I recently returned from a trip to Ohio.  The trip was a bit of an adventure…well, at least the getting there part.  We left here around 7:30AM and were supposed to get to Ohio at 12:35PM with a brief stop in St. Louis.  That did NOT happen.  On our way to St. Louis, there was an announcement about a mechanical issue with the plane, so they decided to land in Dallas to have things checked out.  I am totally fine with that as I would rather be on a plane that they are 100% sure is working properly.  After landing in Dallas, they decided to get us a new plane which meant that we had to wait for a new plane, we had to all get off the plane, and then to reboard the new plane.  Fortunately, this all went off without a hitch and we were soon back on our way to St. Louis.  Unfortunately, it was now about 10:45AM, so there was no way we were going to make our connecting flight.

Once we got to St. Louis, we got off the plane knowing that we had missed our flight to Ohio.  Since numerous other people were also having to figure out new ways to get to where they were going, we headed a couple of gates down to a counter that didn’t have a huge line waiting to talk to someone about their flight information.  Ironically, the woman in front of us at the counter was going to the same place we were, so we kind-of heard through her as to what our options were.  The next flight to Ohio left at 2:30PM THE NEXT DAY.  The woman in front of us decided to rent a car and drive the rest of the way, but I wasn’t in the mood to jump into a car for 8 hours with a kid who was already grumpy from plane issues.  We opted for the flight the following day and decided to make a mini vacation out of our time in St. Louis and went downtown to see the Arch.  The boy also wanted to visit a military museum that was nearby so we schlepped 15 blocks there, but it ended up being closed for renovations (a fact that their website DID NOT disclose).  We had a mini picnic dinner in the hotel room while watching Spongebob, went swimming the next morning, and headed back to the airport.

So why this long convoluted story?  I’m getting there, I promise.

We FINALLY make it to Ohio the following day.  We hit baggage claim and grab my hubby & the boy’s luggage.  We wait for mine.  We still wait for mine.  We start to look around for mine as there is no more luggage coming around the baggage carousel.  I go to the office for lost luggage to check if they grabbed it. Nope.  No luggage for me.  I fill out paperwork with them and they let me know that they will deliver my luggage the following day once it is located.

We drive to my parent’s house to crash.  Fortunately, I had a set of comfy clothes in my carry on, so I had something to sleep in.  I get an email from the airline saying they had located my luggage (YAY!), but where I was staying was out of their delivery area, so they would FedEx my luggage instead of deliver it (BOO!).  To provide a timeline, we left Austin on Sunday, it is now Monday night and I was being informed that I would get my luggage on Wednesday “sometime between 10:30AM- 1:30PM”.  I’m just rolling with the punches at this point because there really isn’t anything I can do other than wait until Wednesday or drive 3 hour round trip the next day to get my luggage.

The next morning I get up and looking really scruffy head to Wallyworld to get some necessities, you know, toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, and yeah….clothes.  As I’m trying to decide which Ohio State t-shirt to buy I feel something tickling my skin on my stomach.  I look and find a tick attached to me under the waistband of my jeans.  I had not even been there for 24 hours and I already had a TICK!  I hate ticks!  They are disgustingly gross.  I put down my basket of toiletries, pluck the tick from my skin, and head to the bathroom to flush it.  Of course, I had to take some photos first. (If you see any photos on a “People of Walmart” site of some strange woman taking photos of a tick in the ladies section it may be me.)

So the tick I found was an American dog tick.  I wasn’t really surprised to find it because I usually see a tick or two each time I visit my parents, but how quickly it had found me was surprising.  If you want to know more about ticks, then you should check out the TAMU Tick App.  Also, there is a new tick that we are watching for in Texas, you can read more about that HERE.