Oh what a trip!

Today we left for Iowa, on what turned out to be quite an adventure. We woke up (early) to 3 inches of snow, which isn't a terrible thing, but the roads, even the Interstate, wasn't cleared very well. We had to drop Lily off at the kennel, and the road we took was snow packed. As we drove to Baltimore, we noticed some places that the road was better and there wasn't as much snow, but for most of the 70 miles, we averaged about 45-50 mph.

Daddy had never been to BWI, the Baltimore airport, and Mommy had only been there once, so they were trying to keep me entertained on the slow drive, while trying to concentrate on the roads and the signs so that we didn't get lost. We were only about 5 minutes from BWI when I got carsick. A lot. So it took a few minutes to find the long-term parking, and then to find a parking place. Once the car finally stopped, Mommy and Daddy realized that I also had a dirty diaper. A very dirty diaper. What a great start to the day!

Mommy went to work on trying to clean me up, while Daddy found me some clean clothes and a new diaper. They stripped me down and got all my yucky clothes off, then Daddy changed my diaper while Mommy tried to clean the car seat as much as possible. Mommy and Daddy grabbed all of our luggage and we headed to the bus stop to catch the shuttle to the terminal. Of course, we had just missed the previous bus by about two minutes, so we had another eight minutes to wait.

We finally made it to the terminal, dropped off the checked suitcase, and got in line for security. The line was actually moving pretty well, and we all made it through just fine. I'm a big girl now, so I got to walk through the metal detector all by myself! We made it to the gate, and Mommy's first order of business was trying to get our seats changed. When she had checked us in yesterday, she wasn't able to pick seats, and we were not sitting together. Mommy batted her blue eyes at the gate agent and not only got us seats together, but up front, where there is more leg room!

Mommy's next order of business was to try and wash out my clothes. I'll spare the details, but it proved rather challenging in a sink where the water only stays on for 10 seconds at a time! In the mean time, Daddy was giving me a small snack, since I had lost my breakfast.

When Mommy got back, we found out our flight was delayed about 30 minutes, so Daddy went and got us some lunch. Chicken nuggets never tasted so good!! Once we were on the plane, Mommy and Daddy were hoping I would fall asleep, since it was my nap time, I'd gotten up early, and had a rough morning. But I wanted to explore the plane and meet all the people, so I wiggled Mommy to death for the first hour, and then finally gave in and passed out in her arms. (I haven't gotten to sleep in Mommy's arms for a long time, and it was nice!)

I slept through the landing, pulling up to the gate, and people starting to de-plane. I even stayed asleep while Mommy was getting off the plane, until the cold Chicago air hit me as we got on the jet-way! I tried to snuggle in to Mommy and go back to sleep, but the jet-way was cold, and we were stuck behind some slower people, so I was jolted fully awake.

Once we got to the terminal and got all of our stuff situated, we tried to find the gate for our next flight. But our flight wasn't listed on the first 3 sets of monitors we found! Needless to say, Mommy and Daddy were getting a little nervous. We went in search of a person to ask about our flight, on the way we found a 4th set of monitors that showed our flight, and it was leaving from a different terminal! Good thing we had plenty of time between flights!

Once we go to our gate, Mommy and Daddy took a break, while I tried to figure out how much I could explore. We overheard that the flight attendant scheduled for our flight had an emergency at home and wasn't going to be on our flight. We then heard that the attendant on an incoming flight was going to take our flight, so we would be delayed just a few minutes. The incoming flight arrived (right across the terminal from our gate) and we waited for the flight attendant. We waited and waited. Finally our gate agent went to ask the agent at the other gate where the flight attendant was, and found out that he had left! So our gate agent started calling around trying to find out where he had gone (apparently to the wrong gate). Finally we were able to board, only about 30 minutes late. Then, the now present flight attendants told us that the plane needed to be de-iced, so it would be a few more minutes before we would be leaving.

Finally, an hour after our scheduled departure time, and only 15 minutes before our scheduled arrival time, we left Chicago, headed for Omaha! The flight was fine, although we didn't have as much room, since we were in the very back of the plane. We finally landed in Omaha and I got a new state to add to my ever-growing list of states I've been to (NC, VA, MD, PA, IL, WI, MN, IA, AZ and now NE). I also got to see Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa was so excited that I went right up to him and gave him a big hug. (Yes, the webcam was a very good investment, because I knew who Grandma and Grandpa were from all of our Skype calls!)

Once we got our luggage, we went to find some food. It was now much later than everyone had planned on us arriving, and it was New Year's Eve, so we weren't sure how many places would still be open. Luckily, we found a Subway and we all got a good meal. Mommy and Daddy put me in my PJ's before we left there, and I only lasted about 30 minutes into the two and a half hour drive to Paullina before I fell asleep. I woke briefly when we got to Gigi's house, but Mommy laid me in my bed, covered me with my blanket, and I was out for the rest of the night!

Well, that was quite the trip. Mommy was sure glad that she wasn't traveling alone with me, but had Daddy there to help. I like to travel, but this sure was a day I don't want to have to do ever again!!! Now, for the next round of family fun to begin!!!!!