RwnMayfair
04-20-2004, 09:51 PM
I just had to share, because our trip went almost too well. ;) Not that I expected it to go badly, but I certainly didn't expect it to go quite this well either!
Anyway, last week we flew from Vienna, Austria to my mother's in Washington, with a cat in tow. Basically from Vienna to Seattle, where she picked us up. We left the apartment in Vienna (where my poor husband still is for another couple of months) at about 8AM Central European Time, and arrived in Seattle at about 7:30PM Pacific. (That would be 4:30AM CET the next day, in Vienna.) Then we had the drive to my mother's, which was another couple of hours. It was a long trip, but a pretty good one too. Not that this was our first trip or anything, but last time we had a break in DC between Seattle and Vienna.
Now, luckily we had business class the whole way, because I really didn't enjoy coach on Austrian Airlines on the way to Vienna in the first place. Coach from DC (our midway point where we switched planes) to Seattle wouldn't have been a big deal to me, but I've never enjoyed any of the flights I've had on Austrian Airlines in coach. It's always really, really hot, and I always seem to get stuck behind someone who feels the need to lean their seat back as far as they can get it. My biggest complaint about Austrian Airlines though is that they won't let babies sit in their car seats for take off and landing. They can be in them during the flight, but they have to be in your lap with an infant belt for take off and landing. That just makes very little sense to me. But since we're unlikely to ever fly them again as my husband's tour in Vienna ends soon, I'm not really going to worry about it too much. ;)
Taran got one good nap on the Austrian flight, but didn't sleep too much beyond that. (A few catnaps here and there, and this is a nine hour flight too.) He was just too busy charming the flight attendants. ;) He's just such a friendly, cheerful little guy, and he smiles at just about anybody. Two in particular would stop by frequently to talk with him, admire him, play with him, and he just soaked it up. And he of course had to smile at any of the other passengers who would look his direction, chatter cheerfully to himself, and basically just look like this was the greatest thing ever. (Who knew flying was that interesting and exciting?) He did eventually start to get really tired during the end of the flight, and fell asleep on my lap during landing. Luckily he did let me doze on and off during the flight as well, otherwise I would have been very much out of it by the end.
I had NO idea what I was going to do to get all of our bags through customs (we have four), since you have to claim them and check them back in if you're going farther. I got really, really lucky though, a gentleman off the same flight as me offered to help while we were on the transport thingie to the terminal. (I still have no idea what Dulles calls those things they use between the terminals.) He actually carried Taran's carseat through customs, helped us get our bags off of the carousel, helped put them onto carts, wheel them through customs, and then check them back in. And then he helped us get through the security checkpoint and took us all the way to our gate even though it meant going past his to do so. It was exceptionally nice, and I really, really appreciated it. :) I definitely hadn't expect that much help from anyone, and was in fact afraid I was going to have to find someone who worked at the airport to help. It always seems hard to find anyone but the customs people in the customs area at Dulles, too.
We were lucky in that we were the first on the plane and had plenty of time to get settled. Taran was rather fussy until we took off because by that point he was tired and hungry, but I can't say him being fussy was a big surprise either. ;) He fell asleep during take off, so I figured I'd let him sleep rather than wake him up. He didn't sleep long, his stomach apparently winning out over the desire to sleep. ;) So he ate, then I ate and entertained him at the same time. After that, he fell asleep which was good because I really needed a nap at that point. So we both finally got some much needed sleep.
Now, I was figuring that once we landed in Seattle, I'd have to get us and all of our stuff (cat included, who by this point had started to look like she was resigning herself to the fact that she would never leave her carrier again) to the baggage claim. I can carry it all, we just move more slowly. ;) Well, two of the flight attendants offered to help us get to the baggage claim, which was incredibly nice of them. I hadn't been as worried about getting ourselves to where we needed to be here, but with their help we were able to get ourselves there a lot faster than we otherwise would have been. Both of them were just amazed at how long we'd been travelling and how well Taran was doing. And again, I really, really appreciated their help. :)
So all in all, it was a really good trip! All of the extremely helpful and nice people we met along the way were just a huge bonus and made the trip even nicer. :) My mother is thrilled at getting to see Taran again, and he's been extremely happy since we've gotten here. It also only took a few days for him to get back into a good sleep schedule, which was just wonderful. The only down point so far is that one of my wisdom teeth (which have never bothered me before) has decided it wants to come in, and there isn't enough room for it so it has to be removed tomorrow. Luckly, it'll be a simple procedure since it's growing in the right direction and everything, there just isn't enough room for it back there.
And, we got Taran's five month pictures taken today, since he's five months today! (Somehow without knowing it, we managed to get his one and two month ones taken exactly when he hit those ages, so I just continued the tradition once I realized it.) He was just so cheerful for the photographer and did really well. It went quickly and we got some wonderful pictures. :) The studio where we had them done doesn't do online pictures though, so I'll have to scan the proofs myself to share them. (Which I will definitely do! My husband wants to see them too, after all. ::wink::)
So if you made it through all of that, congrats. ;) And I hope everyone else is going well too!
