Cameron’s First Flight

We left Hawaii on an overnight flight with a 9:15pm departure time.  This gave us all day to finish packing and get ready for the trip.  We got to the airport early and gave ourselves plenty of time to check in, get through security, and relax before boarding our flight.

One purchase we made before this trip was an umbrella stroller.  We have the Chicco Keyfit 30 Car Seat for Cameron so until now I was using the Chicco Keyfit Caddy which is a stroller frame that the car seat snaps into.  We also have a Bob Revolution SE jogging stroller but it is big, bulky, and not easy to travel with.  Umbrella strollers are lightweight and compact (perfect for travel and everyday use) so we went shopping for one.

We tried out many umbrella strollers but fell in love with the new Chicco Liteway Plus Stroller.  This stroller is awesome!  This is a 2-in-1 stroller that converts from a carseat carrier to an umbrella stroller.  It is lightweight and folds compactly for travel and storage.

As soon as we started our trip, we knew that the Liteway Plus was a great purchase.  We need to travel with Cameron’s car seat so having the ability to snap it into the stroller instead of carrying it separately was extremely convenient!  We hung the diaper bag and car seat base on the handles and pushed it through the airports.  We gate-checked the stroller before all of our flights and took the car seat and base onto the plane for Cameron to sit in.  Now that we are at our destination, we are using the Liteway Plus as an umbrella stroller and Cameron loves to ride in it.

Our first flight was from Honolulu to Salt Lake City which was about a 6 hour flight.  Cameron’s rear-facing infant car seat just fit in the Economy Comfort seats which have 3-4 more inches of legroom than coach seating.  I’m not sure if the car seat would have even fit in the coach seats!  The plane was seven seats across with two aisles.  We sat in the center three seats with Cameron in the middle of us.

A lady sitting in the row behind us saw Cameron upon boarding and said “Hello there, I guess I get to listen to you for the entire flight!”  Um… hello to you too?  As it turns out, Cameron barely made a sound for the entire flight.  She fell asleep as the plane took off and slept almost the entire flight.  We were lucky.  Another baby a couple rows back had a few screaming fits throughout the night.

It was about 3:30am Hawaii time when we landed in Salt Lake City but Cameron woke up smiling and had a great time looking around while we waited for our next flight.

Our next flight, from Salt Lake to Detroit, was about three hours long.  This plane was six seats across with one aisle.  We put Cameron next to the window so that Johnnie and I could both get up and out if we needed to.  She cried only for couple minutes as she was falling asleep.  She slept for most of this flight as well.

The crazy light show tunnel at the Detroit Airport…

The plane from Detroit to State College was a tiny one – only four seats wide.  Cameron’s carseat would not fit in these seats so we gate-checked her car seat and Johnnie flew with her on his lap.  This was only a 45 minute flight so it was manageable.

Cameron was a little fussy on this flight but only cried for a couple of minutes.  She slept for a little while and then was content to look around and play with the emergency procedure pamphlet.

My parents were waiting in State College for us.  My mom had visited Hawaii in December so she had already met Cameron once before.  This was the first time Cameron saw my father in person instead of on a computer screen.  Cameron has a couple dozen family members and friends to meet on this trip!

At this point, we were finished with planes and airports but we weren’t done traveling yet.  We had about an hour drive to my parent’s house.  Cameron (and Johnnie) slept for most of the drive.

The take-offs and landings didn’t bother Cameron’s ears at all…. in fact, she slept right through most of them!  Out of the entire 11 hours in the air and 1 hour in the car, she only cried for a total of about 5 minutes.  I like to think that she is a born traveler and has flying in her blood.  After all, she is the daughter of a pilot 🙂  Let’s hope that the flights home go just as smoothly!

Adjusting to the 6 hour time change is a whole different story but we’re doing better than I expected.