June 30 - Day 1: we met at our meeting place at 1:15pm to make the drive to Newark Airport (about 2 hours). Finding drivers and then enough space for luggage was a bit challenging, but we squeezed into a minivan and a large SUV. Our flight departed at 6:35pm, so this gave us plenty of time.
The trip to the airport was uneventful until we had the airport in view and were making our way up the off ramp. The minvan was suddenly not behind us anymore... they had followed us the whole trip! We continued on to the departure area and then the phone rang... uh oh... turns out the minivan bottomed out on the exit ramp and had a flat or a broken axel or something. Good thing we had plenty of time.
So we dropped off the first car load of people and they headed into the airport to wait for carload #2. Carol figured out how to get back to them (i have no idea how... thank god i wasn't driving) and we picked everyone up. George called AAA and we were on our way... again.
Check in lines were LONG. Security was as expected. No one even questioned the 2 girls with our group who were under 18. I had notarized permission slips with me, just in case, but they didn't even ask any questions. Not sure if that is a good thing or not...
We arrived at our gate with enough time to grab water bottles, snacks, and some of us were hungry enough for sandwiches. Smashed potatoes purchased at the airport are not really smashed at all, unfortunatly for Stephanie.
As we boarded the plane, we realized that our seats were all over. In hindsight, I should have been more clear to make sure we were all sitting together. Some of us were switching seats, which then gave the stewardesses a run for their money, as 2 of us ordered vegetarian meals and they had to track them down.
Take off was uneventful (aside from my concentrated breathing and the death grip I had on the armrests). Donna refused to hold my hand, which I thought was pretty un-Girl Scout- like. :-) The on board entertainment system kept having an issue and many of the options were not available, but many of us enjoyed movies or tv shows. A few of us even slept... ok, only Trina slept... with her head-down-on-the-tray patented method. The rest of us were too tall to pull this off, unfortunatly. Most of us didn't get any sleep at all.
We were all very ready to get off the plane... thankfully the Alps are in view!
The trip to the airport was uneventful until we had the airport in view and were making our way up the off ramp. The minvan was suddenly not behind us anymore... they had followed us the whole trip! We continued on to the departure area and then the phone rang... uh oh... turns out the minivan bottomed out on the exit ramp and had a flat or a broken axel or something. Good thing we had plenty of time.
So we dropped off the first car load of people and they headed into the airport to wait for carload #2. Carol figured out how to get back to them (i have no idea how... thank god i wasn't driving) and we picked everyone up. George called AAA and we were on our way... again.
Check in lines were LONG. Security was as expected. No one even questioned the 2 girls with our group who were under 18. I had notarized permission slips with me, just in case, but they didn't even ask any questions. Not sure if that is a good thing or not...
We arrived at our gate with enough time to grab water bottles, snacks, and some of us were hungry enough for sandwiches. Smashed potatoes purchased at the airport are not really smashed at all, unfortunatly for Stephanie.
As we boarded the plane, we realized that our seats were all over. In hindsight, I should have been more clear to make sure we were all sitting together. Some of us were switching seats, which then gave the stewardesses a run for their money, as 2 of us ordered vegetarian meals and they had to track them down.
Take off was uneventful (aside from my concentrated breathing and the death grip I had on the armrests). Donna refused to hold my hand, which I thought was pretty un-Girl Scout- like. :-) The on board entertainment system kept having an issue and many of the options were not available, but many of us enjoyed movies or tv shows. A few of us even slept... ok, only Trina slept... with her head-down-on-the-tray patented method. The rest of us were too tall to pull this off, unfortunatly. Most of us didn't get any sleep at all.
We were all very ready to get off the plane... thankfully the Alps are in view!
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