flying

I am back from Peru. I had the most wonderful time...and will post all about it but I wanted to start my posts with a post dedicated solely to the flying I did to get to Peru and back.

I was flying standby on a buddy pass I got. This was my first time to do this and I was pretty scared. Just because it is scary for me to travel alone. I don't know why. I kept telling myself the whole time..."you are a strong independent woman who can do anything". hahaa. I got on to my first flight...I felt at the time I barely made it on because there were 43 people who were listed on standby in front of me. But I made it on no problem and sat next to missionaries headed to North Carolina. (I love missionaries)

Once I was in Atlanta I got on to the flight to Peru no problem. And I got to fly Business Class Elite. Oh man...it was one of the awesomest things ever. This is what my seat looked like. Can you believe that??Not only did I have these awesome comfy seats but there was no one next to me so I didn't have to bother with small talk. I loved it.

They started off with drinks (which I pass on..I am peeing way too much as it is already) and then warm rags for freshening up (i assume). Then came a little bowl of hot nuts. Hahaa. You can see them up above in the picture. At this point I was giddy with excitement. I was reading a beautiful book with my legs extended all the way. All alone. I loved it. My toes couldn't even reach the seat in front of me. Oh...and on my feet complimentary socks. yeah...it doesn't take much to impress me.

For the first course we had Moroccan Crab salad with apple slaw, cream of asparagus soup, and a Greek salad with feta cheese cucumber and tomato.

For the main course I chose grilled filet of beef with bernaise sauce, potato gratin and broccolini with hazelnuts. The bernaise sauce was to die for.

For dessert we had a choice of ice cream sunday or a selection of cheeses with grapes and strawberries. I was stuffed and to finish my dinner off with fruit and cheese was perfect.

The flight was 6 plus hours so they served a snack before landing. This was a chipotle turkey sandwich with pepper salad.

I was so excited the whole time I didn't sleep a wink....even though I had woken up that day at 3:30 a.m. It was so fun to be waited on hand and foot. I watched two new movies. Honestly I didn't want the flight to end...and as we started to land I couldn't believe that I was actually going to land in Peru. I hadn't even thought about it.

I got off and saw such a sight for sore eyes. MY PARENTS. I couldn't get enough of them. I love them so much. I will post more of that part of my trip tomorrow...but for now on to my return home.

My parents took me to the Lima airport Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. it is a little bit of a drive so we arrived a little before 10 for my Midnight flight. I read while I waited to see if I made the flight. I am so grateful I did because if they didn't have room for me I was going to have to catch a taxi back 1 hour to my parents house at 1 in the morning. That was something I didn't want to have to do.

I flew buisness class again but this plane was older and didn't have the reclining seats. Still way nice though because my knees weren't quite hitting the seat in front of me. There was also food but since it was a 12 am to 8:00 am flight it wasn't that appitizing. I tried to sleep the whole time...which was hard, but I probably squeezed in 1 or 2 hours of shut eye.

I arrived to Atlanta at 8 am. There were something like 7 flights that I had a chance to get on to get to Salt Lake. I missed the first one, no surprise. Then the second and the third. At this point I started getting worried.

There was a man also trying to get to Salt Lake and he became my friend...Ern was his name. He wouldn't leave my side. I kept trying to sleep or read but he kept talking to me. At first it was annoying but after around 4 hours we all became friends. Going through something traumatic really bonds you to someone. There were around 50 of us trying to get to salt lake standby. It was ridiculous because there would be 1-10 seats on each plane and we weren't getting anywhere. The closest I got to the top of the list of getting on was number 28.

After I didn't make the 4th flight I was tired. I had been awake since tuesday morning at 8 and it was now around 3 p.m. the next day. I called my uncle Tom to see how it was looking for me to make a flight and he said I could be there for a couple more DAYS. Um what?? I was so tired at this point I had to go sit in the bathroom for 20 minutes and pull myself together. If not for me then for ERN. hahaa. I called my sister Cali (like 63 times to be exact) and she started to see what my other options were. I knew Tom was right and that I wasn't getting anywhere. There was a guy with us trying to get out that had been there for three days. I didn't want to spend the night in the airport with these people.

So finally Cali and I decided to just book me a flight. WHAT A PAIN. I flew on Frontier airlines from Atlanta to Denver and from Denver home. I made it home wednesday night at 11:08 p.m. It had been 42 hours since I had been in bed. 42 hours that I had been wearing the same clothes. 42 hours in my bra...tmi...sorry...but man that is a long uncomfy time. As I was leaving atlanta (never to return I hope) I had to shoot a picture with my friend ERN.

Here he is. Ern. What a character. He was crazy...and he said he only brought enough meds for a half a day. He said if he didn't get home to his meds he would start acting like a crazy person. He could never see his name on the list so I would tell him where he was every time. I would also have to tell him which gate we were to go to. The lady next to me had her little boy with her. He was so good. I don't know her name but we were together for a long time. She was trying to get to Utah for a wedding. I am pretty sure she missed it.

It was a long hard horrible day. I was a metal case. So there it is. My best flying experience and my worst all in one trip. I don't know if I will ever do that again.