***WARNING: This one is a bit lengthy. ***
We pulled our collective 100-ish pounds of vacation luggage to the Southwest Airlines desks. See, yours truly didnt check us in online. Because yours truly isnt experienced with the whole check in online at home and still check the luggage in at the airport process. I figured you MUST be
able to do that
something to do with curb-side check-in and all that
but then Missy mentioned something about how the last time shed done that theyd lost her luggage and, well, my decision was made.
We were checking in at the desk.
Which, by the way, was decidedly different from the LAST time Id checked in with Southwest at the desk.
Five years ago.
When you could still check in with an actual living, human being.
The whole check in on the self-help screens had me feeling decidedly OLD.
And decidedly impatient. For the 10 or so open self-help kiosks, there were only two Southwest employees behind the desk helping out with tagging luggage and directing people to open kiosks. Which resulted in a line of people about 15 deep only populating 3 of those 10 available kiosks. No one would venture over to the ones that were empty.
Lonely.
WAITING for the next available guest.
Not even yours truly. Or Missy.
Were sheep. Baaaa.
Finally we received our boarding passes and our luggage was tagged and we brought it over to have it cleared through security. I dont think this is standard at most airports, but at T.F. Green you have the luxury of bringing your own luggage over to the FAA security scanners, waiting for the 2,569 minutes it takes while its in the oven and then getting the thumbs up from the Security guy whose sole job it is to give me the thumbs up and then pull out his back putting my bag on the magic belt to the planes luggage hold.
We headed through security ourselves. The line was pretty much non-existent. And thankfully, I didnt need to get the Security-pat-down-that-should-come-with-dinner-and-a-movie.
After that it was a quick jaunt over to Gate 15.
To meet up with the 40 other families with children under 5 all waiting for the same flight to Disney.
Missy and I exchanged looks and I began scanning the seats to identify which children I DIDNT want to sit next to.
Unfortunately because we were the ONLY people that DIDNT participate in online check-in, we were in Boarding Group C. Also known as Boarding Group: You Get To Sit On The Flight Attendants Lap. (a.k.a.No seat for you!) We settled into by the window to wait and began to discuss breakfast. Missy gets a little nervous the night before she flies, so she hadnt slept much the night before so she decided to pass on the caffeine. I dont want to be kept awake and coffee? I dont want to have to spend any time in that tiny little airplane bathroom.
Remember that.
So, we decided to do muffins and juice for breakfast and we were nomming down in short order. Time passed pretty quickly.
We were excited.
Missy was tired.
I was wired on that Im Going to Disney! caffeine.
But we were both excited.
The plane arrived. See! Wave at the plane!

Flight 1318:
After all of humanity and your grandma got on the plane before us, it was finally our turn to board. We headed back
back
are those seats, oh never mind, screaming-kicking-child
back...back to a row that was probably 4 or 5 up from the last on the plane. Missy settled into the window seat.
Remember that.
I settled into the aisle and confirmed with Missy that she didnt want to be woken for beverage service and then we buckled in. I flipped through the Sky Mall magazine, looking for that combo hot dog/bun cooker (ever try to explain what that looks like to someone? Missy needed a visual) while we taxied out (early!) and were cleared for take-off.
Once at cruising altitude, Missy shoved her earbuds in and turned up her iPod, sunglasses on, eyes closed, ready for a nap. I unpacked my own iPod and dropped it on the seat next to me. I also took out my laptop and got myself a cranberry juice and spread myself out.
Remember that.
About a third of the way into the flight, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Missy sit up straight-er. I could see her eyes blink a few times behind her shades and then she pushed them up onto her head. She had a look on her face. A look I recognized but couldnt quite place. I pulled my earbuds out as she did and said, Whats up?
She stared at me.
For a full ten seconds.
A LONG ten seconds.
Then, she spoke.
I think Im going to throw up.
I blinked once. Twice. Are you sure?
Three more seconds. Yes. Im going to throw up.
I bolted into action. Picture this, if you will I gathered up my iPod, laptop, put up the tray all while balancing my cranberry juice in my right hand, determined not to spill it on the balding head in front of me (ZZUB was that you?

