Orlando/Kissimmee, Florida (April 2008)

My first trip as a school chaperone - wish me luck!  Actually it shouldn't be that bad - three kids to watch, and they're being accompanied by parents.  They're also staying in a different hotel.  I also have  rental car at my disposal, so it can't be that bad...

I left Martinsburg this morning at 7:30.  I wanted to get to Dulles by 9:00 so I could park the car, take the shuttle from the parking lot and check in with AirTran in plenty of time.  I encountered just a little bit of traffic as I exited the Dulles Toll Road, but I still got to the airport at 9:00.  I checked in with the airline and printed my boarding pass the day before, so all I had to do was drop off my bag.  It was a really easy process, and I hope to be able to do the same thing with my return ticket.

I breezed through security - no liquids on this short flight, only my laptop to worry about and taking off my flipflops.  I took the bus to terminal B and found my gate.  I took the extra time I had to grade a few papers, silly me gave a test the day before the trip, and I'd like to have them graded by the time I get back. 

I grabbed a quick bite to eat at Green Leaf and Bananas right before my flight; there's no meal service on my flight.  I picked up a Thai chicken wrap and some yogurt and then boarded the plane.  I sat down at my window seat, and to my dismay a woman with an infant sat down beside me moments later.  I thought to myself, "Oh no, not one of these flights...not a moment's peace."  I was wrong.  I finished my lunch and then started dozing within minutes of taking off.  I was able to relax during the entire flight.  The baby beside me fell asleep too, so row 15 was pretty quiet. 

The flight was only 1 hour 51 minutes, and we landed on time.  I met up with some other Academic Games players and parents in my group, and we waited for a few others coming in on the next flight and then headed to Enterprise to pick up our rental cars.  The people at Enterprise were pretty nice.  I got a Pontiac G6 to drive around in for the next few days; it's a bigger car than we were originally supposed to have, but that's good.  We have more room for luggage.  The car is relatively nice...I have never driven one of this kind before, but it has lots of power, so it'll be fine. 

I dropped part of the group off at the other hotel, a Ramada about 3 miles from mine.  The younger kids are playing there - my hotel has the high school kids.  We ran into a traffic delay on I-4, but other than that, it was smooth sailing.  I brought my GPS with me, but so far, it has been really easy to get around. 

Now I have some free time to relax and to get acquainted with my surroundings.  I'm staying at the Radisson Resort Celebration, across the street from Celebration, FL.  It's a large hotel, so hopefully it'll be able to absorb all of these rowdy teenagers running around the place who are here for the games.