cshollingsworth
02-09-2007, 01:28 AM
Here is my flight/trip report...yeah, I'm proud that I finally have something to brag about instead of telling you all how I got scared and made a dash out of the airport into the "safe" confines of my car. :rolleyes:So, with the new sense of success fresh on my mind, I'll tell you a little about my flights.
Saturday a.m. at BNA proved to be a minimal trip down memory lane. Some of the old demons were still there. Don, mom and myself had rooms at the Red Roof near the airport the night before. I had been sick with Pharyngitis all week. Thought I was doing better, but Friday night was miserable...coughed all night and woke up to feel like I'd been hit by a car. Just before leaving for the airport, I was in the bathroom throwing up. At that point, I didn't know if it was because of my being nervous or just because I had some kind of nasty crud that was trying to take over my body.
Anyway, I pressed on. Mom had been itching to see Epcot and I had promised I would get her there, so I meant to do what I said. All 3 of us went on to BNA early, made it through security with my meds in tow. No problems. Don even made it through security without getting taken aside this time! :tongue:
We went to our gate early. Not too many people there. I still felt miserable, but mostly it was from my Pharyngitis. I got a pre-boarding pass and sat down to wait. When the plane arrived, I looked outside and saw the weirdest looking SWA plane ever...I'm posting a pic, so if you guys know what type of livery this is, please let me know. We all thought it was quite festive looking and it made me smile...which planes rarely do, so there you go. It was a good sign!
The nice SWA folks let all 3 of us pre-board together. We went to sit in my favorite spot. Near the wing, near the exit row, with me next to the window. I have to admit, when I first sat down, I was feeling a little on the edgy side. I put on my seatbelt and sat down, with my mother in the middle seat between Don and myself. That was a first...not to sit next to my husband. A friend of ours named Helen sat with her husband in front of us, and she was talking non-stop and laughing. She totally had me distracted all the way through the take-off and when the plane left the runway, Helen and I let out a "Yee-Haw!!!" Trust me, that was a first for me. I'm usually in tears by that point.
The flight was actually kind of bumpy. The seatbelt sign stayed on the whole time except for maybe 5 minutes. We shook pretty good over North to Mid Florida and all the way into our landing. That part did not bother me. Turb has never bothered me. If the plane suddenly were to "drop" or make me feel like it "dropped," yes, that would really bother me. But just regular old turb, or "chop" as the pilot described it...that doesn't bother me. My mother, crazy as she is, actually likes turb. She said she likes a little shakin'. Hmm.....:cool: That coming from a 61 yr. old woman should be enough to inspire anyone.
I mentioned that we had an interesting chat with a confused FA. I'll tell you about that here before I move on to the flight coming back. We were into the flight about 1 hr. and 15 minutes and I knew we had to be getting close to MCO. We could tell that we were getting lower. The plane was slowing down and it was changing altitudes. My ears were popping and I could "feel" us getting lower. One of the older FA's that was on board walked by and took up a cup from me and I said, "We must be getting close to Orlando, huh?" So....in all her infinite wisdom, she says, "Oh gosh no...we're not even in Georgia yet. We're still somewhere in South Carolina. It will at least be another hour." I didn't say another word. Just sat there staring at her thinking, wow...there is someone on here more out of it than me! She went on about her business and after Don, mom and I exchanged some glances, in about 5 minutes the pilot came on and told us that the FA's would be securing the cabin as we made our final descent in Orlando and then he said "Welcome to Orlando." We all looked at each other and glanced back at the FA, but she was in the back of the plane not looking our way. Ah hmm....South Carolina? We were never in South Carolina to start with...never even flew over it! :lol:
OK, so our Disney trip was good...albeit the fact that I carried and gave Pharyngitis to my husband and my mother. Nice of me wasn't it? I figured...might as well share the joy! We all got sick! Our doctor called in ZPacks for us at a pharmacy in Orlando (who delievered to our hotel). We started taking that and felt good enough we went out and saw Disney. Very cool! I think the most fun we all 3 had together was riding the teacups at Fantasyland. I know...adults in the teacups, but it was so fun!!! We all won free Mickey Mouse ears because of the "Year of the Million Dreams" thing they are doing. We wore those goofy things all over the park. We looked ridiculous I'm sure, but we had a good time.