)
Missy quickly but calmly made it out and headed the few short rows towards the rear lav, before getting stuck behind the flight attendant with the drink tray. I watched her, feeling her agony. Finally she leaned forward and said, Um, maam? I need to get to that bathroom RIGHT. NOW. The attendant recognized the look and deftly stepped into a row, letting Missy pass.
While she was gone, I swapped our seats, putting Missy on the aisle in case this ultimately wasnt the only visit. I knew Missy; she wouldnt be using those handy-dandy seatback bags. When she returned, I didnt have to ask if shed been sick, her face said it all. Instead she said, Do you know how difficult it is to throw up in four square inches of space? I need to start doing yoga.
After Missys second visit to the loo to yell at the pretty metal toilet, the flight attendant stopped by with ginger ale, crackers and a Glad trashbag. I wish I was kidding about that last part. Thankfully, we never needed it. Instead, I put all of my stuff away and chatted Missy up for the rest of the flight to Orlando, providing much-needed distraction.
Our flight arrived early and we made a non-vomit pitstop in the ladies room before heading to the non-monorail monorail. Well non-vomit EXCEPT for the poor lady in the stall RIGHT NEXT TO Missy. I was beginning to wonder exactly what kind of trip this was going to be.
One trip on the non-monorail monorail later, we were gathering our luggage and I was calling Happy Limo for our ride. See, I hadnt told Missy exactly
how we were getting to the Poly. I wanted us to ride in style, so Id secretly reserved and paid for a stretch limo. We headed to the assigned parking spot, Missy still none the wiser, and wait for our driver, Gary. The spot was used for a few other companies, so we watched some other parties head out first. Finally, as a black, stretch Lincoln Navigator pulled up I said, Ok, so the surprise is that I booked us a limo, but unfortunately NOT one this nice. I laughed. She laughed. Then the driver got out and said, Miss NotSharingMyLastNameOnTheInternet? Im Gary.
Our mouths dropped open. (While Garys back was turned anyway, rolling our luggage to the trunk. Which, by the way is bigger than my bedroom.)
I couldnt believe this. I also couldnt decide if something had gotten screwed up was this a free upgrade or would I log in to see my card had been charged $500 and not the $122 Id agreed to pay?
It was like a club back there.
We had a ball, goofing on the people gawking at us on the highway.
We finally arrived at the Poly.
::cue choir of angels::
The slip I signed for Gary confirmed I had in fact been charged the right price and that the upgrade gods were smiling upon us. I headed, hopefully, towards the front desk. After getting leid, we proceeded directly over to Jim, the next available CM.
Jim was, no IS, THE BOMB. He pulled up our reservation and said, So, Miss StillNotSharingMyLastName, hows Fall River treating you?
Me: You know Fall River? (NO one knows Fall River, MA. Fall River is my dinky hometown I looked at his nametag and saw he was from Needham, MA) Oh! Youre from Needham!
Jim: New York originally, but my adopted family is from Mass.
Me: So, does that make you a Red Sox or a Yankees fan? (A crucial question for a fan of either team.)
Jim: Sox all the way, baby!
Missy: (sporting a Jason Varitek Sox tee and before I could get his take on the Brady/Cassell Pats situation) So, were Sox fans too. Does that get us any special perks?
Jim: (glancing down casually and then, in a tone as if he were merely telling me its hot in Florida) Well, you were upgraded to the concierge level this morning. Hows that?
My mouth dropped open.
I looked at Missy.
We high-fived.
That'll do, pig.
Er, JIM.
Sorry, end of Babe flashbacks.
Jim went through the rest of the welcome spiel, gave us our Keys to the World (KTTW) and sent us on our merry way, map in hand, to the Hawaii building. As we strolled (maybe skipped) in, the people at the concierge desks looked up at us and said, Aloha Miss WantToStartGuessingMyLastName! Welcome to the Polynesian!
Missy turned to me, the absolute picture of seriousness, and said,
Nik, if all I have to do to get all this for us is throw up, Ill do it all week long.
Up Next: The Room! My Toes! The Four Cheese Potatoes!