June 18, 2024

 I got up at 6 to get ready and finish a few last minute tasks. My dad took me to the airport and we left at 8. Along the way, we encountered a thunderstorm with lots of rain. It slowed traffic down even more, but we still made it to the airport by 9:10. I had an issue paying for my bag online, so I had to do it at the airport, but I had a nice agent and she charged me what I should have paid online. I got to use my TSA pre-check for the first time. I exited security at 9:30. So fast! I saw lots of signage for the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials which was cool.

I walked to my gate and texted some people until it was time to board my 10:53am flight to O’Hare. It was such a quick flight that by the time I spit out my gum after take-off, they announced we were starting our descent just minutes later. We landed at O’Hare and it worked for me to have a phone date with Amber. Then I had to go figure out where my next flight was. The only flights on the monitors were American. I had to change terminals, which I found out after looking up my flight online. 

I sat down across from my gate because I wanted to charge my phone. I talked to some people who are also doing a Cruise Tour through Holland America, but their itinerary was slightly different. My flight was delayed a bit and then they delayed boarding while they fueled. We boarded and then they announced that we would be delayed because there was a fuel spill and the fire department was on the way as a precaution. I opened my window shade and watched the whole scene unfold. The fire truck arrived and several specialized fuel spill clean-up vehicles. Lots of people were standing around taking notes and pictures while two guys were running around dumping something that looked like red cat litter around the perimeter of the spill to contain it. With the high temps in Chicago, they said that the fuel expanded and released out a safety valve which flooded the area. A guy started vacuuming the extra gas into a small vehicle with a tank on the back. It was interesting! 

It took so long that per FAA rules, they had to give us water and a snack (Biscoff cookies). They then had to finish loading suitcases. They were putting some back in the luggage cart. A guy was not being accurate and his supervisor returned several of the suitcases to the cart. This guy also threw/dropped 4-5 suitcases on the ground instead of getting them on the conveyor belt to go up to the plane. When he got to mine, he quickly looked at the part of the tag he could see without pulling my bag out and pushed it back on the cart. I watched it drive away! A flight attendant was bringing me water and I told her. She said that maybe they were going to put it in another compartment. It made me nervous that it might not make it, but there was nothing I could do about it. 

We finally left two hours late. Thankfully I had a 3.5 hour layover scheduled in Seattle. I watched The Mighty 12 on the plane. It is about a football coach who left a school with a good football team to teach at an orphanage during the Dust Bowl. It is based on a true story. I also read for a long while. We had two more rounds of snacks… pretzel sticks and orange juice and later more Biscoff and cranberry juice. By the time we landed, it was 5:30. We were supposed to start boarding at 6:15. I got off the plane, went to the bathroom, and waited by my next gate. Tammy landed before I did, but she had to wait for there to be a gate for her plane and she was in a different terminal. She met me at the gate and we talked. She grabbed a snack and it was time to board. She sat three rows ahead of me. I sat next to a boys soccer coach from Anchorage who was flying back from a soccer tournament in Salt Lake City. We had two rounds of snacks on this 3.5 hour flight… pretzel sticks and orange juice and later Biscoff and orange juice. I also ate more of my lunch that I didn’t finish earlier. I read for most of the flight. I started to feel really tired at 1:00am Indiana time, but it was still super light out. The scenery going into Anchorage was beautiful. The window was slightly behind my seat so I had a good view without the wing blocking it, but it kind of hurt my neck to see it. 

We landed in Anchorage at 9:40. We got our bags quickly and took a taxi to the Sun Star Bed and Breakfast. Sandra carried our suitcases upstairs and checked us in. By this point, I was exhausted and could barely take in what she was saying. We ordered our breakfast and went upstairs and got rest for bed. It was after 11pm (3am Indiana time) and it was still daylight. We pulled the curtains as together as we could and collapsed into the queen bed.