And We're Off!

Finally, us little mountain mice are on the road! Or more accurately, on the plane. Two nights ago we woke up at roughly four in the morning. Because Carolyn is 11 and thus still considered, in the airport's eyes, a "unaccompanied minor." When we scheduled our first flight ( a plane out of Reno, a connector in Denver, and a landing in Dulles), we were unaware of the new changes made to the UM system. In the new rules, anyone aged 5-11 MUST be in the UM system, and anyone in the UM system must have a direct flight, and as a result Carolyn and I had to have a direct flight. Problem is, there are no direct flights out of Reno to Dulles. So instead we woke up at four in order to drive down to Sacramento to find our elusive direct flight.

Us, waiting in line to check in:

After checking in, security, and all that other airport stuff, we were finally ready to go. We said goodbye, then we were off! I have absolutely no idea how it happened, but somehow Carolyn and I managed to get first-class seats. Neither of us have ever had those, and it was a blast. :D There were big cushy seats, blankets, warm hand towels, breakfast, and cookies ( oh, and as Carolyn just enthusiastically reminded me, mini Toblerone). While we were warned by the parents multiple times not to get used to it, we definitely DID enjoy it (and I, personally, wouldn't mind doing it again). 

At the end of our five-hour flight, we finally landed in Dulles International, and that's when the UM system finally kicked in. In the past, our experiences with UM hasn't been too great and mainly consisted of cheap cracker-and-banana lunchboxes and being locked in a plain white room for an hour while the only entertainment were baby toys and a little TV playing the Wonder-pets. This time was only slightly different from last. We were stuck in a BLUE room (that, thankfully, offered board games instead of baby toys) and a lady that repeatedly asked if we wanted juice boxes or to play on their non-existent Wii (we checked the entire room, and there wasn't actually a video game to be found). 

Anyway, after about half an hour our grandparents came and picked us up. We spent the night at their house, and are currently waiting for 2:30 PM to come around so that we can leave for the airport, catch our 5:30 flight, and be well on our way to Europe. We can't wait!