This morning I slept in. That statement alone doesn't seem like a big deal, right? It is Friday. Who cares? Let me try again. This morning I slept in and I had an early flight to catch headed for Philadelphia. There we go. That's a little more of an accurate description of my morning. Imagine this: I'm sleeping, dreaming of being drafted into the NBA (don't get caught up in the fact that I'm a female, old, and unable to play basketball with any sort of skill) and Jackson shakes me awake with a gentle "let's GO, Jenna!" How would you react? It was 4:30 in the morning! I went back to sleep. Oops. When Jackson returned from getting our coffee going he was not impressed to see me still in bed. It was now 4:45 and we needed to leave by 5:00. Shoot! I scurried around and was only 10 (or so) minutes behind my prescribed (by Jackson) schedule. I call that a win. It was. Kind of.
We hopped in the Jeep and headed for the airport. We bought a Groupon to park at a new place so that was an added twist to our journey. With the help of Google maps (the app talks to you now! It is amazing! Garmin beware.) we muddled through a rough neighborhood to our parking service's lot. It was a bit of a different parking experience than I expected based on the Groupon information (we had to leave our keys with the lot. That's creepy.), but we didn't have time to think about it. We parked and went to catch the shuttle to the airport. They had a GPS tracking device on all of their shuttles so watching our ride make its way to us kept me entertained. Jackson paced a little and tried to pretend he wasn't annoyed with me. Ha. :) The shuttle was clean and the driver was courteous. Score. We made it to the airport and got to security. Whew. Home free. NOT. Security was a nightmare and included this exchange:
Me: Is checkpoint A as crowded?
TSA "helper": I don't know. You can go check.
Me: I'm aware I can check. I thought perhaps you all communicated since this one is so busy.
TSA: Nope. Makes sense, though.
Me: Yes, it does. (Gee, thanks for your help.)
....15 minutes later (we are still in line!!!!)
TSA Agent: You folks know that checkpoint A isn't as busy right? I thought to check over there for you.
WOW. Just wow. Thanks, pal.
Anyway, I get through the line and to the actual security line and I'm behind amateurs. (Jackson is gone at this point. I have no idea where he went. I still don't, honestly. He just reappeared after I went through the scanner.) The two people in front of me had WATER BOTTLES with WATER in them. These aren't permissible to take through security. COME ON!!!! A new TSA "helper" told them to step aside and let me through since I'd clearly read the instructions. I snickered a bit and went on through. Then I saw the clock and realized that we were going to miss our flight for sure now and took off in my socks since putting my shoes back on would have taken some precious time that I couldn't spare. These are the times that I'm glad I've become a "runner" (that is SO insulting to runners everywhere) because I booked it through that airport. We were, of course, at the last gate in the terminal. After knocking down two kids and an elderly couple, I made it to the gate. I'm kidding. It was only one kid. ;) Jackson made it first and was chatting up the gate agent. I saw this as an opportunity to RUN to the bathroom, pee like a ninja, wash my hands and board the flight. Whew. Coffee shoots right through me! We made it on and were just in time to take the last of the overhead bin space for our duffle bags (people in the know don't use roller bags anymore, FYI) and settle in to our seats before they told us to turn off our phones because the door was closing. It was the closest we've ever come to missing a flight due to cutting it close- usually weather messes with us. I call this a win as I got some extra sleep and didn't have to wait at the gate to board. Jackson isn't convinced that we should try to execute this kind of plan again. Whatever. I gave myself an "A" for keeping my cool and not losing my mind on anyone who got in my way (since I was the one who slept in after all). Please note, Jackson got a "B" as he was a little tense and kept trying to cut people in the security line. Typical! I'd also like to note that while I'm feeling rested and ready for a big day of sightseeing, Jackson is tired. I win! ;)
We'll be in Philly today and tomorrow morning for a bit before hopping a train to NYC for the remainder of the weekend. Here's hoping that we don't have any other "exciting" travel moments this trip. ;)
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