No Sleep Actually Isn't So Bad (Sometimes....)

Sunday, 12 October 2008

After a fun-filled week of entertaining Chase and trying to get him to sleep at night (staying at three different places in 8 days didn't help provide any routine for the poor little guy), visiting relatives, aquariums, and enjoying long car rides, we were exhausted and ready to board the plane - especially because we all got about three hours of sleep last night. Perhaps our neighbors did too because the hotel rooms on either side of us both had their "Privacy Please" signs on their doors when we checked out of the hotel.

Chase was such a social bug this trip and would go with any of my relatives without us. I think he thought he ruled the hotel. After playing with his cousins and saying bye bye, my Auntie Shelley drove us to San Francisco Airport. We knew we had a long road ahead of us, with heading into the city on a Sunday. We were informed that Fleet Week was happening, as well as a 49ers game. So, we better prepare for heavy traffic. Our flight was leaving at 3:20 pm. We left El Dorado Hills (which is north of Sacramento) at 10 am. It took us 3 long hours in the car to get to San Francisco. We only had to stop once so Chris and I could switch seats so that I could console a grouchy baby. We had several GPS systems working with us, as well as suggestions from others on which route was the best to take in our journey. We cheated (by accident) by using carpool bus lanes and the Fast Track card to bypass the toll booth and about a half mile length of cars (Auntie Shelley hasn't received a ticket, so we think we're in the clear). If we hadn't taken our cheating route (by mistake of course), we would have been late for sure.

Checking in at the airport with all of our luggage and our newly purchased car seat and jogging stroller was no problem. Thanks to Chase, he gets an allowance of luggage at no charge (now that's surprising these days!). Chase was so exhausted from his lack of sleep, that he passed out for the first three hours of our flight on my lap. When he woke up, he was in a great mood, so we just had to entertain him for the last couple of hours until we landed in Honolulu. Chase was an excellent traveler today. Yet, I don't advise sleepless nights as a good plan to prepare for such travel.