Don't Stop - the Pocono mountains section COMPLETED
About This Page:

**chezp** · 05-06-2010, 02:13 AM

This is the final section of our mammouth Christmas 2009 trip, which saw us start with the pre-trip report, then move on to Walt Disney World, before taking a road trip down to Key West. We then headed back to Walt Disney World for a few more days, before embarking on the latest - and final - section of our trip, which is where this picks up.

**chezp** · 05-06-2010, 02:15 AM

Saturday 26 December – part one: they put us on the quiet floor?

Well, the wake-up call didn’t work so great this morning. At least it came, but we got it an hour early at 4.30, which wasn’t exactly the way we had planned things.

: We could’ve asked them to call back in an hour, but to be honest, neither of us had slept well, I think because we knew we were waiting for the wake-up call and didn’t want to sleep through it and miss our flight. We heard all sorts of noise, particularly from outside in the terminal building, during the night. It’s odd, as we had the same experience when we had the early morning flight out of Key West. Maybe we shouldn’t do early morning flights any longer. It just doesn’t seem to work for us, as we don’t sleep the night before we fly.

There were some upsides to the early wake-up call. We were all showered and ready to go with cases packed early, so we called bell services and asked them to come and get us earlier than we had originally planned.

I’m really glad that we did this, as the guy took us the back route, through the car park, but even so, it was quite a hike to Southwest. My face must’ve fallen when I saw the lines for bag check, but the bell services guy just took us straight outside for curbside check-in, which was interesting, as we generally thought that they had done away with this after 9/11, but obviously not. I knew it used to be a paid for service, but wasn’t clear if it still was, but at least the guy said something. I don’t mind someone telling you that you should, much better than the person just complaining after you’ve gone that you didn’t pay. We were all done in literally a few minutes from leaving the room. The whole process couldn’t have been simpler. I was really surprised and I don’t mind paying for this service.

We then joined the line for security, which looked pretty bad, but actually we were probably through in about 10 minutes, despite how many people there were. I didn’t think that was bad, especially considering that there had been the terrorist scare on the plane at Detroit only yesterday, that we had been hearing all about on the news. The checks, as you’d expect after that, today seemed pretty thorough, but were done quickly and it was no extra hassle.

We took the monorail over to our gate and settled down to wait for our flight, because everything had gone so smoothly and quickly this morning, we were there by 6.45, only having left the room half an hour earlier. That’s pretty good going.

As ever with Southwest, when it came to boarding, it was an easy enough process and, once again, I have to wonder why all the other airlines don’t do this as well. It’s a great system and works so well. It would make boarding a lot of other flights much more pleasant.

We were the first on board and got front row seats, with a nice amount of extra legroom, which worked out well. While we were waiting for everyone else, we saw two of our four cases board with us, so that was something. We hoped the other two were already on board by the time we started watching the cases board. Watching that was not a comforting experience. My favourite was the box covered with “fragile” labels, fall off on to the ground below. I hope there was nothing broken in there...

We took off dot on time. Earlier I had looked at the screens, showing the Southwest flights and all of them were showing as being on time. Not bad at all.

I can’t tell you much about the flight, because not long after we took off and we were at 10,000 feet and able to use electrical devices, I put on my iPod and promptly fell asleep and didn’t wake up until we were half an hour out from our destination. I think the early start had caught up with me.

One thing I will say about Southwest is that I love the laid back approach that they have, especially with what the staff wear. The fact that they have sweatshirts and casual shirts makes a really nice change from all other airlines. One, in particular, looked pretty rough. He looked like he was at the end of a long day, not starting one. Every time we were awake and saw him during the flight, he was sitting down with his head in his hands. Maybe too much Christmas spirit the night before?

The flight would’ve been on time landing, but we ended up having to circle for 20 minutes, so didn’t land until about 10.25. We headed for baggage claim and found out that Sue and Steve were still on the way and about 15 – 20 minutes out, which wasn’t a problem, as there was nothing appearing on the carousel from any flight, never mind ours.

It’s amazing how, when you have four cases, as we did, they never come off together. We got one, then had to wait a few more minutes for the next and so it went on until we finally got all of them.

We managed to time it pretty well and were outside just a couple of minutes before Sue and Steve arrived. It wasn’t as cold as I had feared it might be, although it was still a shock to the system after Orlando, of course!

