Vacation - FINALLY :)

Vacation time finally came -and now I'm finally blogging about it :) I've got a lot of GREAT photos so I'll probably break it up into several blog posts. We squeezed a lot into this vacation too - so I've got a lot to talk about :)

Wednesday September 2nd finally rolled around - the week before was the slowest! Our flight didn't leave Columbus until about 5:00pm- but I had taken the whole day off. Not only did we have to get ourselves and all of our stuff (which was enough to be gone for 2months) to the airport, but we also had to get the doggies to the kennel. I don't trust just anyone with my dogs - so the kennel is out of the way for us. We trust them 100% though - so we add 2 extra hours to our drive to the airport. If we would go straight to the airport from home it would take about 90 minutes.

Here are the boys watching us load up the van :( Chewie is dark, so you can't see him - but he is there! I always feel bad when I'm packing up - but not bad enough to stay home!


Here they are in the van on the way to the kennel (which really isn't a kennel - a lady boards in her home).



Once the boys were safely dropped off we headed to Columbus! It was starting to really feel like vacation. We arrived at the airport with our 6 bags in tow (seriously -2 checked bags each, plus a backpack each). Keith dropped me off at the curb and I waited while he parked the car and took a shuttle back. For some reason he didn't want to drag all of our stuff on the shuttle, I'm not sure why :) We then used Southwest's curbside check-in for the first time. We always fly Southwest, but we usually drag our bags into the airport and check in there. The guys doing the curb-side check expect a tip; but I consider it a $5 well spent!

Within just a few minutes we were checked in and ready to go through security. We had left ourselves about 2 hours - so no rush - but we headed there anyway. We have traveled enough to be pretty prepared for security - nothing in your pockets, slip-on shoes, liquids in the seperate bag, etc. Obviously the person in front of us hadn't got the memo - it seriously took her like 10 minutes to unload everything then she had to untie her shoes, take them off, take her laptop out of the bag, and FINALLY walk through the metal detector. Did she make it through? Of course not - she still had her phone in her pocket.... I finally just walked around her and through the metal detector with no problems. Seriously it isn't that hard - I understand - it IS a pain in the a$$; but come on don't make the rest of us stand behind you while you take your sweet time doing everything you SHOULD have done before you ever got in line.

Now we were at out gate and weren't scheduled to leave for about an hour and a half. I try very hard to give myself plenty of time now - as last year I almost missed a flight! They were calling our names over the loud speaker at the airport - we were *those* people. That has only happened once though - and this time we got even MORE time - our flight was delayed about 30 minutes. I should have expected that - we were one of the last flights of the day - so even a few minutes late from several previous flights probably adds up by the end of the day!

Before I knew it we were loaded and then in Orlando pretty quickly. The non-stop flight from Columus is only 2 hours - so by the time you are up to cruising altitude and they serve drinks it is about time to come down already! I can't say enough good things about Southwest Airlines. We fly them as often as possible - as I love the ease of not having assigned seats, but having an assigned boarding order. If we go to the back of the plane Keith and I can usualy get a row of 3 seats to ourselves!

Ok - so we are finally in Orlando and now we get to figure out the maze that is Orlando Airport. That place is so huge that they have their own monorail! Luckily a good percentage of people who land in Orlando are also visiting the mouse so there are plenty of signs and people giving directions!

Walt Disney World is about a 40 minute drive from the airport - but they actually have a FREE shuttle. Now if you've been to Disney you know that nothing is free (in fact - everything is pretty much overpriced)- so this is a really nice perk! We were meeting my brother in Florida (he works at Disney) - but he was working that night so we hopped on Disney's "Magical Express" and off we were to our 1st hotel.


Next post - our 1st hotel room and finally making it to the parks!