OR - CA 2008 / Chapter 1

No, I'm not doing a whale story, OR - CA stands for Oregon - California. This is my report on our trip to Oregon for my Aunt and Uncle's 5oth Anniversary and then to Fresno to hear another Uncle sing with the Mennonite Men's Chorus.

Our trip began smoothly enough, hubby and I were packed and out the door in time to meet my parents at their home so my brother could drive us all to the airport. Our flight was scheduled to leave Wichita (ICT) at 9:50 am, so the plan was to be there at 8am. We were there in good time and checked in, shortly thereafter we were informed that our plane had been delayed...
The delay was enough to make us miss our other connections so all our flights needed to be rescheduled. They had a little difficulty getting us all on the same flights, but they finally did it, though we wouldn't leave till 3:10 pm. We had also been scheduled to go through Denver and was rescheduled to go through Chicago. (I just want to point out in this picture the duffel bag and two cases on the floor in front of the wheel chair, and the bag on the back of the wheel chair are the ones that I juggled.)
My brother had already gone on to work, so we busied ourselves at the airport, enjoying the artwork...
...and checking out the displays...

After getting a bite to eat in the airport restaurant, we made our way to the security check where you empty pockets, remove shoes, present your 3-1-1 bag, and take computers out of cases. Not realizing that I was going to need to remove my shoes I wore the only shoes I like, my high top Reebok's, I have them in black and in white. What a pain to get off and on.
After getting through the security check we sat and waited, again, at the gate.
Our plane made it in right on time.
We were in the front row, us on one side and mom & dad on the other. Hubby had the window seat and I teased him as we went up, asking if things were starting to look familiar. One of his favorite things to do is to "travel the world" via Google Earth.
Below, smoke could be seen, probably from a field being burned off.

I don't know what the next one was, rather eye catching from the sky.
They served a snack, pretzels or chips, and a beverage. Alcohol cost extra.
In the shot below you can see windmills for wind energy.
I'm not sure what time we landed in Chicago, but we nearly ran from our gate in Terminal 2 in the upper E wing...
...I don't remember the gate number either...

...to gate B6 in the Terminal 1. We had to grab a wheel chair for mom about halfway there because her knees won't let her move that fast.
They loaded us on board an airbus and put us clear to the back in row 24. I wasn't real impressed with the larger plane, we seemed to be packed in a lot tighter. This was a longer flight and while they didn't serve a meal they offered snack packs at $5 each. I had a "Smartpack", dad and hubby had the "Minimeal" and mom had the "Rightbite". They were really pretty good for what they were. As I mentioned in the "I'm BACK! post, there was an in flight movie, "Golden Compass" to watch on this flight.
Because of the cramped quarters and inaccessibility to a window I didn't even attempt to get my camera out. We landed in Portland on schedule and the Stewardess announced that passengers needing to make connection to Redmond needed to be let off immediately or they would miss their flight, OUR flight. Remember, we were on the back of the plane. People stood in the isle and looked like deer in the headlights, oblivious to our need. I started pushing through an opening, telling people that we needed to make our Redmond connection. One gentleman finally offered to take one of my bags and led the way off the plane (which got him off the plane sooner). We were rushed to our gate, which fortunately was just around the corner, and they were holding our plane. Again we were in the first row, and we were off again. I was so worn out by this time that I didn't bother with my camera. We arrived in Redmond around 10-something. Of course there's 2 hours difference between home and Redmond, so 10 in Redmond is 12 at home (I can do mornings on the West Coast!). Uncle and cousins were at the airport to meet us...
It was good to be at our destination.
Next Chapter will be at Aunt and Uncle's in Oregon.