Travel Day...
Mom's Perspective:

The day started out pretty fine...it was hard to leave Carl and Andrea at the airport. Especially with Andrea doing her best to not cry. I gave in though and let the tears come. Not seeing them for a month...too much, but for a good reason. The arguments for being strong in my head were loud and relentless. John grabbed my hand, squeezed and sent me a little smile. No, that was all wrong. I am supposed to be supporting him. Things got better once we were seated on the plane. The airline had changed our seats and separated us but the flight attendant was nice and helped us sit back together.
Once in Minneaplolis for our long layover, we found our gate then grabbed something to eat. John is supposed to eat only certain foods, but it's not like the airport is going to offer organic, fresh meals for him. We could've brought something, but I'm not sure where we would've fit it! We were packed to the gills with stuff. Going away for almost a month...it's amazing what you need. Food did not make the Top Ten.
After we ate, we found a nice little corner, curled up and watched a movie on the computer. Well, John watched the movie, I slept for a bit. The flight to Phoenix was long, dark and boring. Finished my book, John slept.
Our connection from Phoenix to San Diego was short - 36 minutes - and we had to make it from one airline to the other. That meant sprinting from one terminal to another, taking a bus and getting to a third building. Oh, did I mention I was carrying about 40 pounds of stuff in a backpack and duffel bag? Not everything fit in the suitcase...As we sprinted to security to make the gate, I was egging myself on with "This is good Ironman practice...strong stride...easy breathing..." Ha! I was freaking tired! Ironman is cake compared to that sprint! We finally got to security - that's always a circus as I have to get patted by TSA (pacemaker). So, a minute to get a female TSA...another minute for them to explain the procedure (I know it already!!) and another 5 for them to do their thing. On top of all that, I was lucky to get a trainee!! Oh, joy! Oh, fun! OMG...we have FOUR minutes to get to the gate located at the END of the terminal! She had to redo her pat-down a couple of times since she didn't do it right the first time (down to THREE minutes...). John was frantically trying to pack up all our stuff back into the backpack and duffel. TSA took out everything because we're carrying computers and the PS2...too many cords, they have to look at each one separately. Not mention I was carrying some weird-looking workout gear. TSA was completely befuddled with that. Try explaining a weight-ball to a man with a gut the size of Iowa. Finally, finally TSA was done with me. We threw everything in the bags and flew down the terminal. We were sprinting...TWO minutes to take-off (which, if anyone travels enough, means the doors were probably already closed...they close doors about 10 min before takeoff to prepare the cabin). We were sprinting down those moving sidewalk things they have, shouting to people on the walkways, "Excuse me! Please move!" It was something out of an movie. We finally got to the gate as they were literally closing the door. "No! Wait!" I shouted out. The guy says, "You for San Diego?" A nasty comeback shot through my mind, but wanting him to wait, I responded, "Yes! Please hold the door!" He obviously didn't want to impress me, so he says, "Well, hurry up." I actually stopped running for a split-second and looked at him. I almost blurted, What does it LOOK I'm doing?! But, again, wanting to keep him on my good side, "Got it!" (I sucking up to people. Hate. It.) We got to the gate, he checked our tickets, and told us to get moving (as I was breathing heavy and sweating...I mean, what clue did he need to know that we had already been moving?). We got on the plane and, just like in a movie, everyone was seated, everyone seemed to be looking at us and everyone seemed to give a collective groan as we made our way to the very last seats on the plane. Row 25, seats D and F. Thank God we made it.
Arrive in San Diego, go to get our luggage and...it's lost. No luggage. Leaving the country for almost a month and no luggage. No problem, they tell us. Give us a forwarding address and we'll get it to you within 3-5 days. What? Going to Mexico? Oh, you'll need to come pick it up from the airport. No transportation? We can hold your luggage until your return flight. Can you pick up the items you need while on vacation? Not going on vacation. Oh. I see. Let me get a supervisor...By this time, it's 1:15 my time. I'd been up since 4:30 the previous morning. I'm just a little tired. They didn't see the nice side of me. Screw being friends and being polite. They charge me $15 to have a bag and they lose it?! I don't think so. After a few exchanges and unkind words, they promised to have our bags to us by noon. They have one hour and eight minutes...
John was so cute at the end of all this, though. With his sweet innocence he says to me, "Well, mom. You said this would be an adventure." Gotta love him.


John's Perspective:
Travel today was very tiring. Not much else to say.

(Man of few words...)