The last few days before leaving, I was a little sad. It’s always hard to make changes. Especially flying away from family and home… way back to Arizona. 😬 I’ve done this so much, I know I have to go to the goodbyes before I can turn my attention to what is next.

Neil and I were at the airport by 7:00 a.m. I had checked in and paid for checking my bag online ahead of time. I just went up to the baggage desk with my luggage and phone info and I was good to go. Neil & I said our goodbyes and I took my rolling cart the short 👍 walk security.

Airport Security 2022

3 of my grandkids have never flown. They asked good questions concerning what it was like to go through security. I told them I would get whatever pictures I could for them and explain. This section concerns the procedure. All of you who have flown, feel free to skip over this! 🙂

Appleton Airport

Appleton is so nice and easy to fly out of. Small lines, smooth security and few gates.

Step 1- Identification- Show your ID. There is a new driver’s license issued that requires more identification to get. It can be used now and in the future for your ID for flying. Right now, you can still use your regular driver’s licence . Kids an also get an ID from the DMV . The other accepted ID is a passport. So at the first check ✅ in there is a uniformed individual that checks your ID and then asks you to pull down your mask so they can see your entire face to compare to the photo . Once you pass, you get your ID back and move on.

Step 2- Checking your carry-ons– Now you take the luggage and bag you are taking onto the plane, to security.

First stop is to put everything into gray bins. Shoes, hats, phones, electronics, food, medicine, sweaters or jackets, everything in your pockets, any heavy jewelry and your bag of lotions. You cannot have any liquids beyond 3oz,, no alcohol, and they must all fit into a quart sized, clear zip lock bag.

Step 3 – Checking YOU

While your things are going through the machine, you ALSO go through an x-ray machine! But it isn’t one that is looking at your bones. 😅 And you don’t have to lay down on a conveyor belt!! 😂 It is made to check for anything sharp or dangerous that could be hidden under your clothes.

It is a big enough machine to walk through. You wait until they say it’s your turn, after they cleared the person before you. Then you walk inside, turn to the side, place your feet on 2 large yellow footprints on the floor, and raise your hands over your head in a sort of arc. You hold that position. Then 2 sliding, curved walls in front of you slide together… apparently take the x-ray and slide apart. If it’s a good x-ray, you step out toward them.

This is a picture of the stand up x-ray machine.

After the X-ray is taken, you step out and wait as they look at the X-ray on the screen. The person on the screen is just a line outline of a person. If there is anything the x-rays picked up as being out of the ordinary, it will show on the outline as a yellow area. I have NEVER gotten through x-ray without something showing up, no matter what I wear! I found if I wear leggings with my socks over them, the extra depth will show up as a yellow spot to be patted down. This time I had a spot on my shoulder and my arm to pat down. And of course there’s nothing there but they have to check. They also have a Wand that is handheld and used to scan over any unusual areas. Because I had my splint, that is where they scanned. And the metal inside did not set off anything!! I was good to go. 👍

Step 4- Collect your stuff

Once cleared from x-ray, you then go to the gray bins and grab your stuff. It was going to take me a few minutes, because I could not use both hands equally. One of the women’s security staff came over immediately, and invited me to sit over in another area where I could take my time. She brought my bins to me. What a sweetheart! Plus, it also moves me out of the way as this line goes pretty quick and pretty steady!!!

So I put my shoes back on, got my carry-ons together, my jacket, my phone etc and then walked to my gate. NOW I can first relax! Once you are past security, all the airports have places where you can purchase souvenirs and get something to drink or eat. Since my flight was going to be 2 hours long to Denver and there was not going to be anything besides snacks to eat on board, I had some food I took along and I got a breakfast sandwich. It was nice to sit and take a break.

At the larger airports it can take 15 minutes to half an hour or more to get through security the lines are so long. Then it could take you a half an hour to 45 minutes to walk to your gate! So Appleton is so nice to use to fly out of!!

Waiting & Boarding

This is how Appleton ‘s airport currently looks. I had gate 7. That is where my plane was going to load passengers before heading out.

I found out that I fit into the handicap, elderly or those with injuries categories, which would allow me to be one of the first ones to go on board. This is because I would obviously need help anputting my carry-on bag into the overhead storage area. Otherwise, depending on where you are sitting on the plane, you have a number on your plane ticket. They call you to load the plane according to these numbers so that everybody’s not crowding up there. Otherwise I would have been in group three. And there would have been a lot of people in front of me on that walkway.

On Board…Ready to head to Denver

The plane to Denver, was much smaller than the one that I flew on back to Phoenix over Christmas. 🤔 This time there were rows of three seats on each side of the aisle. I always take a window seat!! 😃

Wisconsin…Cold weather, cloudy, misting, dreary and not looking nice out!

I I was surprised it was warm enough for us to disembark directly onto the tarmac and then walk inside the airport. I had never been to the Denver Airport before.

O’Hare & Phoenix need to have these Subway trains between terminals. The distance between them is obnoxious!!!

Once I landed I also received a cue from United airlines that they could show me the directions to my gate. That was quite a great idea!! More airlines and airports should do that!! It came across my text message , which is what I preferred.

I had a nearly three hour block of time before my next flight actually took off. That gave me time to get something to eat and walk around and check out the terminals.

On to Phoenix

After I got my baggage, I went out on the sidewalk. I tried to go through the steps to order an Uber. It kept coming up as the pickup would be on the South end and I was on the North end and it wouldn’t change. So finally I decided to walk over to the cabs and they were cheaper than what the Uber was going to charge! So I went with the cab and had a wonderful relaxing drive up to Impact Auto where my truck was being repaired while I was in Wisconsin.

It was a half hour drive and we really had a nice discussion all the way. I learned the ins and outs of driving a cab and working for a company. The object you see on the back of the passenger seat, has all the information and the cost as you are traveling. At the end you put in your credit card to pay, you can add in the tip and you get a receipt. A really good system. And it was over $20 cheaper than what I was quoted by Uber 😯 he helped load my luggage and unload it and was very polite, interesting and kind. Worked out great!

Next stop, picking up the truck…

I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get to the diesel shop before they closed, so we made arrangements for my truck to be outside and the bill paid with my credit card. As it turned out I did get there in time and therefore was able to talk to them a little bit about what was done to the truck. Which was a lot! $$$$ But it really needed to be done or I could have trouble on the way back towing the RV. I loaded everything into my truck, climbed in and set my GPS for Krazy K RV Park. It felt good to be in the sun and the heat! And it felt good to be in my truck again. 👍 I then started my drive of 118 mi to Krazy K RV Park. Impact Auto found that some of my braces that connected the cab to the truck frame were rusted and or missing! So they repaired that. I could tell immediately as I drove out of the parking lot and into the street. There was no more of that bumping and rattling that I hated and had gradually gotten used to, having no idea what the cause! It definitely felt much more solid and secure!

Two hours later . ..Krazy K

Since I would be pulling into Crazy K after their check-in office would be closed, I called when I left the shop. I did get Sue, who was the lady who helped me when I broke my wrist and has been so kind and understanding and just a good friend afterwards!! I thought I could just crawl into my RV and sleep wherever it is in storage for the night. But she said they would be ready and they would help me out so I could get it down into my RV spot. And they were as good as their word! It didn’t take long at all and they got it ready for me to haul out and then helped me set it up. 👍 💕 What a team! Felt good to be back. 🙂

I’m decided to just stay put at the campground for a couple days. I unpacked, slept, read, visited, walked in the sun 😎 and just settled in. Wonderful. Whew.

Next : taking a scenic drive .🏜️