Today marked the start of our true summer vacation (South Dakota was a warm-up, if you will). We headed to Philadelphia on a 6:45am flight out of LAX. My BFF Cheryl took us to the airport at 5am! About halfway to the airport, well past the point of no return, Chuck suddenly erupted with, “Shit!” from the backseat. I turned around, curious, as he is not given to profanity.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I left my camera bag at home!” he said with great dismay. He had a right to be dismayed, as this was no mere camera bag he forgot. it was the big ass bag that contained our digital SLR camera and all of its attachments, our Sony miniDV video camera, both of his iPods and all of their various attachments, our beloved newest family member the Garmin Nuvi, and his phone charger.

It was too late to turn around and got back for it, as we were cutting it a bit close already as we were (pause for horrified gasps from the audience) in the “B” group on our Southwest flight. I know, you’re wondering how we could have been so stupid. What can I say, yesterday got away from me and it was noon before I knew it. Yep, by NOON we were already in the “B” group. God only knew how many humongous bags the “A” group would lug on and fill all of the overhead compartments with. And just our luck it was a non-stop flight to Philadelphia. *sigh*

We made it to the airport in good time, and wisely used the skycaps and tipped them well, which got us through security and to our gate in time to be near the front of the “B” line. Chuck called our friends Skip and Diane (who are early risers so we didn’t have to worry about waking them up) and asked if they could go by the house, grab the camera bag, take it to the UPS Store, and overnight it to where we are staying for the weekend. They agreed, so we boarded the plane, hopeful that all of our electronic gadgets would catch up with us soon.

The flight was okay. The crew was the usual delightful Southwest bunch. Our fellow passengers, however, were a varied lot. There were the young women across and behind who didn’t shut up for the entire 5 hours – at one point their conversation became so raucous that a flight attendant actually asked them to keep it down. Then there was the Vietnamese girl who sat next to us. Her father was right in front of her, and she was the keeper of their (stinky) food. She also had a huge backpack that didn’t fit underneath her seat so she had to spend the whole flight basically squatting in her seat. She was so small that this escaped the flight attendants’ notice. Luckily for Chuck I had my video iPod and my iPod Nano in my backpack as well as spare headphones, and was willing to share. So we had in-flight entertainment to help pass the time. Someday I want to fly Business Classs or First Class. Obviously not on Southwest.

Once we landed we had some time to kill, as we had to wait for Chuck’s sister and brother-in-law to arrive from Denver. While we waited, Diane called from the UPS Store. It was going to cost $350 to overnight the camera bag with a Saturday delivery!!!! Monday would cost $300!! So we scaled our must-have list dowwn to his video iPod an the Garmin Nuvi, and they are coming second day air and will be shipped to our hotel in New Jersey. No video camera or digital SLR. Que sera, sera. I have two of my little digital cameras, so photos will still be taken! And I have my trusty iBook, so will be blogging as the opportunities, and unsecured wireless networks, arise.

So here we are tonight in Wilmington, Delaware at the home of Chuck’s (I think this is right) second cousin. Tomorrow we’re off to see his aunt (well, it’s actually his second cousin’s mom, but her mom and his mom grew up together). I discovered an open wireless network in their neighborhood and am updating the blog on that connection. We leave Monday for the real vacation – we’re going to Cape May, New Jersey for 5 days, staying at the Hotel Macomber. It’s pretty warm here, and muggy. Welcome, I guess, to summer on the east coast. Chuck’s cousin tells us that we don’t have to worry about mosquitoes in their yard as the bats eat them all. I think this was meant to be comforting.