I am so glad you're here!  This is my little corner where I get to share some of my most favorite images from engagements, weddings, births, my travels and my own little family from time to time.  Hang out, look around, and please reach out to say hello!

explore:

welcome to my

home on the web

Weddings

births

Engagements

Families

Monday Musings

August 18, 2014

Monday Musings | Traveling to Texas

I’ve been traveling for a long time.  In fact, at one point, I might have even considered myself a pro.  And I’m also fairly easy going when it comes to hiccups in travel because I know that I’ll eventually get there and in the grand scheme of things, it’s really not that big of a deal if a delay or something else comes up. However, I’ve not walked through any of that while also dealing with pregnancy hormones.  Holy cow…  so, because I love lists, here are a few things that I wanted to pass onto my fellow travelers after this weekend full of travel craziness and mishaps.

  • TSA considers a jar of Nutella to be a gel/liquid so don’t try and take a jar (of any size over the allowed 3 oz) in your carryon bag.  It will get thrown away (even if you try to give it to the TSA agent who is taking it from you!).  I almost cried before I’d even gotten onto my first flight.
  • The Atlanta airport is the busiest airport in the world and while many don’t like flying in/out/through there, it’s my favorite airport because I worked there for so long and I know it really well!  However, it’s almost completely reliable on the “plane train” (aka underground tram that takes you from one terminal to another) and when it gets stuck in between terminals, there’s a tad bit of chaos that happens. (You can read more details here.)  Thankfully, I was able to hold it together and move along with the crowds and made it to my flight.  Delta was even holding most of their flights to allow people to wade through the chaos so even though my plane was half full when I got on, it was almost if not completely full when we took off.  Way to go, Delta!
  • My friends in South Carolina and other parts of the south, we have been BLESSED with these cold fronts that we’ve had this summer.  When I stepped out of the airport in Dallas on Friday, it was like walking straight into a wall of humidity.  Holy moly, it was H-O-T!
  • Mexican food in Texas is delicious.
  • They serve yellow queso out there… my Texas friends love it.  And while it’s tasty, I’m still partial to our white cheese dip over here :-)
  • When flights home are delayed due to weather and they let you know before hand, it gives you plenty of time for one last lunch in Texas!  However, just be aware that it IS possible for them to move the time back up, so be prepared!
  • Even when you only have less than 30 minutes to get through security to your gate, take. your. time. through security.  One of the nice TSA gentlemen went to empty my Camelbak water bottle for me since I didn’t have time before sending my things through the x-ray machine, and sent it through in a separate container.  Unfortunately in the few minutes it took me to get through it all, I’d forgotten about my water bottle and didn’t remember it until I was already at my gate.  RIP orange Camelbak… you were so good to me!
  • As my zone was being called to board the plane, they had supposedly run out of overhead bin space so without any choice on my part, my carry-on roller bag was checked all the way to my final destination. At this point, my hormones were catching up to me and I just wanted to cry.  None of this was really a big deal, but I was just wanting to get home and there were no easy answers to much at the moment and apparently I also needed a nap :-)
  • When weather is involved in flight delays, just be prepared for anything.  We all got on our flight in Dallas (after the departure time had been moved back, up, and possibly even sideways) and were then told that our destination (Atlanta) had an all-stop due to weather.  So no planes were going in or out of ATL.  Which meant we got to sit on the runway for an additional 30+ minutes.
  • I had no idea what my connecting flight situation in ATL was going to look like when I got there, but I saw that it hadn’t left yet when we landed so I rushed from terminal A to B and my plane was still there!  However, they’d given away my seat (and a few others) because the flight was overbooked and my incoming flight had been delayed. *sigh*
  • BUT, it really does pay off to be kind to people when you’re in a stressful situation.  The gate agents have one of the toughest jobs out there (especially when things aren’t running smoothly) and this wonderful lady not only did her best, but she got the four of us who had lost our seats onto that plane just before it took off!  Even though it was oversold, there were 3 seats in first class and one in coach.  And one generous lady in our party of four opted to take the last seat in coach so the other three of us could have the three seats in the front cabin.  It was SO kind of her!

Overall, it really was a wonderful weekend!  And as I kept trying to remind myself, I WAS going to get to Dallas and I WAS going to get home.  And I did!  And it’s travel days like yesterday that make me even more thankful to walk into Ben’s arms when I get home!

This photo is a tad blurry, but I love it.  Arica and her bridesmaids for one last Tex-Mex meal in Texas!

TXweekend-101

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.