Washington to Orlando

Posted on by

That plane was one of the smallest I’ve been on in a long time. 2 seats on each side of the aisle. No wonder they had to put the roller bags in cargo! But in spite of it all the flight was smooth and uneventful (boring). I tried to grab a few ZZZ’s but having bun on the back of your head makes it kind of hard to get comfortable.

The first leg was to Dulles in Washington DC. I had a layover there and a change of planes. It was a full house. In fact at first they thought they were going to have to “bump” someone. They were offering a $200 voucher toward a future flight. I volunteered along with one other lady but in the end they didn’t need either of us…but once again they wanted to check the roller bags..no charge. This time not because the bags were too big but because it was so crowded there wasn’t enough room. Once again I pulled out the lenses. In the process of unpacking again I lost my boarding pass.

Oh boy…Now I figured I was going to “get it” but no. One of the attendants saw me frantically searching and offered to print another one for me. I didn’t even have to ask! Either United is taking customer service to a new level or there’s something to this “dress the part”.

The plane touched down in Orlando just after 2pm to blue sky, fluffy clouds and 70 degrees. Perfect weather. Joe was already waiting so as soon as I grabbed my bags we were on our way.

Joe’s renting a cute little house 5 blocks from Eola Lake.Lake Enola 005 copy

The house is set back behind the main house. The foliage makes it look like it’s in a jungle. There’s even Spanish Moss hanging from the trees.

Lake Enola 008 copy

Before we headed off to dinner we took a stroll around the lake.

Lake Enola 054 copy

Cypress knees

Cypress knees

Lake Enola 052 copy

Dinner was at a little restaurant called Bananas. The thing that sets Bananas apart is the staff. From the hostess to the wait staff to the person cleaning up..all drag queens. The only times I’ve been exposed to Drag Queens they were wild. Not so here. The atmosphere was quiet and everyone was polite.

Time now to get a good night’s sleep before the drive to Miami in the morning.

Fly the Friendly Skys of United

Posted on by

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?

Always Something

Posted on by

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 by

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