Traveling

Well, today is the big day. I departed my sweet little hometown of Franklin, Tennessee to become a world traveler. I had a wonderful dinner last night with Brent and my family at Sperry's. The food was so good (as always), and it was a lot of fun spending time with my loved ones before I had to leave. After a quick trip to Sweet Cece's around 10pm, Brent helped me pack my suitcase and carry-on piece. We were up until about 1am until we finally passed out. We got almost everything I wanted to take with me in a 27" suitcase and a 21" carry-on. I woke up and showered and packed my tote bag with whatever would fit into it (literally it weighs at least 35 lb.)
After a few tearful goodbyes, I left Nashville around noon after my uncle Bob made friends with all the TSA workers, trying to get a gate pass so we could eat lunch in the terminal and was unsuccessful in doing so. Of course my departure gate was the furthest it could possibly be, so I had to take a lot of breaks along the way due to arm spasms caused by my ridiculously heavy tote bag. I flew to Newark on a tiny plane and loved seeing all of the snow up here out the window when we were flying in. It was so beautiful. I listened to a little Hanson and Landon Pigg during the flight on my new Sennheiser headphones, and the lady across the aisle from me didn't like that too much. She kept staring at me then finally asked me to turn them down. I find this funny, because it wasn't even that loud. After I turned it down, I could barely hear my music at all. Maybe the headphones don't block my music from playing loudly to those around me. I drifted in and out of a light sleep until we reached the Newark area and wondered why the baby near me was so quiet the whole time. I have never seen a baby that quiet on a plane.
I am currently sitting in a wine bar at the airport watching the sun set, playing my favorite Facebook games, and typing this blog because of my super cool Verizon mobile hotspot. I have the strong urge to take the bus to NYC, but I know that would be far too stressful and next to impossible right now. My flight to Madrid doesn't leave for about 4 hours, so I have a lot of time to kill. I ordered a glass of Spanish cava (my favorite wine), a cheese plate, and a small brie and prosciutto sandwich since I hadn't eaten anything today but the cheap pretzels on the plane. Sorry Dr. Axe, I am going way off the diet today.
My 2 carry-on bags and I have had quite a trip today already. First of all, I can barely carry them. I set my tote on top of my wheeled luggage and roll it, but it is so heavy that it makes my arm spasm and makes my sore wrist hurt even more. At one point, I dropped them while I was wheeling them. I am not even sure how that happened, but it did. All I could do was laugh. I have had numerous random people offer to help me since I quite apparently am very weak. My tote wouldn't fit under the seat so the flight attendant had to stow it in the closet (I didn't know they had closets on planes). Then I had to ride a little shuttle over to the terminal I am currently in. There were stairs leading up to the terminal, because of course, the elevator wasn't working.  I was the first off the shuttle so I was leading the pack up the stairs, dragging my ridiculously heavy suitcase and tote up metal stairs covered in salt. Some women behind me offered to help as I lugged them up a full flight, but then a random airline worker came out of nowhere and helped me for the second flight. I was so thankful for him and also for the ladies who tried to help me! I feel kind of lame for packing so much in my tote, but I didn't really have a choice. So after that guy helped me, my tote fell off my suitcase and things proceeded to fall out of it. My arm muscles are still pulsing from carrying them up those stairs about an hour ago, but all I can think about is Spain.. and food.
I cannot wait to leave for Madrid. I will arrive there around 9:30am Madrid time, 2:30am Central time (it is about a 7.5 hour flight). I am extra excited because I will be in first class in seat 1A. I read online that I will get a 5 course meal on the flight (!!!) plus free drinks plus a comfy chair. I cannot wait to sleep on the plane, but I hope I wake up to see us coming in to Portugal! I want to see the very first possible glimpse of Europe that I can. I think I am probably going to pass out almost immediately and not even use the countless number of electronic devices that I have in my gigantic tote.
Since this post has been incredibly long, and I know I am going to post so much in the next 24 hours, I am going to end it now. I will be posting soon about my grand arrival in Spain!

-Lynne