Details: We boarded the plane in Richmond, and got to wave to Daddy, Brookie, and Madi when we were out on the Tarmac. They were able to see us from the window. We connected in Cincinnati, where Taylor TOTALLY knocked over my whole large sized diet coke - all over the food court floor in concourse B. That was really the only disaster of that connection. Oh, but I guess I forgot about the fact that there were STAIRS we had to go up to actually get into the Cincinnati airport from the puddle-hopper plane. Uhm... what would they have done if Taylor was in her 215 pound power chair??? That certainly can't be lifted up the stairs like a Graco stroller can! And I can GUARANTEE that "calling ahead" to arrange these things does NOT help at all - been there, done that... and still get questioned about all our bags we bring on the plane! Upon our arrival in Salt Lake City, the cart I put all of the medical equipment and push/pull through the airport was deemed "lost". We always check it at the door of the plane, and it is then put under the plane in a spot where they know it needs to be pulled up for use as soon as the plane arrives at the gate. Hmmm... we had it when we got onto the flight from Cincinnati to SLC, but somehow it was lost during the flight (be sure to watch out for metal carts falling from the sky!) Fortunately, Amber was able to get a gate pass and arrived just as I was about to try to carry it all AND push Taylor's stroller up the ramps, through the SLC airport (which is HUGE), and to baggage claim. When we got to baggage claim (via the electric cart which actually picked us up after a phone call by Delta, thank goodness), the cart was sitting there. The cart is not much help all the way at baggage claim when I have bags that I need to put into it. But, I guess I shouldn't complain too much since they did call the electric car to help us instead! At any rate, we were very happy to be here, but it was a LONG 9.5 hours for sure!
We got to Amber's car, and it took a little bit to figure out how to get everything to fit into the car. If Amber didn't pack like she was moving, when she was only going to be gone for 5 days, we wouldn't have had a problem... just kidding Amber -- you know it is funny! In the process of getting everything organized, I TOTALLY bent the wheel of the "lost" cart, so now it rolles all lopsided and crazy. That's okay, though - it still rolls none-the-less. Amber and I laughed a lot about the whole process, becaues the last time I was here, it was even harder to fit everything into her car, and I ended up with the big ole "lost" cart on my lap in the front seat!
Once we got to the hotel (probably about 1am), we had a minor issue. The room they gave us initially was not what I had requested, so I had to go ask to switch rooms... we needed an extra bed! Once that was situated and we moved into our final destination, Taylor hung out with Amber, whom she had been asking about for ALL 9.5 hours of travel. She really enjoyed the time with her. I caught up with Amber as well. I got all of Taylor's medical equipment unpacked, put together, plugged in and ready to go. Once I finally got all that done, it was 4am... and Taylor was still wide eyed and bushy tailed - playing with a VERY tired Amber. It was then time to go to bed, and we were all out for the night.
