Thanksgiving in the "Great American Southwest", Part One

So we get to the Louisville airport and check in to the airline that gave us the good deal on tickets. The guy at the counter is half talking to us and half talking on his cell phone. We check in at the kiosk (because that’s how you do it these days) and check our two bags. But I forget to check the baby chair. So the guy gets off his personal call and says he’d be happy to check the car seat. That being said, there were lots of open seats on both of our flights, why not take it with us and see if they can move us to some empty seats and use the car seat instead of holding the baby. Huh, we thought, that’s not such a horrible idea. I had a little trepidation, but we decided to go for it. So, here’s what we had to carry through the airport: my carry-on backpack (heavy), husbands carry-on shoulder bag, Lilly in stroller and the giant carseat. Let me tell you how much fun that was. So then they start calling passengers for our first flight (to O’Hare Int’l) and they don’t call people with babies first. We’re freaking out because we end up being the last folks on the plane and the plane is small AND you have to walk down the jet way and out side to get on the plane. That’s how small it was. I end up being the one trying to get the carseat to the back of the plane, which happens to be much larger than the space between the rows of seats and people’s heads and shoulders.

Are you exhausted yet? Because I sure fucking am.

So we move towards the back of the plane, last row even, and this guy is still standing up behind us with all of his things and I ask if this is his seat and he says yes but asks if we would like him to sit in the other empty seats. Yes, please and thank you. Then I can’t figure out how to get the carseat locked in to the airplane seat. We figure that out right before we take off. Lilly fell asleep and slept most of the way to Chicago.

It pretty much doesn’t matter what time of the year it is, what day of the week it is, or what time of the day it is. It is always busy at O’Hare. I’ve been in it many times in my life, travelling from wherever I’m living (STL, Nashville), to home in WV. Its huge and unforgiving. But the people you see are interesting. And its always fun to be in the place that has been in so many movies I watched during my childhood. Thank you John Hughes. But this time we had a baby with us. Lilly was wired and ready to run and play and do what she wanted to do. I can understand how frustrating it would be for her. She’s tired but she’s in this loud, busy, bustling place so hey, lets get this party started. But mommy wants to hold her still, in her hot tight grip and she is absolutely not having anything to do with that. No way, no thank you, no mommy. And everyone got to watch as I struggled with her alone, in line to board the plane while daddy begged the ticket counter agent to move someone so that we’d have a place for our very large car seat during the four hour flight to Las Vegas. Did I mention that it was a four hour flight? Four hours. Oh, and it was pretty much booked solid. That guy in Louisville was either high or full of horse shit, the later I think. Fuck you, guy in Louisville, fuck you.

So we get on the plane and learn that a very nice lady has agreed to move to a different seat so we can use the car seat. Thank you, very nice lady, thank you. Lilly kicked the person in front of her for about ten minutes before finally konking out and getting some sleep. She slept the whole way to Vegas. We managed to schlep all of our crap out to the shuttle service and get to the hotel. I found some milk at the sundry store and we all fell fast asleep. Lilly had lots of milk that night and that’s ok.

What I've learned so far about air travel is that no one cares that you are travelling with a kid (let alone a really cute one like ours). Its up to you to navigate it all, do not expect any favors from anyone.

The next day we slept in, ordered some room service (cold and subpar) and awaited the in-laws arrival to the hotel. We had lunch at Greenbergs Deli at the New York, NY. I had the best ruben I’ve ever had. Then we went to see the Lion exhibit at the MGM Grand and Lilly got to see some baby cubs snoozing with a trainer. She loved it. After that, we headed back to the cars where I let my baby travel back to Utah with the in-laws. I cried, but only for a second.

To be continued…