The Longest 7 (or 10) Hours... ::Travel Troubles::

Before I begin, I would like to make two things very clear...
1. I never get airsick.
2. I like little children.

It all started around 3 pm. After a short break for the holidays, it was definitely time to go back to school. Everything seemed fine for a while, but my mother is a crier. Do you know hard it is to remove your shoes and jacket, empty your pockets, present your passport, pass through the metal detector, replace your shoes and jacket, and walk away while your mother is watching you...crying?!? Not simple, my friend. Anyone who can watch their mother cry without shedding a tear is dead inside. Don't worry, though. She called me five minutes later to make sure I'd found my gate. (Have you been to the Tulsa airport?!)

Upon boarding the plane, to my dismay I found that my seat was already occupado by a man who barely spoke english and smelled like a coat closet. With some help from the cute boy behind me (also the boy who was to sit next to me for the next 2.5 hours) things were cleared up and we settled in. Only a few moments later, however, it was realized that the entire row in front of us was empty and the cute boy quickly moved to the seat in front of his. Too quickly. I chose not to take that personally.

Before taking off, the pilot came on to explain to us that we would experience a great deal of turbulance over Colorado. Usually the captain won't talk about turbulance until turbulance has actually been experienced. When the captain predicts turbulance...BUCKLE UP! Let's just say that by the time we got to Salt Lake, I was probably green... not to mention quite happy the cute boy was not sitting two inches from me. Enough about that.

In Salt Lake, I had about a three hour layover. Since nothing interesting happened at this point, we'll move ahead.

During that last leg of my travels, upon boarding the plane I was informed that my seat had been changed for me. This didn't phase me too much, since I was replaced into a window seat. After everyone else had boarded, the three seats in my row were still unoccupied. Following some hustle and bustle at the front of the planes, two small girls and a mother holding a baby walk down the isle to the seats next to me. A charming little lady sat neatly next to me, buckled her safety belt and helped herself to a bag of chips. The cuteness didn't last. It wasn't long before I was being tackled by a monster with Dorito-encrusted fingers and milky breath, insisting that I keep my window shut and turn BOTH overhead lights on. (Neither of those are things I like to do.) That went down for about the next hour. The highlight of the flight was when the young child blurted out loudly, "Hey, why is your nose so big?" While her horrified mother apologized and scolded her, I explained politely that my father has a large nose. I didn't FEEL like being polite...

Upon our 30-minute late arrival into Idaho Falls, I joined the other passengers in waiting another 30 minutes for our luggage. Then I joined the other 6 passengers whose luggage was lost. Yes... that is how my day was yesterday.

Moral of the story: Flying is the safest way to travel.