I had my bag checked in record time! I called Allen and updated him. I called me sister-in-law who was also traveling that day to get an update on her location. She was in Detroit waiting to board for her flight to Ft. Myers. I headed to security and kept reminding myself to take my time and not get flustered! I remembered my laptop this time and all things went smoothly! I was through security very quickly and headed to get some breakfast!
Once I had a bagel and green tea, I headed to my gate where I scored one of those comfy chairs! I had plenty of time to wait, so I pulled out my book and read. I heard from my sister-in-law that her flight was on time, so I knew she would be at the Ft. Myers airport waiting on me when I landed.
My boarding pass was a B so I waited for all of the A's to go through. Soon I was in line to get on the plane! Once I was on the plane, I got out my bags of goodies to give to the airline attendants. They were thrilled! I had put a Halloween pin, assorted chocolate, some candy corn, a crazy eye bouncy ball, and Halloween Mickey Mouse card thanking them! All of the attendants stopped by my seat during the flight and thanked me. And at the end of the flight, after announcing when we would be landing, etc., they again thanked the lady in seat 16 C for the goodie bags! What a fun idea Cam! Thanks to you and Stefanie, I will now always do something special for the team in the air!
The flight was uneventful and I read the entire way. This flight ended at you will never guess where?! It went to Orlando! I had to get off of this plane and wait 45 minutes at the same gate for my flight to Ft. Myers. So, once off of the plane, I hit the bathroom and found my way to a smoothie! Calls were made to Nate to let him know I was on time (he was picking both myself and my sister-in-law up at the airport), and to my dh to tell him I could smell WDW from my seat in the Orlando airport!
My plane to Ft. Myers arrived and it was the coolest plane I have ever seen! It was painted like Shamu the whale! I it! Of course, I failed to get a picture! Once on board, the travel time was about 40 minutes in the air. Before I knew it I was touching down in Ft. Myers Florida! I was HOME!
Once off of the plane, I found my sister-in-law (her name is JoEllen....but from now on, let's just call her Jo!) and we headed down to baggage claim. I walked right up to the baggage carousel and my bag was right there! I have never had my bag waiting for me!!! Jo and I waited outside in the wonderful warm Florida air for Nate and Ashley to pick us up! Within 15 minutes here they came! They brought us our car from the villa, gave us hugs all around and off we went. They headed to church, as they help out with youth group on Wednesday nights, Jo and I headed to Mel's Diner for supper!
Next up: Meeting Koda the puppy and I have to get to bed....I am getting up at 5:30 again - this time because I am going to WDW!!!!!!!!!!

[Cam22]

Great start, Ann! The gift bags for the flight crew really is such a fun thing and yet simple thing to do. Stefanie and I have our bags ready to go for this trip, too. Too funny that you landed first in Orlando! Can't wait for more!

[lazanya]

Great start!

[chezp]

Great start! What a neat plane!

[PrincessSharon]

Great start, Ann! Of course I had to go back to the PTR and catch up (I wish I could get a PM when a new TR starts ). Glad you made your flight after the delay with the shuttle! Can't wait to hear all about the girls trip!

[Ceara's mawmaw]

Wonderful start....can't wait to read more....

[KMB733]

Great Start!!!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Ann!

[Luvsun]

Meeting Koda the puppy and I have to get to bed....I am getting up at 5:30 again - this time because I am going to WDW!!!!!!!!!!

After dinner at Mel's Diner (so yummy!!! I had the club sandwich and their famous rice pudding for dessert. I can't remember what Jo had, but she also got the rice pudding! ) we head to the villa. First up, turn down the AC and turn on the water, the water heater and Comcast cable and internet! We pull in our bags from the car and I begin to unpack things I do not need for WDW. Jo decides what she needs from Wal-Mart and makes a list. We head to Wal-Mart for a few items and then on to Nate and Ashley's so that I can meet my grandpuppy for the first time!

This is Koda Bear - Nate and Ashley's new puppy! Isn't he adorable????


Here he is with the Notre Dame jersey grammy brought him!!!


I just love this picture! Nate and his puppy! He loves that puppy!!

So once I met Koda and loved on him, gave presents to Nate and Ash, we headed back to the villa to finish up getting organized and re-packed for our trip to WDW bright and early in the morning!
I don't think I got to bed until 11:30! It had been a long day and I don't remember my head hitting the pillow!
I had set my alarm for 5:30 a.m. Well....I guess I was way too excited for the alarm! I woke up at 5:20 and jumped out of bed! You couldn't have wiped the smile off of my face that morning!
Once I was dressed and ready, I closed up my suitcases and pulled the car around to the front of the house. I noticed Jo's light was on in her bedroom, that was good....I really didn't want to have to wake her up! We packed up the car and we were on the road by 6:15 a.m.!! Not bad!!
I wanted to fill up the car with gas before getting on 75, so we stopped in Bonita Springs.
Once we were on 75 we drove about an hour before stopping at a McDonald's for a breakfast sandwich and coffee for Jo, iced tea for me.
The drive went smoothly and we were sailing onto WDW property by 9:45 a.m.!!!

Next up: Welcome Home! (Don't ya just love it when they say that to you?) Oh....and what do we do while we wait for Carly and Becky????

[daddyof2princessess]

Love the bags! Can't wait for more.

[HiddenMickey]

Good start! And that puppy is A-DOR-A-BLE.

[janicelovesmickey]

omg KODA IS TOOOO CUTE love him!!
great start!!

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update! Love the puppy!

[ariel14]

Oh my gosh--Koda is too cute! What breed is he?

[Luvsun]

Originally Posted by ariel14

Oh my gosh--Koda is too cute! What breed is he?

He is a Shorkie, which is a mix of Shih Tzu and Yorkie.
He is sooooooooo cute and so lovable!
I miss him so much!