Traveling with a one year old

Whoa!! I almost forgot to post this video before the new year.
Here is a video of some tidbits from our trip to Oregon in October. I realized that I never shared my crazy traveling experience from Oregon back home here on the blog. So... continue to read if you love drama.

I was very nervous traveling solo with Gwen. I was convinced that I'd get lost in the airport and that she would just be difficult on all the flights. I got butterflies in my stomach whenever I would think about it. Well, the trip to Portland from Phoenix was a breeze, despite Gwen being fussy on the first flight. The other passengers didn't act too bothered by it. And let me tell you something- people are extra nice to you when you're flying solo with a baby. This was my experience, anyway. Someone always offered to carry my bags. It was the best. Despite my Ergobaby carrier breaking after our first flight (that was so annoying and Gwen got pretty heavy as I carried her and two bags around the airport), I felt confident after a good day of travel.

We had a fun time in Portland, as you can tell in the video. :) The day we left, we had to wake up around 4:30am. (Ew.) Holly kindly let me borrow her Ergobaby carrier for the trip home, which was greatly appreciated! We boarded the plane and Gwen fell asleep (yay!). We were in the air for maybe half an hour when we started to feel some turbulence. And then the TVs started to flash on and off. The pilot announced that the right right engine was "not responding" and that we'd have to turn back to Portland. I was more annoyed than scared at this point. This meant that I'd miss my connecting flight! We got back to the airport in safety and the crew gave us complimentary breakfast sandwiches and other snacks. So that was nice.... I called Ryan and Holly to say what was up. I made a call to get a new flight, but it was hours away. I had to wait around 5 hours in the airport with Gwen for our next flight. If you're stuck alone with a one year old in an airport here's a tip- find one of those flat escalator things and walk along it for as long as you can. We must have walked like 30 laps on those things. It was especially entertaining to see Gwen walk the opposite direction on one of them. That gave some people a few laughs.

After what seemed like an eternity, our plane was finally here!

And then they made an announcement that there was some maintenance to be done and the flight would be delayed by 30 minutes.

Which meant that I'd miss another connecting flight and not be home until 11pm.

I didn't not hide my frustration around the other waiting passengers. While I was on the phone making new arrangements, the people around me were entertaining Gwen! See? Some people are angels. I decided to leave the next day because I've had enough of airports and planes for one day. I called Holly again and she made the drive back to the airport to rescue me! I bought them all dinner and we ate from a burger place that had an amazing veggie burger and good sweet potato fries. We also got pumpkin shakes. I cannot remember the name of the place! Someone help me out? We ended up staying an extra day in Portland, but it was probably my favorite day of the trip because we all just chilled since we didn't have any plans.
I hope to visit again!