What a very, very, very long day. Oh yeah, and did I mention that it was long?
My first flight was at 8:50 am, so I wanted to be at the airport for like 7 ish…just to be sure I had enough time. The baby had no problems waking up either and we were off.
I did the self check in thingee at the kiosk. I knew that Air Canada allowed 2 pcs of checked luggage for me, 1 pc for baby, and carried your car seat and stroller complimentarily, when travelling with infants. So, I had a total of 5 pcs— 2 bags (1 for me, 1 for baby and plenty of room for shopping allowances :-D), 1 pack ‘n play (for sleeping), 1 infant car seat & 1 stroller. The basic necessities, n’est-ce pas? At the kiosk, I said that I had 4 bags to check. You’re allowed to keep the stroller and they stow it for you at boarding time.
Well, to my horror…..
The desk attendant says “you know that luggage allowances have changed, right?” Uh, NO. I asked when that happened —on Sept 4 (tuesday)…it was now the 7th (friday). I had no clue. I didn’t think to peruse the website daily to ensure that luggage allowances had changed in the last 10 days since booking my ticket. Plus, because I was travelling internationally with an infant, I had to call into Air Canada Reservations to book my ticket. The girl on the phone NEVER told me about any upcoming changes. “Oh, she may not have known”. The new changes–only 2 pcs of checked luggage for me, 0 pcs (yes z-e-r-o) for baby, and only umbrella stroller are allowed to go with you to boarding. The bigger things, though collapsible, must be checked. Any extra pieces are charged at $125.00 per piece. Yes–one hundred and twenty-five dollars and zero cents. Again, the look of horror never came off my face. She looked at me and said , well, I’ll let you through today, but you may have to pay on your return. I said thanks, out loud, but in my head, I said no way I’m paying. You’re letting me on your airline with my stuff, I’ll also be bringing it all back home. Don’t mess with me!
The last thing I asked her before I left the desk was–can I please get some help in Calgary with my bags. She said she’d put in the request. Because I was travelling to the US, I’d have to collect my luggage in Calgary and go through customs, then check them for my next flight.
We said bye to Jono and went off. Had no problems going through security. I sedated the baby with some tempra drops and we were good to go. We had the whole row of seats to ourselves on the plane, and she fell asleep before the flight took off. I settled in for watching in-flight tv. Yeah, House, MD for me!
We got to Calgary and I found the area to collect my luggage. Low & behold–I had to do it alone. Now picture this, but not too hard because I don’t need you laughing too hardily at me… But Baby was attached to me via CuddlyWrap. I had a backpack, diaper bag & stroller. Also got a luggage cart. With baby, I collect my 4 pcs of luggage and said a big prayer. Thankfully, I only had a short distance to go, and there was a line up, so I wasn’t holding up anyone. I wanted to put baby in the stroller, but she was hungry and didn’t want me to let her go. So, she stayed on me. I pushed the loaded luggage cart and pulled the stroller behind me. And no one helped me. Not ONE person offered to help. I was quite disgusted, actually.
Anyhoo, we got through customs without incident, although the agent did ask to see my permission letter from Baby’s Daddy because we were travelling alone. Dropped off my luggage and went to get a diaper change and some food. The second flight was nearly full. I had an aisle seat, and the middle was empty and the window occupied. The ladies across from me loved Jamayia instantly. The convo went like this– “Oh, what a beautiful baby. Is she allowed to have cookies?” I was like what??!!! You don’t even know her name, and you’re offering her stuff. I politely declined. Baby went right off to sleep for about 1 hr (this was a 3 hr flight). Just as I was settling down to sleep, she woke up! Poor me… But she was a good girl. Behaved the entire time. I was so scared that she’d only want to walk throughout the entire plane. We just read a lot, and I sang a lot of songs and played a few games, and repeat cycle.
We got into LAX at 2:15 pm. But the luggage took forever to come and then when we got outside, we packed up the car and I had to change a very stinky diaper and feed the baby. The drive that should’ve taken us 1 hr to get to Loma Linda actually took 3. Not impressed. I hadn’t eated much all day either! And baby slept for most of this trek, which meant that bed time was going to be delayed too.
Alas, we made it to Amanda’s place. And I finally ate… yummy. It was simply a chicken burrito–but it was fantastic by that point of the day. Super long day, but we were there.
More to come. I’ll have to write more about the drunk lady & her mother later….