This morning I finished placing the last remaining items in the carry-ons while Travis went to work for a few hours. There wasn't much, just the things that we couldn't pack in advance because we were going to have to use them up until our departure.

Travis returned home shortly after 9:00 and we loaded up his car with all of the bags. There should easily be room enough to accommodate those extra boxes of Champagne on our return trip home from the port. We waved goodbye to Ol' B as she drove away in the car and then headed inside to check in.

We had a "bit" of a problem at the check in counter. It seems that our luggage scale we purchased at Ellenton may be a tad bit off. Or, more likely, the damn Continental scales are off. Our heaviest and largest bag weighed in at 52 pounds, which, as we all well know, could feasibly cause some serious airline malfunctions. Those two extra pounds caused the military-looking woman who was patrolling the Continental Check In area to break out into an angry and frustrating scowl as she barked at us to transfer at least one pound to our third carry on bad. (Note: It has, of course, been scientifically proven that if an airline will crash due to a two-pound overage on a carry on bag, well, this crash can be avoided by shifting ONE pound to another bag. Now, don't mind the fact that the weight is, indeed, ending up on the same plane.)

As the Continental Army Chief's furrowed brow glared down on us we soon realized that we had no way to shift the weight among the bags due to them being sealed with plastic closures. Of course we had contemplated bringing box cutters just in case of such a scenario but then decided we might not pass muster with airport security. We thus asked the General if they, perhaps, would be able to lend us some scissors to which she curtly replied that the airline didn't allow them "to have sharp objects."

Somehow we managed to get the bags open, the weight shifted, and on we went. The great thing about this ordeal is that after shifting some items around we re-weighed the luggage on a different scale and came up a pound short! The security line moved quickly, although it was busy, and as we approached the scanners we both worried that we would be selected for the new "Puff & Scan" machines. We're still not quite sure what these machines were actually doing but they blew strong streams of air at the person selected to stand in the "scanning" enclosure. Perhaps they were sniffing for extra luggage weight! (Edit: GE Puffer info here!)

We're now sitting at Tampa International Airport, at Terminal A, within eyesight of Gate A4 as we await for Continental Flight 219 with service to Newark. They offer free Wi-Fi so that's good. They also have a Jose Cuervo Tequilería so the wait until departure at 1:05 shouldn't be too bad.

Next stop: Newark International Airport where we have a date with Air India!