Operation: 39 Begins!

 11 June 2022

Today started out way too early. The alarm went off at 3:15. I slept better than I expected considering I usually wake up a bunch before I know I need to be somewhere. I think I only woke up once, so that was nice! Simon stayed snuggled in my lap most of the night too. 

Ross was nice enough to get out of bed first and take a quick shower while I lingered in bed for another 10 minutes. Our Uber was scheduled for 4:15, so when a car pulled up at 4, I assumed it was someone who works across the street. Nope, it was our driver. That got me a little flustered since I’m always most anxious before getting to the airport. Ross got our suitcases in her car, I finished up what I was doing and we headed out a few minutes early. 

In typical fashion, I felt like I was forgetting everything - including the suitcases Ross had just put into the trunk. But not surprising, everything was there. And as per usual, we made it through security easy peasy. We stopped for a little breakfast, bagel for me & veggie wrap for Ross, after we found our gate. 

Our first of three legs was to Atlanta. No issues on the flight. I started watching Shang Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings. I was hoping the next flight also had in-flight entertainment so I could finish it! I also started a sudoku from the book my mom had just given me yesterday. First page, easy puzzle….for some reason I couldn’t figure it out! Ross started working on it. 

After landing in Atlanta, we didn’t have much time in between flights. We hopped one terminal over and made it to our gate just before boarding began. Just like that, we were on flight #2 for the day. The tv screens weren’t working at first!! How was I going to know how my movie ended. But, eventually they came back online. These ones were a little more glitchy and would pause randomly, but I was able to finish the movie just before we landed. Phew! I can rest easy tonight. 

We had a little more time at JFK airport, but not a ton. We debated having a sit down meal or just grab and go from the pizza place next to our gate. We opted for pizza. I had a slice of tomato, basil, goat cheese and Ross had a spinach, olive Stromboli. Neither were great, but my slice was a little better. We should have looked around a little more before settling, but it wasn’t the worst meal we’ve had. 

After our snack and a quick lap around the gate area, boarding had once again begun. This was the smallest jet of the three, so no in-flight entertainment. I was able to start the blog posts and do some other sudoku puzzles. The first one remains unsolved. 

A quick 45 minute flight from NY and we arrived in Burlington! Seeing the green mountains as we landed were very pretty. The Burlington airport is small and cute - a little like Milwaukee, but it also reminds me of the Great Falls, MT airport. We had a bit of a wait for our rental car, but eventually we hopped in our car and headed towards our Air BnB. 

Once we landed at our lodging, we did the only thing we could - take a nap. It was needed after the long day of travel! We luckily woke up and decided to walk downtown in search of dinner.

Burlington, VT is only about 42,000 people and even after just a few hours we’ve enjoyed our time here. Very artsy and lots of neat shops and restaurants to check out. Once we made it to the heart of downtown, we sat down to decide where to eat. We chose the American Flatbread Company. We got two small pizzas which were both delicious. When one of our pies was being delivered, the waiter brought it to the wrong table and then dropped one of the slices. He mentioned they’d fire another one for us…we definitely didn’t need a third pizza. But lo and behold - it showed up. We finished our original two and had the third one boxed up. We found some guys outside that were willing to take it. 

Before we headed back to our BnB, we decided to check out Church street. It is a multi-block pedestrian only row of restaurants and shops. Super cute and happening area. Just about everything was closed by the time we got there, so we plan to check it out during the day tomorrow. Definitely a must see! One of the few places that was open was the Ben and Jerry’s store. The line was out the door! But the waffle cones sure did smell good. 

After a nice walk up and down Church street we made it back to our room. A dang mosquito bit my hand right as we were getting in the house. Now I have an itchy palm! Dang bugs. Overall, a long but nice start to vacation. We booked some bicycles for tomorrow morning to ride around town and are hoping to see the Leahy science museum as well. Until then!

Stats for the day:

Steps:14,419

Flights: 3

Pizzas: 2 ordered, 3 received

Mosquito bites: 2 and counting