Search Results for: blog mommy theres a dinosaur in the airport

Travel Updates: Dinosaur Museum and Airport Parking

Here’s a quick update on two travel items I wrote about in previous blogs: Wyoming Dinosaur Center In a previous blog I told you about our family’s summer plans to toss dirt around in Thermopolis, Wyoming—home of the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. If that blog didn’t convince you that you too should be giving your child the unique opportunity to dig deep for a piece of history, perhaps this bit of information will. Just a few days ago the center opened its new exhibit featuring a rare birdlike dinosaur specimen. According to experts, the Wyoming Dinosaur Center’s Archaeopteryx specimen is second … Continue reading →

Must-Have Travel Accessory for Kids

I’ve spent the last eight years racking up more than 160,000 frequent flyer miles with my daughter during our annual jaunts from Wisconsin to Hawaii.  If all goes according to plan, we can get from our home to my parents’ house in roughly 18 hours. Of course, things rarely go according to plan. Honestly, I’ve lost track of how many hours I’ve spent in various airplanes and airports with a young child who would rather be anywhere other than in an airplane or airport. What I do recall are all of the mistakes I’ve made during those seemingly endless flights. … Continue reading →

When Daddy Has Long Hair

“Mommy, is that lady a man?” My daughter’s unabashed question rang out like a clap of thunder in the night sky. Her voice was strong, her intonation direct and her face was as sincere as a priest blessing a sick child. There was no time to pray for her to lower her voice, the question was already out there, well within ear shot of a tall, burly guy with dirty blonde hair down to his shoulders walking a few feet in front of us at O’Hare International Airport. All I could do now was close my eyes and hope that … Continue reading →

Is Traveling Making You Fat?

If your New Year’s resolution is to lose weight in 2010, then you might want to stay away from airport restaurants. A new survey shows that most travelers are forced to ditch their healthy eating habits when on the road. Or more specifically, when traveling through the nation’s airports. When hunger strikes at the airport, you are typically at the mercy of fast food restaurants. Your food choices are limited to processed “convenience” items loaded with sodium, fat and empty calories. Sure, you could pack your own healthier options, like fresh fruit and a sandwich, but what parent is going … Continue reading →

Travel Tidbits: Free Gas, It’s a Gas, and a Ghastly Sight

FREE GAS It doesn’t get much cheaper than free, right? Then again, is anything in life truly free? You can ponder that while you are trying to win 9,000 gallons of gas from a West Virginia casino. Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack is offering guests who are considering canceling their summer road trip due to record high gas prices the chance to walk away with fuel that is estimated to be worth more than $30,000. It’s no joke. The casino is giving away a tanker of fuel to one lucky person on April 18th. Players can earn entries for the grand prize … Continue reading →

Springtime in Chicago

I just returned from a family trip to Hawaii, which included connections at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. While there my 3-year-old daughter paid her dinosaur pal a visit in Terminal One and once again ran her little legs off at the “Kids on the Fly” play area. The 2,000-square-foot indoor playground features a two-story control tower, airplane with interactive cockpit and cargo hold, luggage slide, a ticket counter, a helicopter, and my daughter’s favorite feature a pint-sized ice-cream stand where tots can scoop their own mock sweet treats into paper cones. We had more than two hours to kill between … Continue reading →

The Nightmare of Redeeming Frequent Flyer Miles

Well, it has been for me anyway. I rack up frequent flyer miles on two airlines (I’ve given up on the others) by eating at select restaurants, staying at designated hotels, and by flying back and forth from Chicago to Hawaii. All I ask in return is to be able to redeem my miles every once in a while for a seat (okay, seats for my entire family) from the airport of my choice to the destination of my preference. Why that is seemingly asking the impossible is beyond me. I’m no stranger to frequent flyer programs and by now … Continue reading →

Mother Nature vs. Baby New Year

My friend just called to wish me a Happy New Year… from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. No kidding. The poor thing is sitting in an airport on New Year’s Eve on her way back from spending Christmas with her brother in Colorado. She’s been waiting 3 hours for her now twice delayed connecting flight back to Wisconsin. If she’s lucky she’ll land here by next year. Mother Nature has not been kind to holiday travelers this year. Bad weather has made the busy travel season difficult for flyers from coast to coast. Making matters worse is a new report from the … Continue reading →

Holiday Travel: Tips For a Smooth Flight

A year ago this week I was on a flight to Hawaii to spend Christmas with my family. (We actually flew out on December 23rd.) I prepped, planned and packed like a pro, but the brutal reality of flying during one the busiest travel weeks of the year is that you are at the mercy of the airline… and the nation’s air-travel system. If you are planning to take flight this week (or anytime between now and January 6th) you run a good chance of being delayed, missing a connection, or otherwise experiencing some type of travel inconvenience. While there … Continue reading →

Flu Shots Made Easy For Frequent Flyers

There was a time when airports were known simply as places to a catch flight. These days a growing number of airports offer world-class shopping, fine dining, spas, wireless Internet access, even dinosaurs. So should you be surprised that many North American airports are now offering… flu shots? Nope. A few weeks ago about a dozen airports across the country started offering no-appointment-needed influenza immunizations to jet-setting passengers. If you plan to fly in or out of airports in Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Denver, Newark, Las Vegas and Vancouver British Columbia you can get a flu shot right at the … Continue reading →