The Motherland: 20 Reasons to be Grateful, or, My Trip to Moscow

The time has arrived; this morning (honestly, I've lost all track of time.), I left for Moscow. I was originally booked on flights that flew Des Moines to Atlanta to JFK NYC to Moscow's airport SVO. Of course, I woke up early on Monday morning, ready to begin my trip with all the bits and pieces organized and found that Delta had had a huge systems outage that grounded the majority of their flights for that day. What luck, right? Mom, Mike, and I set out to the airport with little hope that I would be able to get to Moscow, especially given the delays for my flight to Atlanta. ATL is the Delta hub, and I'm sure was a complete and utter mess. We checked in, checked my luggage, and decided to chance it to see what would happen. I got to play some luggage weight Price is Right, and my first guesses of small but heavy things to put in my carry on were spot on. I also had to check in my pet (and pay that darned pet fee for her travel), so we did that as well. And, since we had a few moments extra with the delays, we went to Perkins and had a lovely, healthy breakfast that kept me full.

Let me take a moment to express some gratitude.

My mom has a vehicle (a brand new Jeep, in fact) that fit all my things, and the time available to help me out throughout the day, to make sure that I'm not stranded at the airport.
Both Mom and Mike helped me with my luggage, so I wasn't carrying an insane amount of things on my own (plus cat).
Mike kept my cat carrier on his lap to comfort her on the trip down to the airport (which is about an hour) despite "not liking cats."
The Des Moines airport is small enough that there was no Delta line when I went to check in, and had joyously Midwestern humans helping at the service desk.
Perkins was just down the road, and we had a car to get us there.

So, we got back to the airport after breakfast, and I watched the flight I was meant to take get delayed a few times while mom and I did a Monday crossword that only took 20 minutes to complete. I decided to ask them to see if there was any rerouting possible, because I had noticed that flights to Detroit and a few other locations were on time. Also, just imagine the Delta hub with all the stranded passengers and possibly no outgoing flights. Eek.

Gigi, the Delta lady at the desk, had been at the airport since 3 in the morning. It was about noon when I went to go see her. She found me a flight that went from Minneapolis in the afternoon, to Heathrow, then on to Russia. Then, she waited on hold on the phone for no less than 40 minutes in order to get my documents confirmed (again) and my baggage moved and pulled (with no one in the bag room) and my pet cabin rebooked (with documents confirmed again). Tim also helped me when he wasn't occupied with getting pizza for passengers. He had been at the airport since before 5. In fact, I think I was assisted in some way by every Delta staff member in the Des Moines airport.

By the end of this, I had my boarding passes and a few extra minutes to chat with my mom on my way. We said our goodbyes after a little bit of conversation, and I was on my way up the escalator to security. I still love this airport for its drama with the escalators. I've gone up and down the DSM drama stairs more times than I can count, and always it is a thrill. I was through security (with cat) in less than 15 minutes, mainly because I accidentally left a knife in my carry on. It had flowers on it.

A few more items of appreciation:

The Delta people worked for no less than 1 hour on getting me rebooked on a flight that was on time. They could easily have just said wait.
I had people to wait with all of my things and my cat while I dealt with the tickets.
The desk was mostly empty, and with few passengers that were angry about the Delta problem.
The security people loved my cat.
The flower knife did not cause me any issues.

The flight to Minnesota was uneventful. The plane was tiny, and the flight attendant noted that we had "40 minutes of flight bliss," and it was. The layover in MSP was long, about 6 hours, but I found Chinese food (the last for a long time!) and an outlet near my gate to watch some films while I waited. In fact, this layover brings many things to be thankful for.

I am strong enough to carry the very heavy pieces of luggage that I had: a backpack with two computers and important documents inside, a carry on suitcase with the heavy things I couldn’t keep in my checked luggage, and a cat fat from summer in America.
The airport has places to sit near the outlet, and I watched films to pass the time.
My cat is well behaved, and I even let her out in the airport to let her stretch a bit. She cuddled next to me, didn't make a sound, and remarkably… fell asleep.
I can afford this Chinese food and other things in the airport that I need and want.
The technology that I have, from phone to computer to headphones, has really improved the travel experience.

And the next flight: Heathrow. This long flight was mostly patches of me sleeping with my fancy memory foam neck pillow, with inspirational sports flicks playing in the background. When we landed, I put my kitten up on the seat and my seat mates asked where she came from. She didn't make a peep, and they didn’t even know that she was there. That's really something to celebrate. She's an amazing traveler, probably even better than I am. I had some nice pasta.

I had a quick turnaround in Heathrow, including a jaunt through security where the cat was, again, quite popular. The agent at the re-check in counter (with no line, thank you Moscow) got me my boarding pass with a minimum of fuss. And I ran up to the gate filled with typical chaos. I was one of the first to board and now have a window seat at the very back of the plane with no other seat person, on a very Russian flight. In fact, I will arrive in Moscow in just a few hours, and be taken to my new apartment. I have doubts that my bags will make it with me, serious doubts. They've been routed and rerouted so many times that it will be a miracle if they are there upon my arrival. Luckily, I've packed some essentials in this heavy bag I'm carrying around.

Which leaves me with my last five things to be grateful for: