Lake Michigan Summer Vacay 2015: Day 0

Hoo doggies, this vacation snuck up on me, so I did a lot of cleaning and packing on the morning of my flight. My cab for the airport left my apartment building at 10:30 am for my scheduled 11:50 am flight to Milwaukee. One problem was that I had not eaten a thing all morning, so the cab ride triggered my motion sickness a little. Another problem is that the cab smelled like a barn at milking time. But soon enough, we were at the airport where I got my boarding pass, then checked both of my suitcases, and went through security with just my purse.

I stopped at the TexMex place in the terminal and butted in line just to ask if they had Topo Chico. They didn't, and shockingly, the two women I spoke with had never had it either. I told them to correct that mistake, and they offered me a club soda with lime in it for free! It was very touching, especially since I had already told them that I wasn't going to buy food there. Then I left and walked down to my gate where I saw that my flight had a 20 minute delay. I went down to a Dunkin' Doughnuts and got a sandwich and some coffee, then back to my gate. I drank my drinks, but stashed my food in my purse because it was time to get in line. I asked a Boy Scout to hold my coffee as I dug for my boarding pass, which said A 21. During the wait, I chatted with a lady behind me, and we were on our way to the plane.

On the plane, I picked my normal spot - a right-side window seat near the back - and waited to see who my seat mates would be. It was really nice to not have to worry about putting a bag in the overhead compartment - a small thing, sure, but it was still nice. Eventually, a woman and her kids sat by me - three kids in the row behind us, and her and the youngest next to me. At first, from her accident, I thought that she was from a Caribbean island, but instead, she was from Nigeria. She was shocked that I knew enough to ask if she was from Lagos, where she went to school, but wasn't from. She was taking her kids to visit her mother in Philadelphia, so they were getting off at our stop in Atlanta. I talked to her for a little bit, then showed her and her daughter - who was turning 8 today - some photos from my parents' house during winter.

But once the plane started taking off, I had to remain motionless lest my motion sickness get the better of me. I asked for club soda, no ice from the drink person to ease my stomach, then had some doughnut holes to at least have some food in there. We landed in Atlanta, and I explained some things about flight and landing to the soon-to-be 3rd grader - like why we barely felt the landing (springs!), why the runway was so long, and why parts of the wings changed while we landed.

Soon, I was saying goodbye and in a nearly empty plane in Atlanta. I reconnected to the internet on my phone, used the facilities, and set in for the flight to Milwaukee. Some guy asked if the aisle seat in my row was open, and I nodded, but no one sat in the middle seat, thank goodness. The plane took off and I continued to work on my photos on my phone to free up space. We finally landed in Milwaukee and I texted my sister. Walking through the airport, I got my first photo of the trip.

PACKERS!

I went to the baggage claim, got my bags, then went to the rental car counter and got my car. I found directions to the hotel and was on my way. Right away, I was struck by how CLEAN Milwaukee was.

I checked into the hotel, checked my email, and asked my sister to come over. She and her boyfriend showed up and I needed to let them up to my room. We talked for a little while and then were off to find dinner. It took a while to find dinner, but we settled on Cafe India Bar & Grill and it was good. After that, we went back to their place to talk and also see their kitties, Kitty and Fluffy. I got some photos of their new decor too.

They had a holographic dog portrait too, but it would not be recorded.

Photos didn't work.

And video failed.

After that, they took me to my hotel where I tried to watch TV. For a while, it looked like the only thing on Milwaukee television was Public TV and dead air - I saw a test pattern on one channel. Eventually, I went to sleep.