As the day approached, I would point to the sky anytime a plane passed overhead. "Plan ride?", I asked. To which my parents would count down the days until our date of departure.
On the trip to Cape Cod, my parents chose a "red eye". We left way past my bedtime, but I didn't mind. I wasn't tired at all, but I got pretty cranky when we reached the security checkpoint. My parents let several people pass as they struggled to shift things around to pass through the xray machine. Why do they carry so much stuff around with them? In my backpack, I had nothing but the essentials: books, Baby Jaguar, Dora, and animal crackers.
I grew impatient as traveler after traveler passed us by. I wanted to get going. This was going to be my first plane ride! I wanted to hurry up and enjoy it. Of course, I had no idea we would spend another two hours at the gate while we waited for our departure.
Fortunately for me, my parents decided to purchase the ASUS Eee PC 100HE 10 Inch netbook (http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-1000HE-10-Inch-Black-Netbook/dp/B001QTXL82). It is perfect for travel. It is only 3.2 lbs which makes it light enough for me to carry. My Dad prepared for the trip by downloading a bunch of videos using the Amazon Unbox service. This meant we didn't have to carry any DVDs. This little device came in handy a number of times on the trip. Waiting for the first departure was the first opportunity.
Eventually we were able to board. My parents struggled a bit to get the car seat down the narrow aisle, but eventually managed. They didn't make any friends on the way. My Dad received a couple of dirty looks as he bumped shoulders. I was just happy to be aboard and eager to take off.
When we finally got settled. A voice came over the loudspeaker to welcome us aboard and let us know we are on track for a 5 hour flight to Logan Airport in Boston. '5 hrs?', I thought, 'that seems like a longtime. How long is that?' My Dad explained it was like watching 10 episodes of Dora in a row. I like Dora, but even I think that is a lot of Dora. How am I supposed to sit in my carseat on this plane for 10 episodes of Dora? Then he explained that for a good part of the flight we wouldn't even be able to watch Dora because they had restrictions on the use of electronics. What are electronics?
I was tired enough though that we didn't need to pull out the netbook on the trip out. After take off, I was able to drift off.
The return flight was a different story. Well some of it was the same story. My father continued to struggled down the aisle with the carseat. But, this flight was in the middle of the day. I took a short nap after take off, but then I needed something to drive away the bordom. Not too mention the flight home was even longer than the flight east. How was that possible? My Dad tried to explain it was because of the jetstream, but I don't know what he was talking about and I was in no mood.
I wanted, no needed, Diego. "TREE FROGS", I said. My Dad understood. He pulled the netbook from his backpack and set it down on the pull down tray tables. It fit perfectly. We watched some Diego, a couple of episodes of Dora, and even some Olivia, but to get me through this flight again and again I went back to "TREE FROGS".
The most difficult part of the trip was when we had to fold the netbook and place it back in our pack. It was dark outside so there was little to see out the window.
When we finally touched down, I let my parents know how pleased I was. "Good job Amelie", I said and I meant it. Of course it was all worth it to see my family and would do it every week if I could. At the same time, I don't know why my family can't live closer.
See you soon.
Amelie
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