Day 1- Flying Solo

Alas!  Today is the big day.  I've been talking about today with the people at work since November and here it finally was.  I woke up at 7 AM so that I could tell my mom goodbye before she went to work.  I tried my best to occupy my time but the day crept by slowly.      My brother and Melissa were swinging by the house to pick me up at 1:00 for my flight.  Once they got to the house, I loaded the car, checked my carryon for my passport and tickets before I was finally off on my Contiki adventure.

My brother drives like an absolute wild man and I was afraid I wouldn't make it to the airport after nearly clipping a car on Main Street.  Thankfully, we don't live that far and the ride to the airport took us less than 15 minutes.  They dropped me off at 1:30 and I headed to the check in.  There was nobody in line here or at security.  I remembered to wear a pair of shoes that easily slid off so that I wouldn't waste anytime retying them after getting through security.   Little did I know that I didn't need to be in such a rush, today would be a long day.

At my terminal I overheard the two couples in front of me were having problems with their flights.  This would eventually be the theme of my airport travel.  Several flights got delayed because of a system between Jacksonville and Miami and one in the north east.  The one up north would delay some of my tour mates for a couple of days.  

    I never thought I'd be capable of sleeping at an airport but I did just that.  My 3:45 didn't board until 5:25 after numerous excuses including overbooking and weather.  It turns out we actually had to switch planes.  Instead of a full size plane we would be flown in a Wright Brother's replica.  The plane was so small, it was scary.  At 5:50 the engines were turned on but nothing happened.  Come 6:00 the engines were cut and we were told random baggage would be removed because the plane was overweight.  After a few passengers who were headed overseas complained the crew found another alternative.  They told us they unloaded some of our gasoline but that didn't make sense since we were flying into a storm.   So at this point, I guessed the problem was solved and at 6:21 our wheels left the ground.  Once we were in the air I said a little prayer that this would not be a preview of the week to come.  I'm not one for praying but I figured being on this wind up toy I was as close to God as possible and I dropped a lot of moolah on this trip not to say a quick on.  

Miles Traveled:  4763 by air
Sights Seen:  
Expenditures:  1 yogurt and fruit parfait $3.99, 1 bottle of water $2.99