We are five hours and ten minutes into our mini vacation. So far, our trip feels normal. The three things that make our trip seem different than our past trips are how empty the airport is, how empty our flight is, and of course the masks. We are in flight to Charlotte, NC. We are on a mid-sized plane with two seats on each side in coach. Brainy Bird and Little Chirp are across the isle from me. Brainy Bird is sound asleep, and Little Chirp is playing on his phone. It appears that the only people with someone in the seat next to them are people traveling with someone else. The plane is not even half full.
Little Chirp was ready to talk about our trip the second that we got in the car to drive to the airport. He inquired about our meal plans, when we would be going to the Melting Pot and what activities we have planned. He is thinking about which cheese fondue and which chocolate fondue we will have at the Melting Pot. He has already looked at the menu for our breakfast place tomorrow. We are going to a place called, The Divine Cinnamon Roll. The Divine Cinnamon Roll is a locally owned establishment in Columbia, North Carolina. They have an intriguing assortment of cinnamon rolls, and prices that make my wallet happy. They also have standard breakfast options for folks like me that do not eat sweets.
The other thing that Little Chirp asked about is whether I made a reservation for a rental car. I love that he feels the need to verify the logistics of the trip. Does he think that I did not think to book a car? Funny, I did not book the rental until late last night. I would have forgotten if my sister had not asked how we were traveling from one place to the next.
Once he learned that we booked a rental car, his next question was whether he can pick the car out. We use the Emerald program for National, and they let you walk straight out to the cars and pick one in your assigned row. This is fun and efficient. This should be extra efficient given that Little Chirp is in shorts, and it will be cold. I am curious how many cars there will be to choose from. I expect that the rental companies have all drastically reduced the size of their rental fleets.
I finally managed to get the first part of our day planned out for tomorrow. I will finish my planning tonight. I normally have entire weeklong trips planned before we take off, but I have been so busy with work and the boys that I have not had time. I love the work that I do, but I need a break.
As I am sitting here thinking through our plans for the upcoming days, I just realized that we did not bring a single board game, not even a deck of cards. I would suspect that a college town would have a board game store. I think I might use our forgetting to bring a game as an excuse to get a new one. We will not have a ton of time to play as we are visiting three colleges in just two days, but Little Chirp loves to have a game on hand, and this will make for a nice souvenir.
This is such a special time in our lives. I find myself wondering will Brainy Bird be a Gamecock next year? A Tiger? A Commodore? A Wildcat? A Tar Heel? A Duck? A Cavalier? A member of the Wolfpack? A Longhorn? A Hoosier? A Cougar? He simply cannot go wrong with the options that he has. We are exactly two months away from the big decision day. Everyday is filled with excitement and anticipation.