The Treadway Chronicles: We Made it to New York

Well, it sure wasn't easy, but we finally made it to New York. We experienced perhaps the all time worst travel day in history, but we survived.

Tuesday started off great. We got to the airport and through security no problem. We had to hike a ways to our gate, but we made it and by the time we got there they were just starting to board the plane.

I somehow managed to get me, Connor, our roller bag, a backpack, and his car seat on the plane. It was a little crowded and a bit stressful, but we did it.

5 minutes into being on the plane, Connor started crying in his car seat. Hmm, this isn't good I thought. At first I tried to distract him with toys, but that didn't work, and since it didn't appear that we were leaving the gate anytime soon I unstrapped him and let him cruise around our seats. That luckily made him happy. Feww.

This unfortunately was a sign of things to come however. Apparently, Connor doesn't like being in his car seat on an airplane. I think because an airplane is such a smooth ride, he doesn't even realize we are moving, so it's not a relaxing and sleep inducing place like a car. When my car stops he wants to get out, so I think he thought he was sitting on a non moving car and that wasn't cool with him.

Luckily though, Jeff called ahead and got us a bulkhead row, so we had a bit more room. I could even set Connor down to play on the floor, despite the tight quarters. He was pretty happy, but it was still pretty exhausting keeping him content in a tiny space without getting him frustrated and disturbing the other passengers.

Let's just say, by the end of this 4 1/2 hours of being on the plane, I was soooo ready to just get on my next flight, which was only an hour. I kept thinking, OK, we just have one more hour flight after this. We can make it. That was my mantra.

There were storms in Newark, so they made us loop around a few times before we landed, but we finally touched down and it was time for me to get off the plane and rush off to my next flight, which we were now cutting a little close. The problem was, the car seat was stuck. The latch that opens the seat belt didn't have enough clearance to open, so it wouldn't unhook. What do I do now?!

As everyone else was getting off the plane, I flagged down a flight attendant for help. I said, "I can't get my carseat off, we may have to cut the strap." She looked at me and smiled, and said, "Oh no, we won't have to do that." Well wouldn't you know it, 10 minutes later and one confused little boy and one completely stressed out mother, we had to cut the seat belt strap and free Connor.

So I thank the ladies who were helping me and I rush off the plane. As I turn my phone on however, I get a call from Jeff who alerts me that due to strong thunderstorms that the area had, my 4 pm flight is now leaving at 9pm. Yes, 5 hours delayed. This would mean that our flight would land in Albany around 10pm and we probably wouldn't get to Loon Lake until 12:30am at the earliest. Oh no! Plus, Connor has only slept 30 minutes, when normally he's taken a 3 hour nap by now. Not good, not good at all.

After the stress of the car seat incident, and the fact that I was so excited that I just had one more hour to go, I just about lost it. I was devastated by this news and for the first time all day, honestly wasn't sure if I could do this by myself anymore.

I hadn't eaten anything besides snacks all day, so we first went over to McDonald's and shared a hamburger and fries. I also had some fruit cut up from earlier to give to Connor and we chowed down. After some food in my belly and about ten compliments on how cute Connor was, I was ready to take on this new challenge.

Based on Jeff's suggestion and research, we found the Continental President's Club that has these family rooms where you can let your kids crawl around and stuff. This proved to be the best idea ever. I spoke to the people there and based on conversations with the Continental folks and with Jeff, decided that both a train and renting a car at this point weren't the best ideas. Instead, I should just wait for our flight.

Luckily the family room was great and I could just set Connor down and let him roam free. I also was able to get him to nap for 30 minutes on one of the couches. By about 6:30pm, (3 hours of waiting in Newark for our flight), they canceled my flight. Well great. So again, we went back to "now what?!"

