I love vacations!

We stayed up way too late last Sunday night; of course, there was a lot to do to get the house ready for the house/plant/cat sitter, and then I always have trouble sleeping the night before we travel.  We were scheduled for a 7 AM flight out of Unalaska, which meant getting up around 5 to get to the airport around 6.  Ms. Not a Morning Person was dreading this.  We called the airport before leaving the house and asked if the plane was on time.  No, it was delayed.  BUT "you still need to come down and check in."  "When should we come?" "NOW."  Okay, so we finished up and headed down to check in.  We were told to be back at 8 so we left to run a few errands.  We FINALLY left at 9:30 AM--man, I was annoyed that we could have slept a little longer!  It was a beautiful sunny day so at least I did not have to indulge my flying fears too much.

We arrived in Anchorage at 12:30 and were not leaving for LAX till 5:30 so we were able to meet our friends Anne and Jeanette for lunch.  It was great catching up with them--we hadn't seen them since they left Unalaska about a year and a half ago.  It was sunny and warm in Anchorage so after we took Jeanette back to work, Anne, Rich and I took a little walk on one of the local trails and soaked up some much needed Vitamin D.  Then Anne took us back to the airport where we soon took off for LAX.  Long flight but not too bad.  We arrived at LAX and had to switch from AK Air to American for our flight to DFW.  First off, we couldn't find any directions or monitors showing us how to get to American.  An AK Air pilot saw me looking around with a confused expression and told me we should go to the end of the hallway and walk about 3 minutes to American's terminal. We

did that and it appeared that we were going to have to exit the secure area so I thought maybe I'd misunderstood. I asked a TSA guy what to do and he directed us back the way we came to look for a shuttle connection.  We found the shuttle area but it was dark, closed up, and no sign that there was any shuttle coming.  It was almost midnight and we were supposed to board in 25 minutes.  SO back to the TSA guy we go, tell him what we found, and he says, "Yeah, they probably quit running around 8," which only made me wonder why he sent us there in the first place.  Then he tells us we should exit the terminal, turn left and walk five minutes to the American terminal. I ask if we have to go back through Security and he says yes.  What the heck.  We trudge down to American, wind around the hallway, go through Security and find our gate.  Now for a nice overnight flight to DFW.   Rich and I both volunteered to be moved to Exit rows, not together, but our seats had not been together in the first place so we figured at least we would have more room.  I lucked out with a young couple who were willing to let me sit on the aisle. Rich was crammed into a short row that did not seem like the typical Exit row at all.  Finally we arrived in Dallas at 6 AM; poor Sarah had to get up early and come get us.  We were so happy to see her!  Here she is with her adorable kids.

We were really jet-lagged and suffering from lack of sleep but wanted to play with the kids and visit with Sarah and Miles.  Their new home is just beautiful and they did a great job building and decorating.  We are always impressed with their work!  Elle and Beck have grown so much since I saw them last September and Rich had not seen them since the Jersey shore a year ago.   They are just the sweetest!

Try as we might, we could not keep our eyes open so relented and took a nap while Sarah and the kids ran some errands.  Then we enjoyed the rest of the day playing and visiting and going out to dinner. 

Miles with his cuties before bed time

It was a very quick layover since we'd already reserved tickets to Amarillo for the next morning.  After a good night's sleep,  but still feeling like I was on AK time, we left for the airport before 7 AM.  Elle wanted to ride along and we chatted all the way.  She was telling me that we needed to get a big ladder so she could see Alaska.  But then she realized "if you are way up high, everything will look too small to see."  I was amazed that she could figure that out at age 4.  We promised her we'd take her to see "Brave" when we come back to Dallas in a few weeks.  Love, love, love this family of four!  Next stop, Amarillo, where we get to see Bonnie, David and Emery and meet new baby Luke!