My First Plane Ride to My Biggest Fan

My First Plane Ride to See My Biggest Fan

On Thursday evening, mommy and daddy and I drove to the Cedar Rapids airport to board our flight to State College, where Ada and the rest of the family has been patiently waiting. We had prepared carefully for the difficult check-in process, packed the maximum number of carry-on bags to keep me happy and fed, and steeled ourselves for the painful clearance of security. And then everything went fine, with no problems and we were at the gate in less than 15 minutes. All too easy.

Then the other shoe dropped. They found a flat tire on our plane and had to cancel the flight while they waited for a replacement tire from Minneapolis. Certain to miss our connection, we were re-booked for the next day to go through St Louis into Harrisburg. Not exactly close to State College, but it was the best we could do. Daddy missed his conference where he was supposed to give a talk, but he was much happier staying with me and mommy. We flew out of Cedar Rapids the next morning, and I fell asleep on the plane- no problem. Mommy gave me a bottle to suck on as the pressure in my ears changed and I hardly noticed.

When we got to St Louis, however, we faced a problem. Our connecting flight was in a different terminal than our plane from Iowa and we had to clear security again. Unlike the smooth and courteous operation in Cedar Rapids, however, the anxious and harried guards in St Louis were struggling to keep up with the massive numbers of travelers. Worse yet, our unusual travel plans got us flagged for additional screening, including the guard patting me down for hidden weapons and bombs! Mommy was very mad that the guard had to touch me and almost caused a national incident. I am very proud of her defending me like that. I always feel safe when she is nearby.

We flew again, this time to Cincinnati. And again, I had no problem with the flight. We thought we had a direct flight to Harrisburg, but we were wrong. Another ride, another airport. But Cincinnati was not like St Louis. They were all very nice there and they got us back on our plane really quick. Finally, we got to Harrisburg, 10 hours after we left home. And Aunt Ada was there to meet us! Ada was so excited to finally meet me in person- someone that she had been connecting with via words and pictures for so many months. Mommy and daddy and I were all so exhausted from our long journey that we slept in the car all the way back to State College, where the rest of the family was waiting at the Spring Creek Inn.

Ada and Unca Mike’s Bed and Breakfast is a wonderful place- a large 3 story house set alongside a rushing creek and full of history and fascinating antiques. They brought me into the “Jade Room” and I was immediately fascinated with all the mysterious Asian artifacts and objects of art. We got dressed into our Halloween costumes for dinner with the family. Mommy and daddy were funny looking in their monk robes and I got to be Angelina Ballerina! Ada was especially tickled by my costume because Angelina is her favorite children’s book. I looked so cute with my tutu and mouse ears and even a little tail!

After such a weird day full of traveling, it was pretty understandable that I didn’t sleep well. That’s OK, because we had very little to do the next morning- only have brunch with the family and watch football! We went to cousin Harper and Laura’s house for brunch. It was the first time I got to meet my cousins. I was especially looking forward to meeting Harper because she was only born 4 days before me. Cool! Harper and I played on her play mat (it is almost as cool as mine, but not quite!) while the bigger cousin Laura danced and sang all around us. I was afraid she might fall onto Harper and I, but mommy was right there, always watching out for me. I didn’t seem to notice Harper much- apparently my growing brain doesn’t recognize other babies yet- but I sure noticed Harper’s doggie-brother Champ! Champ is a really cute corgi and I thought she was very funny running around after her ball. I watched her with glee the whole time. Puppies are awesome!
We went for a walk around the Penn State campus. It was very soothing to be pushed in a stroller where I could stare up at all the wonderful trees and I soon fell sound asleep. I awoke in an ice-cream parlor; the most wonderful-smelling building I had ever encountered. It was the famous Penn State creamery, where students like Ben and Jerry got their start as ice-cream majors in college! The whole room smelled like milk- cow’s milk of course, which is not as delicious as mommy’s milk, but it did smell pretty good!

Finally, we headed back to Spring Creek so that mommy could make her famous Pumpkin Mushroom Soup. Someday I will be old enough to cook and she can teach me the recipe. It smelled wonderful and always makes daddy swoon with pleasure. I had no problem falling asleep this time, and curled up with mommy as daddy watched his Trojans play mommy’s Stanford Cardinal. Daddy woke mommy up to congratulate her on Stanford’s unbelievable upset and her first words were, “We won? Oh, I’m sorry”, and then went back to sleep. How cute! I have a great mommy.