On My Way To Spain

Scottie, Darrell's grandson took Darrell and I to the air port at 10:30 AM.  Little did I know that this was going to be one of the longest days of my life.  Not that I am complaining.  We were on our way to Spain - the home of Christopher Columbus.  You remember him, the guy who discovered the Americas.  How cool is that?

It was a 45 minute flight from St. Louis to Chicago and our flight didn't leave until 1:20 in the afternoon but due to terrorist activities we were required to be at the airport for security processing two hours early.  Security didn't take nearly that long, not that I really cared come to think of it.  I was so excited about my upcoming adventure I wouldn't have been doing anything at home but jumping up and down wishing we were on our way.

From Chicago we flew to Madrid, Spain.  The eight hour flight was long and terribly boring.  Thank goodness I had a date with my new favorite author Janet Evanovich to read Plum Spooky on the plane.  Her books are laughing out loud funny so they kept me entertained. 

Now if there was just a remedy for the tiny confined space where I was sitting.  I am short and my knees were touching the back of the seat of the passenger in front of me.  I felt sorry for the taller passengers.  I took my shoes off to wiggle my toes then pulled my legs up to my chin to rub my legs and feet to keep circulation going quite often.  Fortunately the passenger next to me was Darrell because I know I was driving him nuts with all my wiggling.   My seat was inside next to the small window.  Darrell sat next to me in an aisle seat.  He spent a lot of time getting up to get another scotch and water or red wine.  Perhaps I should have taken Darrell's advice and got drunk and slept through the long night but I am not much of a drinker and I can't sleep on a plane.

I now have an understanding of "jet lag".  I and my fellow passengers were exhausted and crabby when we finally got to our final destination, the Sol Timor Hotel in Terremolinos.  We began our trip Tuesday, February 14th and arrived in Spain Wednesday, February 15th.

I was traveling with a group of 17 long time friends.  I was the only newbie traveler of the group.  The others had traveled extensively, especially Janet McDonald our leader who is a retired travel agent.

After checking into the hotel all 17 of us met at a local pub for a quick lunch then returned to the hotel for a nap.  I normally have problems sleeping but not this time.  I was asleep when my head hit the pillow.  Exploring Spain was just going to have to wait while I recouped.