This flight was so much better than the last one.

So, I had an interesting new experience today, I flew Southwest Airlines for the first time. I’m not sure if I liked how they do things. First, you don’t check in online and get your boarding pass, you get your boarding pass at the gate, I’ll get back to that later. When you get to the airport they give you a ticket, of sorts, to get through security, you turn that in at the gate and they give you a boarding pass with a zone on it.

Did I mention that since you don’t have a boarding pass, you don’t get to select a seat, they board in the herding cattle method. Ok, I might be a little harsh, but it felt like that. My zone was C28, that meant that I wasn’t getting on until the C group and in group 25-30, what? If you pay $12.95 online, you can improve your zone option.

This ultimately means that in the C28 zone, I had my choice of middle seats as far as the eye can see. Weehoo…

Ok, so, when you get to the airport, you check in, 2 bags free up to 50 pounds, that was a bonus, they give you a piece of paper and then at the gate, you get your boarding pass and still no sat assignment, what?

I was on the phone with CKM and she couldn’t believe the no seat assignment either. I said I’ve flown on Delta enough to have privileges, I like those privileges, she called me spoiled, I said yes. And I’m I with that

So, the better experience, the flight was my delayed 10 minutes, so not bad. I sat in the middle set next to a woman who seemed to be working on a time sheet invoice most of the flight, we chatted for part of the flight, she had just moved to Atlanta and was still on the fence, she was going back home to Denver for a girls weekend. (Guess where I’m going?)

To my right was Jack, Jackson Lee, a very cute and friendly 10 month old who got a bit restless. He had the biggest blue green eyes and was a big flirt in his blue running pants and superman tshirt. After a white, I changed from the Transformers to Rio, a great cartoon about a bird named Blue, set in Rio, that worked. Then I found some Elmo, like I play with LB and that worked, he held my hand and had so much to say, just have no idea what that was!

When I put the iPad away, he actually reached for me and his mom said it was ok. He was sitting on my lap and we talked and laughed, I blew in his face, just like I do with Miss A and he giggled, what a great sound and his face scrunched up, so cute! Then all of a sudden I was removing his hand, that happened a few times, remember I said he was a flirt!

Then the best thing happened, he reached his little arms around my neck and kissed my cheek and gave me the best hug, that felt so good. Is there a better feeling?

All in all a better flight than the last one, this little guy was a treat, no Preston get off the floor, no Preston stand up, Preston…Preston…Preston.

The BEST part…DCM was there at the airport to pick me up, it’s been 2 weeks since we’ve seen each other and that first hug was heaven. We’ve got a lot to do while I’m here, I’ll keep you posted as we move along.