May 24, 2008, Ireland trip

I am going to blog my journal for the trip, so my next few blogs will be about this wonderful trip I just took to Ireland. If you get a chance, go.

Phoenix, Arizona

• I woke up at 1:00 a.m. and remembered my hair dryer was not packed.
• I woke up at 2:00 a.m. to see what time it was.
• Got up at 4:15 a.m.
• At the airport at 6:00 a.m.

We got in the international check in line. It was pleasantly short. Gary called us up to the U.S. Airways counter. We handed over our passports and tickets and Gary began to search the computer. Soon, he said, “I think you are flying United not U.S. Airways.” We all groaned. The tickets clearly stated “US.” Gary asked us to be patient and said he would be right back. I turned to Tarzan and said “The fiasco continues.” Tarzan Replied, “No, the adventure begins.” Don’t you just love him?

Oh, I didn’t tell you that yesterday—the day before we were leaving, we realized our names on the airline tickets did not match the names on our passports! We waiting with our breath held for Gary to return.

Gary was gone about ten minutes. When he returned he informed us that the flight for which we bought tickets did not exist. However, since we had paper tickets he would get us on a flight. Thank you Gary—we were so glad we did not get a rookie or someone who woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Gary got us on standby for a flight leaving at 7:20 a.m. It was 6:50 a.m. so we na-na-na-na-naed (that is code for hurry up at our house) to the security check in and oh-my, the line was 4 rows long. We relaxed because Gary had put us on standby for three flights all of which would put us in Chicago in time to catch our Aer Lingus flight to Dublin, Ireland. We were through the security check by 7:02 and then we na-na-na-na-naed to the gate.
When we got there they had been calling us but when we didn’t show they let other stand bys on first. They only had two seats left—we needed three. The girl told us to stick around—something might come up. Tarzan went to the restroom and as soon as he walked off, she called us up and gave us passes. She told us to get on the plane so she could shut the door. If the door was open and the people with the extra seat she gave us came around the corner, she would have to give them their seats and we would have to wait. Tarzan was out of sight. The guy taking boarding passes tore our stubs off and told Rachel and I to stand in the jetway. We tried to call Tarzan to tell him to hurry—he didn’t answer his phone. While Rachel and I took deep breaths to stay calm, Tarzan came strolling around the corner drying his hands on a paper towel. He saw the look on our faces and rushed to the gate. We got on—not sitting together, but on.

I was sitting by a man who only spoke Spanish. He looked to be about 90 years old, wearing a cowboy hat and brand new sneakers. The beverage cart came around—he had no clue what they were saying to him. I said “aqua” or “coka”? He replied, “Si Coka, gracious.” I helped him put his tray down. He was so cute. He never took his cowboy hat off, can’t be comfortable, he can’t lean his head back to sleep.

There was a man with a screaming new born behind me. Poor guy. He finally got a bottle and the baby settled down. I watched Sabrina on my ipod and then read more from “Dreams of our Fathers.” At the end of the flight the baby threw up all over the seat – I was so glad I was not flying with a baby.

We arrived at the Chicago Airport and had no clue where we were or where we needed to go. After several Inquiries we found we were in terminal 3 and needed to be in terminal 5. We took the rails to terminal 5 and found Aer Lingus. It was closed. Further inquiries led us to a food court. So, here is my first food critique. On the plane, I had a pretty good snack—tuna salad, wheat crackers, strawberry apple sauce, gouda cheese, nuts and a chocolate chip cookie. It was all great except the cookie, Chocolate chip cookies are supposed to be soft, not crunchy. Before we left I told both Tarzan and Rachel, not to go on a trip without cash in their pocket. Neither had cash and if you want food on U.S. Airways, you better have cash, so they were hungry. The next meal was in the food court. Tarzan had McDonald’s, it was a good as McDonald’s ever is. Rachel had pizza, she like it okay. I had the nastiest hot veggie sandwich I have ever had in my life served with nasty baked potato chips and a watered down soda. Yuck! The Chicago airport is really pretty, bright and cheerful, but the food is nothing to brag about. Here are the 2 pictures we took in the Chicago Airport. Tarzan is being a nut as usual.
The flight to Dublin was 9 hours. I slept about 1 hour and watched 3 movies and read. Dinner was beef in gravy with nasty cooked peas and carrots. However, the bread, salad, cheese and cheese cake were great. Breakfast was a croissant sandwich with ham and cheese served with orange juice. I have had indigestion since the Chicago. It only gets better from here!