6 flights, 6000 miles,7 days, wedding, mc travel tips

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 2:32 pm

I went to my niece's wedding in Truckee CA last August and thought I would post a trip report. This will cover:

Flight Orlando to Los Angeles then transfer to Reno airport
Overnight in Reno
Overnights in Truckee
Flight from Reno to Seattle to transfer to Kalispel/Glacier Montana
Overnights in Whitefish Montana
Flight from Kalispel/Glacier to Seattle and transfer to Orlando

I'll include MC flight tips as we go.

The boyfriend, parking lot, Orlando airport. Note my cooler in the trunk. I always eat an MC safe meal or snack in the parking lot before heading into the airport.

Obligatory selfie: Brandy and Dusty

Waiting for airport shuttle in long-term parking at Orlando airport. The boyfriend gets 5 vacation days a year. This trip was a big deal for him.

TSA line--Orlando airport--1000's of people going through security (but not us as we had TSA pre)

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 2:44 pm

TSA pre line--two people ahead of us. Note to American MCers. Many credit cards pay the $70.00 application fee for TSA pre so TSA pre ends up being free. Check with your credit card company. I ended up getting TSA pre for no cost. Our security line was 1 minute while the standard security line at Orlando is 60-90 minutes.

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 2:54 pm

Monorail to gate after clearing security.

MC safe snack in airport.

Brandy in airport lounge.

Pre departure beverages on plane. I managed to get us both a free first class flight out due to points. Flying home we go economy/coach.

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 3:06 pm

Vapur travel water bottle. I love this. It can be rolled up empty and fits into a man's shirt pocket for going through security and then can be filled after getting through security. I've used it a lot. You can get it from Amazon.smile.
This is the vapur water bottle empty and rolled up.

Filled water bottle deployed on seat back.

Dusty got to eat two airline meals, his and mine. American did not offer gluten free meal option from Orlando to Los Angeles.

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 3:18 pm

This is our hotel in Reno the Whitney Peak. There is a rock climbing wall on the exterior of the hotel. Two people are climbing the wall. We stayed in Reno the first night to save money. Hotels in Truckee were really expensive.

Truckee River that runs through Reno.

The oldest church in Reno. It was built in the 1860's.

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 3:20 pm

I'm taking a break and will post the balance later this week.

Post by **tex** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 6:24 pm

Cool thread. Looking forward to the next installment.

Thanks for sharing.

Tex

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 6:33 pm

Thanks Tex, I've been meaning to post this for awhile and I thought it would help the newbies. This was out of my comfort zone as I prefer to travel to one place and stay there as it seems much easier with MC.

I had the boyfriend scout around Reno for a disposable styro cooler to store my MC food. He walked around our neighborhood and was able to buy a styro cooler for $7.00. He is very frugal and did not think I should be dumping my empty cooler when we left as it would be a waste of $7.00. Guess next time I'll be bringing a softside cooler from the line that Jari recommends.

Here is another shot of the climbing wall on the outside of our hotel.

GF snack:

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 6:46 pm

Another GF snack:

We are at the wedding in Truckee Ca. L to R. My sister, the father of the bride, Keith, me and Dusty.

Bride and Groom

My favorite picture. Megan the bride and her Dad, Keith. Make sure to click on photo to expand this one.

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 7:01 pm

Wedding cake at the wedding. I liked the way this was handled. The wedding cake was sliced then put on a table so guests could pick up a slice if they wanted it. Most people didn't even get one. I did not feel so left out.

Our rental "car" in Reno/Truckee. I reserved the cheapest $19.00 per day car as I knew we would not have much driving to do. The Burning Man festival was going on at the same time in the desert. Enterprise grilled us for about 5 minutes to ensure we were not taking the "car" to Burning Man. After Enterprise was convinced we were only going to a wedding they upgraded us to a brand new truck with only 3 miles driven. I guess rental cars typically come back trashed from Burning Man.

Dusty and I in Reno airport in front of the native American exhibit. We are headed to Montana.

Slots Reno airport.

Marcia K · Post by **Marcia K** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 9:26 pm

Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us!

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 9:59 pm

Hi Marcia,

Thanks! The Montana leg still to come when I get a little more time.

jlbattin · Post by **jlbattin** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 10:49 pm

Awesome, Brandy......thanks for sharing.

Looks like a good time was had by all! I do highly recommend that cooler from ebags! It's a lifesaver on trips!

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 6:13 am

I enjoyed this too Brandy. Thanks for sharing. Deb

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sun Dec 04, 2016 8:44 am

Thanks Deb and Jari! I definitely see a soft side cooler in my future.

We flew Alaska airlines on a lot of the travel legs. Alaska Airlines specializes in short hop regional travel. Everyone on each flight can have either one free local craft beer or one free glass of local (read Washington State) wine. The drinks were really popular. Nothing makes passengers angrier than having to pay $10.00 for a glass of wine on American Airlines. The only negative that I saw on Alaska Airlines was I don't think they had enough restrooms. They only had one restroom on each plane which I don't think was enough for the number of passengers. We were on smaller planes but still an extra restroom would have been good.