Day 12...travel...travel...we really dislike all travel!

Let me just start with...it has been a horrific day!
Early morning flight, two dogs who refused to use the "pet run". It was sand & Taya (our daughter's Schipperke) wouldn't even step foot on it & Zion seems to be trained for grass only. He was intrigued by all the smells though, being that he is trained for tracking it proved a bit trying for him to not put his nose to the ground.
We had one excess bag & a pet to pay for. $100 one way. It was supposed to be "through to Fairbanks", but in Seattle the Airline we booked our travel though tried to charge us again for the pet & the excess bag & even tried to charge for Zion. So, a frustrated, exhausted woman pushing a stroller with a screaming child that was beyond being pacified...a woman who looked like she should be wearing a sign on her fore-head that reads "please...for the love of it all, do not even talk to me!"...has to get upset because the lady behind the counter had to go and argue with me about fees. Oh, the woman was me.
I also got flagged by security in Seattle when I was trying to come back in after taking Zion out for a potty break (in another gravel pit). That was fun. Zion travels very well, but our children, not so much.
We had one nice airline attendant on US Airways to Phoenix. Yes, we were routed through Phoenix.:) What's another 4 hours on an airplane, really?:P
The worst flight this time was Seattle to Fairbanks. Our airline attendant had an attitude. A man in first class (right in front of the bulk head) complained because Trapper was crying & yelling. He had a total melt down when I wouldn't let him run down the aisle of the plane. This lasted 20 minutes.

~~~~~It feels sooo good to be home! Travel yesterday was horrid! Zion was great...well except that he may have been bored while flying because he tried to chew up everything my daughter put in front of him....her new MP3 player is gone. Will teach her though to pick up her toys.;) Getting through the airport was only difficult because EVERYONE is staring @ us & running up to Zion, which makes him think "playtime". We have to work on that because he gets a little too excited about little kids...including his own.;) We also have to work on the stairs. He about took me out this morning & was so excited to see Trapper that if I hadn't been awake he would have been pushed backwards by his new "very much a cuddle bug" dog!
We got home last night & Zion went sprinting through the door, but wasn't prepared for the wood flooring, so he slid to a crash into the wall. It was funny & I hope he is learning, "no running in the house".:) He is so smart...now he just runs upstairs on the carpet. So, after his "hard wood floors are slick lesson"...then we let him see his new back yard...let me just say he loves his new yard! I wish i had a charged video camera because it was like a kid in a candy store....and it was about about 50-55 when we got in last night...I know Zion liked that too. He's been sniffing his new home, yard, car all morning. I am pretty sure he is pretty happy here already! We are going to bring him to church this morning. They had already told us it was okay, but that was back in November... I hope they remember telling us that.
Oh...yesterday I had to get a little angry at a "check-in gate attendant" person....they wanted to charge us another hundred for Taya (Schipperke) & another $75 for an excess bag. Thing is we already paid this in Columbus checked through to Fairbanks. Then the woman said that there may be too many dogs on the plan because I have two & there were three more....so she's calling for assistance from a supervisor....this was in Seattle! She said only so many are allowed on each flight...I explained at least three times that Zion is not a pet. She already had me angry with the paying twice (which she waived, after I got a little upset). Seattle to Fairbanks was the last leg of our flight...we had already been through two other connections! After massive apologies from several people at Alaska Airlines they waived all there "extra" fees, gave me our boarding passes...which I had to have ASAP so i could take poor Zion out through security to the "dog run" (which for some insane reason the security agent @ the gate decided was grounds for flagging me, so security was another stressful issue....THEN when we were trying to board the flight there was a different woman & she argued with us too saying we needed to pay for both dogs, I gave here names of those who had cleared us & she proceeded to tell us that it wasn't on our boarding pass so we may have to wait until everyone had boarded, we were "early boarding, young kids, special needs....ahhhh!) ...so I am a little disappointed with Alaska Airlines, which normally is my favorite. We didn't have to wait on everyone else to board because she got me upset & within seconds the problem was resolved. I think that if you looked like your hands are pretty full, your exhausted with a screaming kid under each arm, stroller, carry on bags & two dogs....they just really have to cause more problems...because maybe you don't look like your going to put up a fight or something, but then they got a little more furry then they expected. Not just from me, two other passengers stood up for us too & helped us. We had ONE...just one excellent, helpful, flight attendant. He name is Tracy & US Airways is going to get a "good" letter from us. Alaska Airlines...there letter isn't going to be a good one....and I took names!
Oh & Trapper had a meltdown on the last half hour of our flight & two of the first class passengers (in front of bulk head) complained to the flight attendant!!!) Trapper yelled, arched his back, bite down on his arm & cried for about 20 minutes...but it was mild compared to most of his fits. So the flight attendant came & asked if she could help & I told her that there really wasn't anything she could do...she seemed flabbergasted & just stood there staring at us. I was holding Trapper down because he was slamming his head into the window area at one point & Zion was trying to nuzzle....so she thought Zion was "out of control"...I tried explaining it to her over Trapper's crying...she then leaned over the seats in front of the bulk head & apologized and asked if they would like something to drink (meaning alcohol because it was on the house)!!! I am the one who needed a drink. She came back and asked again in a snotty tone (& let me know people in First class were complaining) if there was anything she could do to help him "quiet down"...I said as nice as I possibly could @ the moment, "find a cure for Autism." She didn't come back.
Thank God we are Home!