Seven or eight hours in the air. I am not a fan of flying. Well, it is the crashing that I am not a fan of. But, I get on a plane every other year or so because I am a fan of traveling. I am a fan of going places and doing things.
The first time I flew was in 1987. I didn't half ass it either, I got on a plane in Chicago and flew to Frankfurt! That was one of those planes that had the spiral staircase in it. All I really remember from that flight was the attendant that had the thick German accent and blue eyeshadow and the baby sitting in front of me that dripped formula on my carry on bag.
After I was married, I flew to and from California a couple of times. Danny would meet me in San Diego and we would spend the weekend together. I think those flights were a couple of hundred dollars, fly in on Thursday and usually out on Sunday. The next time I flew it was the opposite route as my parents brought me home from Cali to Cedar Rapids for my twenty first birthday while Danny was in Saudi.
I remember when we used to pick Bobby up at the Cedar Rapids Airport. It was still called that back then. It was the old terminal and we could watch Bobby walk down the stairs of the plane, across the tarmac and into the terminal. There was also the giant globe there. I was too short to really ever see it, but it was cool non the less!
My big trip, my really big trip, came in October of 1994. I was again flying to Frankfurt. This time I would go from Cedar Rapids to St. Louis to Frankfurt. I would also be doing it with Ashlyn and Hayley in tow. Talk about adventure! I remember hanging our at Mom and Dad's house all that day. Then, Crissy, Sheila, Isaac, Dad and Mom all drove out to the airport to say good bye. Mom got to come up the escalator with me to the gate. She carried Hayley. She and Hayley were good pals. That was one tough moment. There I was with two little girls, two car seats, three back packs, a double stroller and no idea where I was going in St. Louis's airport or what waited for me once I got in the air.
Life had been pretty easy in Cedar Rapids. There was always someone to watch the girls, someone to hang out with, someone to watch soaps with. But Danny wasn't there and it wasn't the life that we wanted. We wanted the military, the adventure, the foreign countries. So there we went.
Lucky for me, Ashlyn and Hayley were well suited for this life and did just fine on the plane. Danny was there in Frankfurt waiting for us and we all went to our new little home. The girls and I (and Jacob) would not fly again for four years and four days. That trip was made easier by the fact that everyone was older and there were now two grown ups to handle three kids!
The big flight for me and the kids was to Sydney. I think we were in the air for seventeen hours. The seating wasn't great because we were split up, but the plane was nice. We all had little television monitors in the backs of the seats. There were movies and television shows to watch. There was a channel that showed the flight path and times. It was pretty amazing to look on the screen and see that we were over a batch of islands and then be able to see those islands from the plane. Tufts of green and brown in the vast blue.
Danny is the distance winner. He has racked up some serious miles in his years. Just the big trips took him to Hawaii, Saudi, Germany, Iraq, Australia and now Great Britain. I think Ashlyn might be in second place, as she has flown to Europe four times. Hayley and I were tied with two trips to Europe, but I will now pass her. Then there is Jacob. He has only flown from Germany. But they also have flights to Nevada as well.
Flying is such an amazing way to travel. I cannot even figure out how to do a backflip let alone understand the science behind flight. And I don't think I want to know. I just want to believe that the pilot is wide awake, the gas tank is full, the bathroom line is short and I will sleep for most of the trip.
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