Off to Maine

Sunday, July 20. What a long day. We are having the hardwoods floors in our house refinished, so we spent the morning and afternoon moving furniture and taping up appliances and 52” TVs so the dust wouldn’t get to them. Our house sitter was arriving at 5pm to take us to the airport for our flight to Maine. Lynn had taken care of most of the packing and we were more or less right on schedule. Around 4:30pm, the phone rings and it is Delta Airlines saying our flight had been changed from 8:20pm to 9:45pm. We specifically chose this flight because it is non-stop and we knew Claire would be sleeping. So the new flight time was not that big a deal. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time and checked 5 pieces of baggage (car seat, pack and play, suitcase for each of the 3 of us). At security, Lynn left some baby sunblock and baby insect repellent in the diaper bag. Since these were $20 and we had time, Lynn decided to put them in her backpack and check it as our 6th piece of luggage.

After a leisurely dinner and a walk around the concourse, we headed for our gate. It is real interested to watch people watch Claire. Especially women, who have kids or are grandmothers. They smiles at her or comment how beautiful she is. Anyway, as we were walking to the gate, we stopped to double check the gate number and couldn’t find our flight. So we go to the original gate and ask what happened to our flight. “Oh, they moved it back to the original time. You missed it”.

Fortunately, the bear was sleeping through everything. We went to the service desk and they rebooked us on the first flight to Portland in the morning. Now, ordinarily, we would have simple driven home, but since we got a ride to the airport, we were stranded. Lynn asked for a hotel, which they gave us and they even threw in 2 toiletry bag for us. We asked for a baby bag – since we only had 2 diapers with us, but of course they didn’t have one, but the agent assured us repeatedly, that there was a drug store across the street from the hotel. Not wanting to take any chances, I ask to have Claire’s suitcase pulled, so we could have with us. At the baggage claim center, they scanned the baggage tag and told us, the suitcase was on the way to Maine. So that whole thing about removing your baggage from a flight it you fail to show is crap.
Anyway, we arrived at the Red Roof Inn along with 30 other passengers. Lynn quickly checked in and asked where the drugstore was. It was 2 exits down the interstate. So, the bear would have to make do – not make do do. Her first hotel adventure was at a place that made Motel 6 look luxurious. You know, the red neon sign outside your window, dimly lit room, 25 cent vibrating bed, bath towels that size of face cloths. Ok, there wasn’t a vibrating bed option. Claire was such a good little bear. She didn’t cry at all.

We got to the airport the next morning. There were several people in the gate area admiring her and told us how precious she was. Fortunately, these people sat near us, as Claire decided to whine and cry a little, before the flight took off. Luckily for us, she settled down at a few minutes – which seems like forever when it’s your kid – at slept for almost the whole flight (2.5 hours). Grandma and Grandpa met us at the airport and have been talking baby talk to the bear ever since. And yes, our luggage was at the airport waiting for us.

There is no wi-fi at the beach house, so I am not sure how often I can post to the blog. We’ll go find an unsecure hotspot today or tomorrow.

Ok, i found a Wi-Fi spot at McDonald's. There is so much news to share. the photo above is from Tacoma Lake, where the bear went swimming. More blogging to follow.