TRAVEL DAY IS HERE!

Day 1 – Tuesday, September 18

This morning went smoothly. Time was on our side as we were packed and ready to go yesterday, just a few odds and ends. Jim and I drove to MKE and our plan of meeting my sister-in-law on Ryan road was an easy transition for us to be dropped off into O'Hare international. Meanwhile, while on the road; I replayed packing the luggage in my head a few times, with high hopes of not forgetting anything major.

Here we go!!

Our journey began in Chicago at O’Hare International airport. We arrived at the Aer Linguis airlines almost 2 hours before our checkout desk was open and 3 hours before departure, Yes, we were the first in line. My carry-on was EXACTLY 22 pounds...didn't realize there was a limit with carry-on. From that point went thru security (35 minutes). I seem to always be pulled over to get checked. I don't know why? TSA ran and invisible something across my hands and I was done. What was that? Our gate was only minutes away. No shops, restaurants, just clean bathrooms. Not many people in the international airport for a Tuesday afternoon.  So now we are relaxing at the terminal and one by one the name tags of tour people are appearing at our terminal. Only one other couple from Wisconsin
ehem...and we seemed to be the youngest in the group....

There were 22 travelers gathering from all over the USA (another 6 travelers would meet us in Dublin).  For two couples, they were surprised to meet again.  They traveled on a WWCT trip many years ago, have kept in touch over the years and now are traveling on this trip with Country Travel DISCOVERIES. This was great start to meeting the group and a beginning to remembering faces, couple names and remembering backs of people's head.

We left on Aer Linguis as scheduled at 6:45 PM CST.  After a little seat re-arranging for couples to sit together, we settled in for our 6 hour trip—had some dinner and then lights out.  It was time for a nap, movie or read!