Today we got up early, caught a shuttle to the airport, made it through security and then hung out by the gate an hour and a half. I got another pre-boarding pass and the nice SWA people let all 3 of us on together again. Went to my favorite location to sit and introduced myself to a very cool FA. This one knew her stuff. Her advice...the more you fly the easier it gets. Hmm...probably true. But her humor was awesome. During the safety briefing, she said, "Please pretend to be remotely interested in what I am about to say," then she told us about the exits, then started explaining about the floatation devices. Her description of the oxygen masks was so cool...She showed one to us and she says, "In the event of an unlikely change in cabin pressure, these very glamorous Donna Karan masks will drop from the ceiling," then she said that if we were traveling with children, "If you are traveling with more than 1 child, please select the best behaved child and place the oxgen mask over that child's face and then proceed from there at your discretion." I was cracking up. She also told us that the plane had "Vegas style" lighting up the aisle. She was full of it and I loved her. Her humor totally took the edge of the moment for me and I was fine. I think addressing the issue through humor works for me.
The flight took off...it was smooth as glass. We were traveling along somewhere near Atlanta and I was sitting looking out the window getting ready to take a picture when I saw something coming. It was a very shiny looking plane and it was just off the wing. It was totally haulin' going by us!!! It looked close to us...like I could see the whole plane and even the contrails coming off it. My mouth dropped and I turned around to see if anyone else saw it. You could see the contrails, but the plane was long gone. That was amazing! It just looked so close!!! Way to fast for me to get a pic though...dang!
We got to BNA, landed pretty fast and the funny FA came on the speaker and with a sigh, goes, "Oh well...we're here." Then she said, "Thanks to those 2 God's of Aviation in the cockpit, it's another on-time Southwest landing." We were all laughing and we all applauded her as we taxied toward the airport.
All in all, it was a very positive experience this time around. I wasn't freaking out, I didn't cry, I didn't want to bolt off the plane. I just sat still and held on.
I've been working my rear off on this FoF thing, and I'm hoping that it pays off. So far so good. I don't even want to think of a setback coming in the future! I think I finally have the ball in my court now! :happyguy:Here are some pics!
As you can see, 1 is of my mom and I on the plane en route to MCO. Don took it and it's like an extreme close-up or something. :) One is of mom and I at Epcot...1 is of the wild looking SWA plane that carried us to FL and one is of Don and the other telephone board members after they had gotten an award for management at this years NTCA awards banquet. Don is the one on the far left on the end. Sorry for the reduction in quality, but when I shrink the pics, they looked kind of bad. Not sure how to smooth out that grain yet. :lol:
Saturday a.m. at BNA proved to be a minimal trip down memory lane. Some of the old demons were still there. Don, mom and myself had rooms at the Red Roof near the airport the night before. I had been sick with Pharyngitis all week. Thought I was doing better, but Friday night was miserable...coughed all night and woke up to feel like I'd been hit by a car. Just before leaving for the airport, I was in the bathroom throwing up. At that point, I didn't know if it was because of my being nervous or just because I had some kind of nasty crud that was trying to take over my body.
Anyway, I pressed on. Mom had been itching to see Epcot and I had promised I would get her there, so I meant to do what I said. All 3 of us went on to BNA early, made it through security with my meds in tow. No problems. Don even made it through security without getting taken aside this time! :tongue:
We went to our gate early. Not too many people there. I still felt miserable, but mostly it was from my Pharyngitis. I got a pre-boarding pass and sat down to wait. When the plane arrived, I looked outside and saw the weirdest looking SWA plane ever...I'm posting a pic, so if you guys know what type of livery this is, please let me know. We all thought it was quite festive looking and it made me smile...which planes rarely do, so there you go. It was a good sign!
The nice SWA folks let all 3 of us pre-board together. We went to sit in my favorite spot. Near the wing, near the exit row, with me next to the window. I have to admit, when I first sat down, I was feeling a little on the edgy side. I put on my seatbelt and sat down, with my mother in the middle seat between Don and myself. That was a first...not to sit next to my husband. A friend of ours named Helen sat with her husband in front of us, and she was talking non-stop and laughing. She totally had me distracted all the way through the take-off and when the plane left the runway, Helen and I let out a "Yee-Haw!!!" Trust me, that was a first for me. I'm usually in tears by that point.
The flight was actually kind of bumpy. The seatbelt sign stayed on the whole time except for maybe 5 minutes. We shook pretty good over North to Mid Florida and all the way into our landing. That part did not bother me. Turb has never bothered me. If the plane suddenly were to "drop" or make me feel like it "dropped," yes, that would really bother me. But just regular old turb, or "chop" as the pilot described it...that doesn't bother me. My mother, crazy as she is, actually likes turb. She said she likes a little shakin'. Hmm.....:cool: That coming from a 61 yr. old woman should be enough to inspire anyone.
