ARIZONA/COLORADO/PENNSYLVANIA/DELAWARE 4.20.24

Up at the crack of dawn to make the trek to Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, our friend Wayne got us to the airport in good time.

And that's where the good timing stopped!  We always get a wheelchair for Walt because the walk is just too far with carry on luggage with his back and leg issues.

Here's where we ran into trouble.  We were waiting for an available wheelchair and the line was just too long to wait any longer than we did.  Then we had a problem with the boarding passes, which were caused by me, so we had to wait in the long line at the help desk.  I asked those in front of us when their flights were and since they were after ours they agreed to let us in front of them if we could get close enough to the front.  Well, that didn't work and our flight was already boarding.  We missed the flight to Chicago!

We were able to get a Philly via Denver, Colorado that was leaving in just 45 minutes.  Three seats were left and we snagged two of them.

We went straight to the gate and were 2nd in line with the wheelchair brigade.  We were let on first and we chose the very front row which afforded us plenty of leg room.  Of course, the view was a blank wall.  It was less than an hour and a half flight and it was worth it just to have the leg room.

We did get to see the Meteor Crater from the air and we were both surprised to see how big it actually is from that vantage point.

Just before we landed the flight attendant asked everyone to shut their window shades.  Walt closed ours but we didn't know why.  She then asked everyone to push the call buttons, so the blue lights lit up,  She lowered the lights in the cabin.  She then announced that we had someone very special on the flight.  Carol, who was celebrating her 103rd birthday!  The blue call lights were the substitution for birthday candles.  So all 175 of us raised our voices in the Happy Birthday song to Carol.  We never did see who she was, but we sang to her all the same. 

Denver Airport.  We had hoped to go to the USO to hang out because we had a 3 hour layover according to our calculations.  We forgot about the time difference so we lost an hour there.  We then found out that the USO was two terminals over and by the time we got there and back another 45 minutes would be gone.  It just wasn't worth the effort.

Hunger was setting in by then, so I went in search of something substantial.  We had our first Smash Burgers.  The line was long but it moved pretty fast and in short order we had lunch.  They were ok.  That's all we can say about them.

I went in search of some snacks for the longer part of our journey.  Oh em gee!  I'm an M & M freak, I'd admit it.  My house is seldom without a bag of M's.  I usually buy the "share" size bag at Walmart for $4.59.  The airport wanted, for the same size bag, $11.99!  Are they nuts???   I did finally end up with two king sized Reese's Cups and two bag of Raisinets.  Let's not even talk about what I paid for them.  The words HIGHWAY ROBBERY come to mind and I'll leave it at that.

Once again, we were first in the wheelchair line, so we boarded first.  Again, we snagged the first row seats with ample leg room.

Now THIS flight was FUN!  As many times as we've flown Southwest Airlines, this is the first time we have had a flight attendant that made the announcements funny!  He had us in stitches!

During the pre-flight instructions he told parents traveling with two or more kids that if we had a problem and the oxygen masks fell from the ceiling for them to take care of the kid that was most promising in taking care of them in old age.

At one point the seat belt light came on and he announced the plane was going to get wiggly and jiggly.  Walt thought he was a little limp in the wrist but I think it was all part of his "act".

Things were pretty wiggly and jiggly for awhile and the attendants were also strapped into their seats.  A trash can in their area fell over with a very loud bang.  To be quite honest, it scared the crap out of me!  An involuntary scream escaped me and 3 seconds later the pilot called the attendants phone and wanted to know what happened.  The guy asked the pilot did he hear the trashcan fall or the scream?  Yep, he heard the scream.

As it got darker outside this same attendant announced that he was turning the interior lights off and something about making the ambience of the Southwest sunset flight more enjoyable.

We finally landed in Philly and the seatbelt light was still on and it was very quiet.  Then we heard in a low, guttural sounding voice.  GET. OUT.  And that folks were our instructions for leaving the plane.

We thanked him for making our flight so enjoyable because he was so darn funny.  I had never paid such close attention to flight attendant announcements before.

Our luggage was delivered to the carousel quickly and before we knew it we were calling our friend Susan who was waiting the cell phone lot for us.

She knows us so well.  There was a small cooler in the back seat with two Coors Banquet's for Walt and a Pepsi for me.   

Twenty minutes later we crossed the state line into Delaware, our home state.  We'll spend a whirlwind two weeks here, seeing family and friends.

Car unpacked, luggage resting by the stairs to the upstairs of her home, we sat around the kitchen table and caught up until 2 in the morning.

We're tired.  Time for bed.