Not saying it’s cold here, but...

We met them, hugs were exchanged and we loaded all our cases into the car. It just about fitted and all I’m saying is that I’m really glad that they didn’t bring the convertible!

We drove for quite some time in pretty awful rain, but laughing the whole way. I had nothing but admiration for Sue, dealing with drivers chopping lanes at the last minute, a heck of a lot of spray and us laughing all the way. I don’t know how she did it.

:

One-eyed Steve in action!

Soon, we made it to the King of Prussia mall and this was where the adventures really began. Sue said that she knew a short cut to save us waiting at the lights. Cool.

Not cool, as it turned out... we drove through the car park and it was as if half the world was in the car park, with us. There were just cars everywhere and it’s just as well we weren’t looking for a space, because heck, we’d never have found one anywhere. Sue went round and around, trying to get to the exit, but eventually discovered that people had actually parked in front of it.

Can you believe it? So much for a short cut. This did not work out at all well.

Just a bit of snow at the parking lot!

Finally, we made it to the Crowne Plaza, but I think it took a lot longer than we ever imagined that it would. The hotel didn’t look that great from the outside, but as we had found with the Express by Holiday Inn in Boca Raton, looks can be deceptive and so they were here. We walked in and I was certainly pleasantly surprised by what I found, although Mark quickly saw a sign, saying that photos or videoing was not permitted in the building, which was a bit odd. Still, I managed to sneak a couple and no-one seemed to notice, so I got away with it.

There was a huge group of what looked like college kids waiting to check in and when we finally got to the front desk, we did ask if we would be anywhere near them and were reassured that no, they were all on the first floor and we would be on the fifth floor. This was the sign that greeted us when we got there – appropriate for us, I think not!

Next: that is one strong drink!

**chezp** · 05-06-2010, 02:15 AM

By the way, don't worry if you don't see an update from me in the morning. I'm working all night at our election count tonight, so I may not be on the boards tomorrow until much later in the day.

Wendyismyname · 05-06-2010, 06:33 AM

Awesome!!!! Glad you've made it to the Poconos!

Wonder why there were no photos permitted???

**Colexis Mom** · 05-06-2010, 08:36 AM

Glad you've made it to Philly! We don't like early morning flights either and try to avoid them if we can! Can't wait for more!

mcc0313 · 05-06-2010, 10:15 AM

Sorry that you and Mark did not get the best nights of sleep before your flight but glad you were able to catch a bit of sleep on the flight to PA. Love the picture of you once you landed....you don't look cold at all Cheryl

The hotel does look very nice from teh inside, I am also surprised about the no picture rule, glad that you were put on the "quiet floor", hoping that means you will finally catch up on some lost sleep.

disney_duke · 05-06-2010, 10:30 AM

Sleeping before an early flight is always a difficult task - totally understand!!! Glad you enjoyed the Southwest flight. They're new to the Milwaukee market and I've only flown them once but looking forward to more with them! What a nice greeting with Sue and Steve, and welcome to winter. Yuck.

**Minniemouse27** · 05-06-2010, 12:46 PM

Wow I didn't know you were THAT close!! I work about 5 minutes away from the KoP mall (what me affectionately call the King of Prussia mall...way too long!).

The only reason I generally go to the mall is to dine at the Cheesecake Factory or shop at the Disney Store!

honeybee723 · 05-06-2010, 01:51 PM

Can't wait to read all about the Poconos. I've only been there once, so I can't wait to see how it's changed in 10 years!

**KMB733** · 05-06-2010, 02:25 PM

Great Start to this part of your trip!

Minnie Lor · 05-06-2010, 02:59 PM

Great start! Looking forward to more.

Principessa_di_Fata · 05-06-2010, 04:06 PM

So far so good!

Grammy Grumpy · 05-06-2010, 04:16 PM

Hooray, on with the story! Have fun counting tonight and we'll be here waiting for you tomorrow.

taylan1 · 05-06-2010, 04:48 PM

Great start to this leg of your trip! Can't wait to read more.

**chezp** · 05-07-2010, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minniemouse27

Wow I didn't know you were THAT close!! I work about 5 minutes away from the KoP mall (what me affectionately call the King of Prussia mall...way too long!).

The only reason I generally go to the mall is to dine at the Cheesecake Factory or shop at the Disney Store!

Wow, that is close!