Tales from the Tulls: Tully Travels to Washington DC

Okay, sorry for two posts in one day, but this is our last day of travel. On Saturday, September 24, 2011, we were headed back to Oklahoma. What a fun week I had with my daughter and with my precious grandson, Tully. We managed to get everything packed and still have time for breakfast while waiting on the taxi so we could head to the airport. After 35 minutes, we gave up on the first Taxi that was supposed to be coming and got one from another hotel that was next to us. This driver decided to take us to the airport via the tourist route... traveling all the way down Wisconsin Avenue. Ashley questioned him about driving that route because she had made that airport trip numerous times! He said he was going to turn and get on Hwy 495, but then never did. By the time we got there, he knew better than trying to over-charge us; but the time itself that it took to get there was crazy! ...guess it was a good thing we had plenty of time before our flight!

This is how Tully navigated around the airport. He loved being able to see everything that was going on. We were waiting to board the airplane and I'm sure he was ready to see his Daddy!

We didn't leave anything behind that we know of and somehow we maneuvered our small amount of luggage once again for check-in at the airport! LOL

Our flights and connections were all good, but we did have an unusual experience with another passenger on the way home. I was one of the first to board the plane and got our carry-on bags stashed in place and then Ashley boarded almost last with Tully. I sat in the middle seat and there was a lady who sat down next to me in the aisle seat. She didn't really say anything, just shuffled her stuff from one place to another. She dug in and out of her bags several times looking for... well, I don't really know what she was looking for! She didn't ever seem to get anything out, maybe she was just making sure it was all there!

Everyone was still boarding and after a short time she put her seat belt on. I thought that was odd, since the window seat in our aisle was still vacant and they had announced the flight was full.

I finally broke the silence and asked her if she was going home or leaving home? She matter-of-factually said, "I am going to a conference." ... and that was the end of the conversation. That much told me she was from the East Coast! Everyone continued to board and I could see Ashley coming with Tully, so I thought I would tell her that "my daughter was coming and would be sitting by the window." She just looked at me... so, I was thinking rather than take her seat belt off, she probably wanted Ashley to just crawl over her...

Ashley likes to board fairly close to the end, so Tully is not confined to the seat any longer than he has to be. Eventually, they made their way to our aisle to be seated. The lady looked up as if to say, "you want me to take off my seat belt?" I'm thinking what a sour puss! At this point, I was just hoping that Tully would once again sleep through the whole flight... I cannot imagine what this lady would be saying if he were to cry.

Tully being the good boy that he is, settled in and was going right to sleep! Just about the time he almost got to sleep, this lady got her bag out which looked like a black canvas laptop bag and she ripped open the velcro flap on it. Tully just about jumped out of his Mommy's arms!! Now, this was not a little piece of velcro it was 12 inches long and 2 inches wide and she did not open it quietly. She ripped it open, looked inside and then closed it. She then proceeded to rip open the velcro of a second flap on the backside of the bag and looked inside there... she got out her magazine. She put the bag up and began reading her magazine. Thank goodness, Tully about jumped out of his pants on both rips.

Tully got settled down once again and then within a few minutes the lady started going through the magazine ripping out all those little advertisement cards... RIP - RIP - RIP (at least three of them) and of course Tully jumps again on each RIP. A few minutes go by and he's just about asleep again and then you hear "rip-rip-rip" she tore those cards into several little pieces. I'm thinking, can you not see this baby jump every time you rip something up or open it??? ...enough already!

Pretty soon she got her bag out again, RIPPED open the velcro flap and placed the pieces of the little cards she had just torn up into her bag. Then she ripped open the other side and got out a box of ginger candy. She proceeded to unwrap the box of candy that had that crinkly clear plastic wrapping on it and then wadded the crinkly paper up for a bit in her hands and then took one piece of ginger candy out before closing the bag and sitting it on the floor. As soon as she took the wrapper off her candy, she proceeded to get her bag back out and of course... she ripped that huge velcro flap open once again... oops it was the wrong side, so she ripped the other side open and threw her trash inside of it. She sat her bag back down and I'm thinking, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!" I know you are reading this and probably thinking I am exaggerating this story... oh no, I'm not!

Few minutes went by and then she got her bag out and she ripped it open again to get another piece of candy... each time Tully jumped and woke up! Ashley and I looked at each other and I know we were thinking the same thing. That lady is lucky her head was still sitting on her shoulders, because I wanted to rip it off! Ashley said to me, "one more time and I am saying something!" Well, of course, within seconds of closing the bag, the lady needed to put her second candy wrapper in her bag... you know it -- R-I-P!!!

I don't think the "ripping" had even finished when Ashley leaned towards the lady and told her, "M'am, I'm trying to get my baby to sleep while we are flying so he doesn't bother anyone and every time you rip that velcro open he jumps and wakes up." The lady looked at her and and held the palms of her hands face up and says, "I don't know what to do." Being the smart person that Ashley is, she told her, "you can either get everything out at one time or just not get it." The lady just looked at her. I then commented to her ( not being as nice as Ashley was), "if he wakes up again, I will hold him and you can listen to a crying baby your whole flight." She proceeded to close her bag without saying a word and sat it back on the floor.

Not to say that she did not get it out several more times while in flight, but somehow she managed to open it quietly and she left the flap open. Hmmm, imagine that being a solution! I could not believe what she was doing. She could see that Tully was trying to sleep and she could see him jump with every RIP... I would assume that she had no children! I might even assume that she has never been married, I can't imagine anyone living with someone that inconsiderate.

Once she quit ripping up paper and ripping open her velcro bag... Tully did manage to sleep the biggest part of the flight. When he woke up he was a happy baby full of smiles and bubbly coos. He was standing on my lap and the lady behind us talked to him and the guy in front of us turned and talked to him quite a bit... I never made eye contact again with the lady sitting next to us, but of course Tully wanted everything that she was holding!! It was hilarious! Certainly, I did not let him touch anything she had or bother her. She did not say one word to him and he was just smiling and looking at her. Lord, please don't let me grow to be an old prude.

After we made our connection in Houston or Dallas or wherever it was... again, I boarded with our carry-on bags ahead of Ashley and Tully. Eventually a young lady sat down in the aisle seat next to me. She immediately began a conversation and I had to laugh after sitting next to that prude on my last leg of our flight who wouldn't even speak. I asked this young lady if she had any velcro and told her a little bit of the story. When Ashley soon boarded with Tully she saw us talking and the first thing Ashley said to her was, "Hi, do you have any velcro?" The lady just laughed. At least we had a good laugh out of the whole situation; but truthfully, I could not believe what all that lady did. I probably should have asked her if she wanted to hold Tully. You never know what someone is going through in their life, he might have actually made her day! Wish I had thought to do that, but I was just concentrating on how to not rip her head off and to make sure Tully didn't bother her. Anyway...

Arriving in Tulsa, John picked us up at the airport and Daddy was certainly happy to see his son!