I mentioned that we had an interesting chat with a confused FA. I'll tell you about that here before I move on to the flight coming back. We were into the flight about 1 hr. and 15 minutes and I knew we had to be getting close to MCO. We could tell that we were getting lower. The plane was slowing down and it was changing altitudes. My ears were popping and I could "feel" us getting lower. One of the older FA's that was on board walked by and took up a cup from me and I said, "We must be getting close to Orlando, huh?" So....in all her infinite wisdom, she says, "Oh gosh no...we're not even in Georgia yet. We're still somewhere in South Carolina. It will at least be another hour." I didn't say another word. Just sat there staring at her thinking, wow...there is someone on here more out of it than me! She went on about her business and after Don, mom and I exchanged some glances, in about 5 minutes the pilot came on and told us that the FA's would be securing the cabin as we made our final descent in Orlando and then he said "Welcome to Orlando." We all looked at each other and glanced back at the FA, but she was in the back of the plane not looking our way. Ah hmm....South Carolina? We were never in South Carolina to start with...never even flew over it! :lol:
OK, so our Disney trip was good...albeit the fact that I carried and gave Pharyngitis to my husband and my mother. Nice of me wasn't it? I figured...might as well share the joy! We all got sick! Our doctor called in ZPacks for us at a pharmacy in Orlando (who delievered to our hotel). We started taking that and felt good enough we went out and saw Disney. Very cool! I think the most fun we all 3 had together was riding the teacups at Fantasyland. I know...adults in the teacups, but it was so fun!!! We all won free Mickey Mouse ears because of the "Year of the Million Dreams" thing they are doing. We wore those goofy things all over the park. We looked ridiculous I'm sure, but we had a good time.
Today we got up early, caught a shuttle to the airport, made it through security and then hung out by the gate an hour and a half. I got another pre-boarding pass and the nice SWA people let all 3 of us on together again. Went to my favorite location to sit and introduced myself to a very cool FA. This one knew her stuff. Her advice...the more you fly the easier it gets. Hmm...probably true. But her humor was awesome. During the safety briefing, she said, "Please pretend to be remotely interested in what I am about to say," then she told us about the exits, then started explaining about the floatation devices. Her description of the oxygen masks was so cool...She showed one to us and she says, "In the event of an unlikely change in cabin pressure, these very glamorous Donna Karan masks will drop from the ceiling," then she said that if we were traveling with children, "If you are traveling with more than 1 child, please select the best behaved child and place the oxgen mask over that child's face and then proceed from there at your discretion." I was cracking up. She also told us that the plane had "Vegas style" lighting up the aisle. She was full of it and I loved her. Her humor totally took the edge of the moment for me and I was fine. I think addressing the issue through humor works for me.
The flight took off...it was smooth as glass. We were traveling along somewhere near Atlanta and I was sitting looking out the window getting ready to take a picture when I saw something coming. It was a very shiny looking plane and it was just off the wing. It was totally haulin' going by us!!! It looked close to us...like I could see the whole plane and even the contrails coming off it. My mouth dropped and I turned around to see if anyone else saw it. You could see the contrails, but the plane was long gone. That was amazing! It just looked so close!!! Way to fast for me to get a pic though...dang!
We got to BNA, landed pretty fast and the funny FA came on the speaker and with a sigh, goes, "Oh well...we're here." Then she said, "Thanks to those 2 God's of Aviation in the cockpit, it's another on-time Southwest landing." We were all laughing and we all applauded her as we taxied toward the airport.
All in all, it was a very positive experience this time around. I wasn't freaking out, I didn't cry, I didn't want to bolt off the plane. I just sat still and held on.
I've been working my rear off on this FoF thing, and I'm hoping that it pays off. So far so good. I don't even want to think of a setback coming in the future! I think I finally have the ball in my court now! :happyguy:Here are some pics!
As you can see, 1 is of my mom and I on the plane en route to MCO. Don took it and it's like an extreme close-up or something. :) One is of mom and I at Epcot...1 is of the wild looking SWA plane that carried us to FL and one is of Don and the other telephone board members after they had gotten an award for management at this years NTCA awards banquet. Don is the one on the far left on the end. Sorry for the reduction in quality, but when I shrink the pics, they looked kind of bad. Not sure how to smooth out that grain yet. :lol: