Saturday 4-15-06 Morning

Woke up at 4:15 AM to get ready to fly to Boston.

I stayed with Risko (Who is telling her weekend tale in entries much more eloquently than I am!) so that I wouldn't sleep through the alarm. Her parents picked us up at 5 to 5 and we were off. How much do her parents Rock for getting up so early!!!

They dropped us at the airport and we self checked in. I had to help Risko out a little bit. I guess I didn't realize how much traveling I have been doing the past few years, I am becoming a pro!

Looked at the ticket and our flight which was supposed to leave at 6:35 AM now says 7:55 AM. Hmmmm. We get through security with no real issues. Although the kid behind me kept trying to "help" me and was pushing my bags forward. Listen dude you don't touch other peoples crap at the airport! Seriously!

We got to the gate and sure enough it says 7:55 too. We are a little worried since we have to stop in NY before catching our second flight to Boston. JD and her hubby arrive a few minutes after us and everyone commences worrying. The lady at the help desk announces that there is bad weather in NY and that our flight is delayed and she isn't worried about anyone's connections, except those going to Boston. Great!

Usually I would be flipping out but for some reason I kept my cool. We all went up to the counter to get the scoop. I'm informed that my flight to Boston may also be delayed but if I miss it I will be on the next flight which leaves at 11:30 AM. Cool (Our original flight is supposed to arrive in Boston at 10 AM). So I go and sit down. JD and Risko come back and JD is fuming. The lady was not quite as helpful with them. She tells them they will also be put on the later flight. JD asks for time confirmation which the lady did not want to give her but reluctantly replied 1:30 PM. JD must have said something that caused the lady to ask why she needed to be in Boston at a certain time and JD said we needed to get to the marathon expo. The lady replies with "Oh there's a marathon in Boston this weekend?" at which point JD turns and walks away before she does something she might regret. She comes and sits down and the guy behind her starts SHAVING HIS HEAD with an electric razor! She is looking around to find the sound and sees him and I think she almost exploded!

It was pretty funny but I knew she was upset. I think I tried to calm everyone down by being a stooge, not sure if it worked. But we managed to get on our original flight to Boston so everything was all good!

Some confusion about which T to take and some serious claustrophobia followed when we got off the plane, but finally we were off the packed T and walking to their hotel. I was staying with my parents in Cambridge but they still hadn't arrived so I was just going to drop my stuff at the Sheraton with my friends. We got off at Boylston which turned out to be about 3 stops sooner than we should have got off. We started the hike across Boston Commons and my backpack burst open. Personal items go flying everywhere. I shove everything back in the bag "fix" the zipper and we're off, 2 seconds later it bursts again. So then I am stuck finding ways to fit everything from the backpack into my carry on suitcase that was already stuffed. We managed to get it all in and were on our way again.

On the way we saw the kids relay. There were a TON of kids doing the relay, it looked like a lot of fun! The announcer was doing a pretty good job talking about the different teams and their training. Fun stuff!

We finally made it to the Sheraton after calling B to make sure we were in the right place. We followed JD and her hubby to the room and walk in, it was boiling hot and Risko's bed looked like there was a body in it! Their AC ended up not being fixable and they got a different room somehow.

We headed to lunch and then it was on to the expo...