notes on flying

So somehow I've taken Darren on three roundtrip flights to utah already, and due to various reasons I have never been with paul and I have had to manage carrying Darren, a big pack on my back, and a bag to check in each arm. Once I got to the front of the check-in line (after getting wet in the rain outside) and my big suitcase was 3 pounds over the 50lb limit, so with a crying darren in a front pack I had to bend over and open up the suitcase on the ground and rearrange my stuff between bags- it was not pleasant. But believe it or not the point of this post was not to whine. I wanted to mention that many of my fellow travelers went out of their way to help me get through security, or lift or pull out my heavy backpack up into or down out of the overhead bin for me, or pull the big heavy suitcase off of the baggage claim. I guess I was too pessimistic - I didn't know there are so many nice people still out there who are willing to help a complete stranger struggling to travel alone with a little one.