Leaving On a Jet Plane???

The day of our road trip finally arrived.  Weeks of planning were about to transport us to some wonderful place.

However, before we started our road trip, we had to take a flight to our first destination – Charleston, SC.  

We got to the airport in plenty of time, the security line was a breeze and I was able to buy my bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper – I was ready…

Flight to Charleston, South Carolina

My camera, laptop and iPad mini were all packed so I was ready to blog from the road.

Our plane was at the gate and we boarded our plane.

Flight to Charleston, South Carolina

We boarded our plane and taxied to the runway, only to make a U-turn and return to the gate where fire trucks were waiting.

Our plane had a hydraulic leak.  We all had to de-plane and book other flights.

I whipped out my iPad and attempted to get a flight for my mother and I quickly so that we would be able to leave the same day.

We were able to find another flight that left 4 hours later.

We had to change planes in Charlotte, NC – when we ran into another problem – I lost my second boarding pass (for the second flight to Charleston).  No big deal right?  I went to the gate and asked for a new boarding pass.

Problem was – I had been in such a hurry to book my mother and I a new flight, that I accidentally used my maiden name.

I couldn’t believe that I had made such a stupid mistake – I have been married over 26 years!

Somehow, I had gotten through security in Phoenix without the name on my boarding pass matching my ID.

Back in Charlotte, the gate agent called her supervisor, who called her supervisor AND let me on the plane!  I was praying so hard that they would let me on 🙂

So, instead of arriving in Charleston at 7:00 pm, we arrived at  11:30 pm.

Thankfully, no more problems were encountered until the next day when we arrived at our hotel in the Savannah, GA area…

Parts of the parking lot were taped off and the hotel was surrounded by police and fire fighters were on the roof fighting a fire.

The local news crew was there covering this big story.

The good news was that no one was hurt AND that this was NOT our hotel – it was the one next door 😉

We had a fabulous first day in Charleston and I can’t wait to share it with you tomorrow!

Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."