Jeff was such a source of support and he was on the phone with my parents, the airline, and even booking me a hotel, to try and help us out. What ultimately we decided to do, since there weren't any rental cars available and since there were no flights available until 4:10 the next day, was to stay the night in Newark and my Mom would drive the 4 hours down to get me and Connor. After dealing with the airline about my flight and my bags Connor and I were checked into the Hampton Inn, with a crib by about 9:15pm. I had pulled together a makeshift dinner for us and then I gave Connor a bath and put him to bed. By 10pm he was asleep and by 11pm, so was I. What a day.

The next day, my Mom amazing left Loon Lake at 5am to come to Newark to get us and then she generously drove us back. So she had an 8 hour round trip. Ugh. I felt so bad that she had to get involved in this, but it ended up being the best thing, since there were more storms in the area, so who knows if my new flight would have left either.

After a fun stop in my old hometown of Ridgewood, NJ to get a slice of pizza and take a little tour of my old stomping grounds, we continued our trek to Loon Lake and made it by about 3pm. I have never been so happy to see the place. My parents made some major renovations and the cabin looks awesome. There is more space and the layout is just great. Connor and I already feel right at home.

We of course had to check out the lake right away and we even got to get in the water and have a few refreshments. It was a perfect way to end our travels. Connor fell asleep like a dream last night and woke up at his normal time. I guess he's already on East Coast time.

Today we've taken a walk and been back down to the lake. Now Connor's napping and I'm hoping he takes a nice long one to catch up from all his craziness in these past few days. The poor guy has been through a lot, but he really was a trooper and generally very relaxed about the whole thing. I was so proud of my little traveler.

Well, I wanted to share my crazy travel story and share a few pics from our first day here, so enjoy.

I took this picture of Connor in the family room in the Continental Presidents Club. What a sweetheart. He doesn't even seem fazed by all of this.

I didn't want to wake him, but I took a picture of Connor napping in the President's Club.

This was our set up (waiting in another line to talk to someone). It worked really well. I found this strap online, called the "Traveling Toddler" I believe, and it allowed you to strap your car seat onto your roller bag, so your roller bag could basically turn into a stroller. It was a brilliant idea and it worked great for us. I would highly recommend it. Then I carried a backpack, so my hands were free. Despite having to travel all over this airport, our little set up worked great. We were experimenting since we'd never flown with a car seat before, and I've never flown with Connor by myself before, but I'd say it was a success, and clearly, I tested pretty much every situation you'd come across while traveling.

This was sweet Connor on Tuesday night at the Hampton Inn, finally getting to bed around 10pm.

This was Connor Wednesday morning. I didn't have my clothes (as my luggage was still at the airport), but Connor's stuff was in the carry on, so he got to sport his jammies. I on the other hand had no change of clothes, nor did I have any of my toiletries. I did have some makeup though, so I got by with what the hotel let me borrow.

This was the moment my Mom came to the hotel to get us. She was such a sight for sore eyes. We were both so happy to see her.

Connor's thinking, "Wait, what, I have to be back in this stinking car seat?" Don't worry buddy, in just 4 more hours you'll be home.

After we grabbed a slice of pizza, we toured around the town I grew up in. This was our old house. We also saw my old high school, middle school, elementary school and our very first house we lived in. It was fun to see it all again.

Now we're getting there. On our way to Upstate New York.

Connor's first moments at our house, "The Nest."

My Mom is happy we've arrived.

Grandma and Grandpa loving on Connor, who is doing his best to get into everything.

Connor sitting in his pint sized Adirondack chair in the Adirondack mountains. Not so bad, although he is making a pretty grumpy face in this picture.

Playing peak a boo with Grandpa. We weren't sure how he'd feel about crawling on pine needles, but he didn't seem to mind.

Our first walk down to the lake.

Sitting on the dock on a glorious day.

It was pretty warm, so we had to dunk our feet. Connor wasn't so sure.

We didn't think we'd be down that long, but it was so nice, so I ran back up to the house to get bathing suits and some beverages and when I came back, this is what I saw. Connor was naked in the kayak. Apparently, he really liked it. Ha!