In Search of Sunshine Day 2

5:15 am. I was awoken by hubby tying his shoelaces while sat a the bottom of the bed. He was dressed and about to sneak out of the room to go for a walk. Travelodge rooms aren't the best places for a deep, comfortable nights sleep and He wasn't the only one up and about as another family along the corridor were banging doors and chatting excitedly as they left for the airport. Only five hours until the flight. Great.

Texted hubby to get me a coffee from the posh machine in the lobby rather than risk waking Alexander with the small but noisy kettle. There followed a 'text fest' as I gave him instructions on opening up the locked and sealed cases to find the razor that had been packed. He had forgotten to get out a spare for the overnight bag. "which case?", "what colour is the bag?", "which pocket in the bag?" etc etc.

We have the morning routine sussed now after what will be our 17th trip. We take the car to Brother in Laws, who conveniently lives just a couple of miles from the airport. They drop us off at the airport. No taxi's and no expensive parking fees. Pre flight check in means we simply hand over the luggage, get through security and spend the next two hours having breakfast and browsing the shops. Stress free! Ha!

One Full English, One Croque Monsieur, One cheese burger and fries and a bowl of porridge with summer berries. £25 thank you very much. Hubby's 'wallet pains' start. Topped off with a trip to Duty Free for a US adaptor because I had left the one 'bought ages ago and put away somewhere safe' behind. More 'pains!

Finally we are called to the gate and we stand around in the usual unorganised crowd waiting for the 'special' ones to get on first. Secretly wishing we had paid extra to be one of them. This year, having both boys with us we had planned the seating arrangements so that Jordan sat in front of Alexander so that he could put his seat back and not disturb hubby. I sat next to him because of 'elbow wars' . Im more tolerant of arm rest occupation apparently.

It's Delta Airways this time, due to cheaper flights and the reason for a stop at Atlanta. £500 a flight rather than £800 makes it worth the inconvenience. The aircraft is noisy, and so are a few of the younger kids but the noise cancelling headphones sorted that out.

Lunch was quite good for airline food. Salad, crackers and cheese, a roll, and Thai chicken curry, with a chocolate biscuit. I dont drink anything but water on flights and did resist the urge to have a Pinot Grigio. Once the trays were cleared it was time for the filums on the iPad. Started to watch Inception, had been saving it for the trip, but couldnt be bothered and ended up watching The Muppets Movie. I loved it! Is it odd that I had a bit of a lump in my throat at the happy ending?

A few games of 'Sparkle HD' followed by a nap and we were only two and a half hours away from landing. being sat in the same place the length of time I usually spend during a day at work sounds unbearable, but it does tend to pass quicker than I expect.

We have just been given an afternoon snack of Cheese Calzone and a tub of ice cream. Not that Im hungry but it whiles away a few more minutes. The nose is dipping downwards now, we are starting our approach as they say in air traffic control speak. The fun will begin when we land. We have 1hr 40 minutes (unless we land earlier or the connection is delayed) to get off, get luggage, get through Immigration and to whatever gate we need to get to. Its looking good for an early landing.

Approaching Atlanta

 

Now in Atlanta, no hassles, no queues to speak at Immigration, unlike Orlando which is a mare at the best of times. A quick tube to terminal B and we are waiting at the gate to be called in the next 30 mins or so. No free wifi unfortunately so will have to wait till Miami before catching up with my Twitter Tweeps. The sooner we get there the better as a certain 9 year old is starting to get a bit restless and testing our patience a tad. I am off for a large caffeine fix. Next stop Miami!

The last stage went as effortless as the previous one, apart from one very loud voiced american man having a conversation with the whole plane it seemed. At Miami, getting bags, collecting car....Name on a board, key in glovebox, drive away (Hertz Gold Member) none of that messy queuing business!

I am always impressed by hubby's driving skills in the US, apart from a little veering t the right at times, its like he drives here all the time. Co Pilot on the iPhone gets us to the hotel, and then the nearest Longhorn Steakhouse. Jordan hadn't eaten all day, so even though not that hungry, we went and had our first of many on the Floridian steak trek.

Back to the Holiday Inn Express, I tried to unpack while everyone else got into bed and onto the wifi! A whole day without it had been unbearable for us! Alexander was desperate to catch up on Draw Something, Jordan to email his girlfriend. Finally, everything put away (Im OCD about things being in right places on holiday - hate messy rooms!) and we switched off the light. At what was 2am in the UK, even the aircon couldn't keep us awake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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