Western Expedition Series- Day 1

Day 1 of The Western Expedition Series
Friday- June 23

Preface: Get ready for an intense, 10-day journey through “The Western Expedition,” featuring Chelly, Kristi, and Taryn. Chelly, who grew up in Phoenix, Arizona is excited to return to her place of “home” and visit her sisters and their families. Taryn is just as excited to see her family and enjoy the annual visit to the hot desert. Kristi will be experiencing this place of sunshine in her first trip west of Illinois.

*Due to some blogger technical difficulties that have been worked on and unresolved over this past day, pictures will not be posted until the end of the trip so as to not slow the reporting process, as well as to create a certain anxiety for the audience reading... I know you are all visual learners, so check back in a week for a gallery!*

Our journey started off standing in the middle of Peoria Airport- my dad was hugging my mom and I good-bye, and Kristi was adjusting her big white sunglasses on her face. Scenes like this are emotional for her. We proceeded through security, and successfully boarded the plane to Minneapolis, but not before catching a couple from Morton church… the joys of living in Central Illinois. Wherever you are, there are people you know.

“I feel like the president,” Kristi commented as we climbed up the stairs to board the small plane. Clearly, this whole “airplane” experience was new to Kristi, as was quickly reinforced to my mind as she started chattering about the tiny area of the plane.

“Are you kidding? Is this really what we’re riding in? It’s so small!” I heard these novice-flyer type comments frequently.

However, my real amusement was yet to come. As the plane prepared to take off, I glance over at Kristi next to me, who was avidly gripping the armrests while her eyes were squeezed shut. What’s that? Oh yes- of course, I got a picture.

Don’t worry- our flight to Minneapolis was pretty painless after that. When we arrived in Minneapolis, we then took somewhere near a 20-minute walk to our destination- one of my mom’s friends who lives in Minneapolis was kind enough to meet us at the airport during our 3 hour layover and drive us over to the Mall of America for lunch. We ate a nice lunch, chatted, and browsed through a store before returning to the airport.

We returned to the airport in just enough time to board our much bigger and more comfortable plane for the 3-hour ride to Phoenix. We took our seats and settled in. Of course, 5 minutes into the spacious plane, I was out like a light, leaning against the window next to me.

Kristi wasn’t so fortunate to enjoy such shut-eye. An older man with a definite extraverted personality preference was seated next to her, and he never gave her a moment of silence. Kristi now knows the following:

-In regards to designing a logo, the importance of trying to use Arial or Times New Roman as a font choice.

-Several random comments and thoughts applied to the process of flipping through a magazine.

-A few varied facts about his family life.

-Every possible tourist attraction, site-seeing pleasure, or hobby-related activity available in the whole state of Arizona.

Luckily, I was able to listen in on that last bullet point- I had woken up by then. This guy was a character to sit by... be expecting a shot of him in next week's gallery.

Upon arriving in Phoenix, my aunt picked us up and we met my uncle at Islands, a restaurant there where we all grabbed some burgers and fries.

Well, that wraps up the wonderful first day of flying, footing, and food. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post on today.