-Melissa
Taran Reed - Nov, 20, 2003
Anyway, last week we flew from Vienna, Austria to my mother's in Washington, with a cat in tow. Basically from Vienna to Seattle, where she picked us up. We left the apartment in Vienna (where my poor husband still is for another couple of months) at about 8AM Central European Time, and arrived in Seattle at about 7:30PM Pacific. (That would be 4:30AM CET the next day, in Vienna.) Then we had the drive to my mother's, which was another couple of hours. It was a long trip, but a pretty good one too. Not that this was our first trip or anything, but last time we had a break in DC between Seattle and Vienna.
Now, luckily we had business class the whole way, because I really didn't enjoy coach on Austrian Airlines on the way to Vienna in the first place. Coach from DC (our midway point where we switched planes) to Seattle wouldn't have been a big deal to me, but I've never enjoyed any of the flights I've had on Austrian Airlines in coach. It's always really, really hot, and I always seem to get stuck behind someone who feels the need to lean their seat back as far as they can get it. My biggest complaint about Austrian Airlines though is that they won't let babies sit in their car seats for take off and landing. They can be in them during the flight, but they have to be in your lap with an infant belt for take off and landing. That just makes very little sense to me. But since we're unlikely to ever fly them again as my husband's tour in Vienna ends soon, I'm not really going to worry about it too much. ;)
Taran got one good nap on the Austrian flight, but didn't sleep too much beyond that. (A few catnaps here and there, and this is a nine hour flight too.) He was just too busy charming the flight attendants. ;) He's just such a friendly, cheerful little guy, and he smiles at just about anybody. Two in particular would stop by frequently to talk with him, admire him, play with him, and he just soaked it up. And he of course had to smile at any of the other passengers who would look his direction, chatter cheerfully to himself, and basically just look like this was the greatest thing ever. (Who knew flying was that interesting and exciting?) He did eventually start to get really tired during the end of the flight, and fell asleep on my lap during landing. Luckily he did let me doze on and off during the flight as well, otherwise I would have been very much out of it by the end.
I had NO idea what I was going to do to get all of our bags through customs (we have four), since you have to claim them and check them back in if you're going farther. I got really, really lucky though, a gentleman off the same flight as me offered to help while we were on the transport thingie to the terminal. (I still have no idea what Dulles calls those things they use between the terminals.) He actually carried Taran's carseat through customs, helped us get our bags off of the carousel, helped put them onto carts, wheel them through customs, and then check them back in. And then he helped us get through the security checkpoint and took us all the way to our gate even though it meant going past his to do so. It was exceptionally nice, and I really, really appreciated it. :) I definitely hadn't expect that much help from anyone, and was in fact afraid I was going to have to find someone who worked at the airport to help. It always seems hard to find anyone but the customs people in the customs area at Dulles, too.
We were lucky in that we were the first on the plane and had plenty of time to get settled. Taran was rather fussy until we took off because by that point he was tired and hungry, but I can't say him being fussy was a big surprise either. ;) He fell asleep during take off, so I figured I'd let him sleep rather than wake him up. He didn't sleep long, his stomach apparently winning out over the desire to sleep. ;) So he ate, then I ate and entertained him at the same time. After that, he fell asleep which was good because I really needed a nap at that point. So we both finally got some much needed sleep.
Now, I was figuring that once we landed in Seattle, I'd have to get us and all of our stuff (cat included, who by this point had started to look like she was resigning herself to the fact that she would never leave her carrier again) to the baggage claim. I can carry it all, we just move more slowly. ;) Well, two of the flight attendants offered to help us get to the baggage claim, which was incredibly nice of them. I hadn't been as worried about getting ourselves to where we needed to be here, but with their help we were able to get ourselves there a lot faster than we otherwise would have been. Both of them were just amazed at how long we'd been travelling and how well Taran was doing. And again, I really, really appreciated their help. :)
So all in all, it was a really good trip! All of the extremely helpful and nice people we met along the way were just a huge bonus and made the trip even nicer. :) My mother is thrilled at getting to see Taran again, and he's been extremely happy since we've gotten here. It also only took a few days for him to get back into a good sleep schedule, which was just wonderful. The only down point so far is that one of my wisdom teeth (which have never bothered me before) has decided it wants to come in, and there isn't enough room for it so it has to be removed tomorrow. Luckly, it'll be a simple procedure since it's growing in the right direction and everything, there just isn't enough room for it back there.
And, we got Taran's five month pictures taken today, since he's five months today! (Somehow without knowing it, we managed to get his one and two month ones taken exactly when he hit those ages, so I just continued the tradition once I realized it.) He was just so cheerful for the photographer and did really well. It went quickly and we got some wonderful pictures. :) The studio where we had them done doesn't do online pictures though, so I'll have to scan the proofs myself to share them. (Which I will definitely do! My husband wants to see them too, after all. ::wink::)
So if you made it through all of that, congrats. ;) And I hope everyone else is going well too!
-Melissa
Taran Reed - Nov, 20, 2003