Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Looking forward to going nowhere

Quick weekend getaway with my family. My 18 month old daughter has now been on 42 if not 44 flights. We've gotten lazy about updating her logbook.

I finished my trip last week on Thursday night. Flew 8 hours. Tired.

Arrived home at 8:15PM. Left Friday morning to drive the family back to the airport at 5:20AM. Nice weekend. Went to a wedding. Stayed with family.

On the way back we had an interesting experience with the TSA.

I always travel in uniform. There are just perks to being in uniform that justify it's use.

While walking my wife and daughter into the regular security line we were given a short cut by an airport employee. Not a TSA screener, but just an airport employee who directs passengers to various security lines (First Class, Premium Passenger, Regular line). We were given a short cut to the front of the regular line. Okay with me... I didn't ask for any help.

Then a TSA employee asked if we wanted to use the employee line for even faster service. The TSA employee escorted us out of line and then directed us to a  door which lead to the private, employee only, area. The door wasn't in a SIDA area, just a private area. I reminded him I had my family and I wasn't based at this airport. "No Problem" he stated.

We went through the door. It was a nice, quiet area.

Interestingly enough the employee line was not staffed by TSA, but by private screeners. One could only tell if you looked closely at their badges, patches and epaulettes. Same processes though. They were nicer than most TSA personell.

We travel standby so we often take the first flight out. We took the first flight from our home on Friday and we took the first flight back Monday morning. We all got a row together. It's only been a handful of times (in the single digits) that we have been seated separately.

Speaking of traveling with a newborn/toddler here's our system:

A super lightweight Combi Car Seat (here's the one we bought on Amazon)

and a

GoGo Babyz Travelmate (again I'm an Amazon person )

The Combi car seat is super light weight. Our normal car seats (super nice Britax car seats) are super heavy. The first few times we traveled we used them. It was a chore to lug it through the airport and onto the plane.

The Britax didn't fit down the aisle. I had to raise it above my head.

Our little system fits down the aisle of any plane. My daughter is in the seat which is attached to the GoGo Babyz wheels. It has fit down every plane we have been on (ERJ 145, CRJ200, 737, 767 and 757s) without a problem. We each have a backpack. My wife carries a backpack with baby stuff and her Ipad. I carry a backpack with my Ipad, my daughters Touchpad (running Android...but she prefers the Ipad) , snacks and a magazines.

That being said....I'm looking forward to going nowhere for a while. I'm kind of like a mechanic who has no desire to fix a car when he gets home.

We have a trip planned for March (heading to Vegas) but nothing for April. I'm looking forward to April.....looking forward to going nowhere.

5 comments:

  1. 18 Months? Wow, time is running.........

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  2. Yes, hauling those Britax seats are NOT fun!  They are awesome car seats but they can be awkward for when you travel by air.

    So glad we are at the "booster seat" stage...

    Enjoy the "going nowhere" time when it arrives.

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  3. A great blog and one that I follow.  The 'reply' function is often difficult, so you don't get much feedback.  Know that your posts are read and enjoyed.  You might consider displaying a Contact Button to some buried email address.  Whatever.  Great posts and I LIKE your focus on quality time with spouse and small daughter.  Forty-some flights at that age is remarkable; she must be a superior flyer - just Daddy.  Fun stuff, Geek and keep on posting...

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  4. Hmmm I'll see if I can add a contact button. Just gotta avoid bot spam
    Sent from my iPad.....

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  5. Yup. I hear you about the SPAM and we damn sure don’t need any. A few sharp folks have embedded the address in English text such as : Johndoeatproviderwonderfuldotcom and let the user’s figure it out. (A couple of European friends have used something similar to this, reporting that the bots have yet to break through. Frankly, my comments are not essential, but I do want you to know that your posts are read. I enjoy them. Best wishes.
    C. of Cedarglen

    ReplyDelete

If you are a spammer....your post will never show up. Move along.