First full day of travel started out well. We did some last-minute items prior to heading to the airport and felt like we had accomplished what we needed to with a limited amount of angst. (“limited” meaning we survived injury! —close call though as we were stuffing our last-minute items into the storage unit.)
Travel, went, well, not so well. We boarded the plane with no issues and then taxied to the runway where we sat, and sat, and sat. Over an hour later we headed out to Newark where we had a flight scheduled to go to SLC for our next leg in the journey. Ten minutes to the gate, no bathrooms in sight, and hungry for some sustenance. Running to the gate, butting in line at the bathrooms (unintentionally), waiting in line for a couple of salads, we managed to board the plane, albeit one of the last people to do so. Phew! we were on, but then reality set in as we were in the last row next to the bathrooms. No overhead storage in our vicinity. Squished into our seats, we ate our meals and settled in for the long journey to SLC. That’s when we realized our luggage 6 rows away had things we may want on a late-night flight (eye mask, ear plugs, water bottle, etc.) Bummer!
Good practice for teaching us patience and the ability to “roll” with the ups and downs. We have 35 more flights to go and I expect we will learn a lot!! Of course, Dave will insist on conducting an After Action Review so that our flights go more smoothly. I doubt the airlines, pilots, flight attendants, air traffic control and our fellow passengers will respond to their AAR invites, though!
Leaving the Newark Airport