Prologue...
Oddly enough, my sister decided to go to CA the same time we did. We did not discuss it with each other when making our plans. Turns out she was leaving before us and returning the same day we did. Even stranger, Evan (her son) and his friend Peter also decided to go. Peter's mom booked their flight (again, not discussing this with us) and turns out we were on the same flight! At least until our connection... then they went to Orange County and we went to LA. So we (our family plus Evan and Peter) drove to Indy and stayed all night down there so we could catch our early morning flight.
Chapter 1
We woke up at 3:30 am after a terrible nights' sleep. We stayed at a nice enough hotel, but there was also a volleyball team on our floor. They did not respond to our requests (and demands) to be quiet... until Emma asked us, "Can I ask them to be quiet?" Immediately Dave and I said, "Yes!" She went out in the hallway in her pj's looking tired (it was about 11:30pm) and very sweetly said, "Could you guys please be quiet?" I heard a few girls say, "AHHH...." as if they were thinking she was so cute and polite, and then, silence. :-)
So we got up, got ready, and headed out in the rain to catch the shuttle. We got to the airport with no problem and checked in our bags without a glitch. Then we stood in line to go through security. I must say, Indy is a very friendly airport! Security was smooth, quick, and painless. Once we got to the gate, Dave went to the counter because we still did not have seats. Evan and Peter did, but for some reason, we didn't. When Dave walked up to the counter the nice lady asked him, "Would you be willing to wait for a later flight leaving at 8:30am (2 hours after our scheduled flight)? We would fly you first class the whole way to LA as well as give you a $200 ticket voucher per person." Of course we said, "Sure, we can do that." We tried to get Evan and Peter to fly with us in first class, but she only needed 4 people since the plane was oversold. So we said goodbye to the guys, and hung out in the airport for 2 more hours. Anna was crying because she was said that the guys were leaving. If she only knew then what was in store for us on our flight... While we were waiting, the same lady offered us $20 to eat breakfast. Not a bad deal!
So here's where the Royal Treatment comes into play... we boarded our first flight... Now neither Dave nor myself has ever flown First Class before... So we got in our plush seats and grinned. It was great! Our flight was short (to Chicago) so we weren't really in the air long enough to get the full effect. Then came flight #2...
From Chicago to LA we had the plushest seats imaginable... spacious, reclining, leg rests, about 4 feet between rows, not just blankets, but comforters, hot towels, a full breakfast on real dishes with real utensils, a movie, headsets, all kinds of swiveling trays, and great service! We felt like royalty! What a way to fly! We were so worried how Anna would do and she was an angel. She definitely felt comfortable. Emma was an angel too. She had fun playing with the tray that came out of the arm rest. :-) We all slept part of the trip which helped us when we got there! It was a great experience... one we will not soon forget!
Our First Class Princesses...
