California Part 1

The next series of blog entries will be about our trip to California last month.  The kids are getting better on flights.  I don’t know if it’s frequency of travel or if I’m just learning more from experience every time we travel and know better how to prepare.  For instance, I have learned my lesson about non-stop flights – autistic kids do not do well with layovers and connecting flights. 

 

Getting there, spirits are high.  The kids love riding in the car and they love being at the airport.  Next comes the tricky part.  Going through security is always tough.  As we were approaching security, I looked at my husband and said, “Remember this is the worst part.  It will get better after we get through this.”  The kids have a hard time waiting in line.  My Sean got so used to having to take his shoes off, he still automatically takes them off, even though children under 12 don’t have to anymore.  Putting all our things in the tubs, including Todd’s “child safety tethering device” (nice name for what resembles a leash).  We have to go through the metal detector one at a time – since Todd is not “tethered,” he always takes off into the airport once through the metal detector.  Of course, the TSAs always take their time with the rest of us, so we then have to run shoeless through the crowd to find Todd, praying no one snatches our wallets out of the tubs back at the security checkpoint. 

 

Next, the gate.  Again, the kids have a hard time waiting.  As long as they have electronic toys and we have snacks, we get by.  A McDonald’s near the gate never hurts, either.

 

I was a bit nervous about the length of the flight to the west coast from Chicago. A two hour flight used to be awful, but this time, the four hour flight to California was relatively painless.  Our flight out to California was very early in the morning, so they were still half-awake and our flight home was in the evening around their bedtime.  This is a method I will use again – it worked out very well.  Both kids slept on both flights.

 

Electronic toys are a huge help, plus the time of day we fly is important as well.  Specifically, we brought our iPad 2, Leapster 2 and portable DVD player.  Our westbound flight had a feature I have not seen previously.  Similar to international flights, there was a small tv screen on the back of the seat in front of you.  For $6.99, you could watch DirecTV for the entire flight.  Our eastbound flight home had the usual screen that drops out of the ceiling and shows a movie and then several network tv show episodes.  I always seem to be situated as far away from that screen as possible, or on an angle that makes watching it impossible.   My Todd was content just pressing the buttons on the arm rest. 

 

We arrived at LAX.  I usually prefer to pick up the rental car on-site at the airport, but this wasn’t an option.  The kids loved the shuttle bus to the car rental place.  As long as they’re happy, my life is much easier!