Fly the Friendly Skys of United

Posted on January 21, 2013January 21, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I was reading travel tips the other day and one of the articles was all about air travel and whether it was getting better or worse. One of the suggestions the writer made was that to be treated well you should dress well. He didn’t mean go out and buy a wardrobe of designer clothes just to fly the friendly skies. What he meant was that in the early days of air travel it was an occasion and you dressed for it. Those early days weren’t that long ago really. Back in the 70’s when I traveled by air I remember everyone was in business attire. No one wore jeans or worse sweats that look like you just rolled out of bed.

His point was that if you want to be treated with respect you need to look the part…walk the walk..or however you want to say it.

With that in mind I decided to give it a try…no jeans and T-shirt this time. I pulled on a pair of Khakis and a flowered blouse. I put my hair up in a neat bun and off I went.

At the first stop I dropped off my car. The attendant whisked my luggage to the shuttle and had me at the United gate in less than 5 minutes. Last time the process to over 30 minutes!

In the airport the desk personnel were chatty and friendly. Time for the security check point and the TSA. Once again smiles and pleasant wishes for a nice trip. I’m on a roll.

Seated in the gate area one of the united people was going around checking in carry on luggage because the plane was too little for most of the roller bags. Mine had my 500mm mirror lens and my telephoto lens. Combined value around $1500. I didn’t want those separated from me. I explained my concern and was surprised when they let me take them out of the luggage and keep them with me! And all that was suggested with a smile. It put me over the “limit” for carry ons but they didn’t care!

So far this has been one of the most pleasant trips I’ve made. Could it really be as easy as dressing a little neater?

Day 20~Lake Eola Golden Hour

Posted on January 20, 2013January 20, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Always Something

Posted on January 20, 2013January 20, 2013 by Dusty Roads

It won’t be long now before I’ll be in the air and winging my was south to warm weather. My 2nd annual winter migration to escape the snow and cold of New England. Cat sitter has been secured. Extra cat food, treats and kitty litter brought in so at least the furry children will be well cared for in my absence.

My own preparations have been a teeny bit more challenging. My tripod wouldn’t fit in my suitcase. Why bother you ask? Because the 2nd half of my trip is the Florida Everglades and if I want to use my telephoto lenses I need a tripod for stability. I haven’t mastered the monopod yet but it makes a great walking stick. So it was off to the store to find a 27 inch suitcase instead of my 25 inch.

Next step was to log onto Carnival Cruise line’s web page to do my online check in and set up my “on board account”. Carnival is “cashless” while on board. That part actually went pretty smooth until I got to the part where I had to print the documents. The luggage tags printed , the cruise documents printed but not the boarding pass.

I thought it might be because my sailing partner had not set up his on board account yet so I sent an email off to him to get going on his docs. Good thing I did. Apparently the Carnival web site has issues. When he tried to access his booking it told him there was a problem and to book again. As he struggled with Carnival I went back into my account and could now print my boarding pass so I was all set. Not so my buddy. It was 2 full days before they told him the problem was corrected. I haven’t heard yet if it really was.

Tomorrow I’ll check my flight to see if that’s all set and finish packing…carefully…so I don’t get a furry stow away.

To be continued…..

Posting Schedule

Posted on January 19, 2013January 19, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I’m about to embark on a little jaunt and I am not sure how much access I’ll have to the internet. I have 2 more days on the 21 day Photo Challenge. I promise I’ll take at least one picture a day and share them as soon as I get “plugged in” again.
I’ll also give you a full report on where I’ve been and what I’ve done. (Hint) Cruise/ Mexico/ Mayan Ruins/ Everglades…So stay tuned. I’ll try not to be out of touch too long!~ Dusty

Packing Time

Posted on January 16, 2013January 16, 2013 by Dusty Roads

It’s been a few months since I did any traveling. Sometimes I just need to take some time to recharge that way I appreciate my trips more. I found last summer that one trip after another was exciting but draining. By the time I was headed out on my last trip I was worn out. It was so easy when I reached my sister’s house for the Adirondack Balloon Festival to just kick back. The weather helped because it rained so several launches were canceled.

It’s a new year now and my travel schedule is just getting started. The first thing I found was that my new and improved tripod with it’s “ball head” doesn’t fit in my old suitcase. After much debate I decided to get a new suitcase rather than leave the tripod home.
It was also time to replace my luggage tags. The old ones were starting to fade and I’d even managed to break the corner on one.

Rocky was ready to perch on my suitcase for a new portrait for the new tags.

(I’ve covered up the name and phone # on the tag for obvious reasons)

But one thing hasn’t changed. I’ll still have the suitcase with the most cat hair on it. Rocky immediately took his place on top of the suitcase. I can see packing is going to be its usual challenge!