Pleasant flights.

When I was a little girl I used to get motion sickness REAL bad.  In fact, I remember driving to church once and having to sit in the back of the station wagon, backwards, and throwing up in the lid of a board game after about 15 minutes in the car.  It was a given that if we got on an airplane, I would be throwing up.  Even as an adult, I was sitting next to a guy on a plane one time and he was chatting away with me when I started to feel sick.  I reached for that dreaded little bag from the seat back pouch in front of me and mentioned that I thought I was about to be sick.  He kept on watching me, asking if I was okay ... even after I did indeed utilize that bag.  I was like, "Seriously?  Could you please stop looking at me now!!!!"

Well, needless to say, I have been embarrassed on many a trip - in the car, on a plane, on many boats and many amusement park rides.  Roller coasters are definitely a thing of the past for me.  I'm not sure what flipped the switch inside my body, but I would venture a guess that it has been at least ten years or so since I have had that kind of motion sickness. (Yay for me, 'cause I sure hated that.)

So although I really don't like flying, I sure enjoy the fact that I don't get sick on planes anymore.

My first leg of my trip to Tennessee last week took me to Atlanta. It was a nice, pleasant three hour flight (even though the toddler two rows back cried the ENTIRE three hours.  It made me happy that it wasn't my baby disturbing everyone else on the plane.) 

The second leg of the trip was only about an hour and we flew into Asheville, North Carolina.  Great flight, incredible smooth landing - I can really appreciate those too.  It was a small, absolutely charming airport with lots of spring colors already in bloom outside.  White blossoms on the flowering pear trees, forsythia in spectacular array, daffodils everywhere and lots and lots of green in the trees!

As I was waiting for my luggage at the bag claim carousel, I decided I would walk over to the enterprise counter and grab my rental car.  The guy at the desk was adorable, had the cutest southern accent and gave me his best deal of the day, with a free upgrade.  He gave me clear instructions on how to get to Pigeon Forge.  It was a beautiful drive too.  It took me about 2 hours to get to the girls' hotel and I was so excited to freshen up and meet them over at the theater.

When I went to get my suitcase from the back of the car I realized that I never did go back to that bag claim carousel to get my piece of luggage.  Oops.  I couldn't believe it.  I had just driven two hours from Asheville, North Carolina to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee without my luggage.  (Really, Polly?  I truly lose more and more of my mind with every passing day.)

To make a long story short, remember that lady that I met in the parking lot of McDonald's the day before I left on my trip?  The one who had the license plate WER4BYU that I took a picture of and drove away from before I realized that the picture didn't save because my phone was full?  And the one who told me that if I was going to be going to Asheville I must go see the Biltmore Mansion?  Well, I decided that since I had to go back to Asheville for my luggage, maybe the girls and I could take that opportunity to do just that.

And so that is what we did.  We visited the Biltmore Mansion, and it was SO worth the drive .....

(To be continued .... )