“I’m from the wrong generation”

......or so it seems.
My wife’s mother is still alive — my wife died of cancer over three years ago.
Her mother will turn 100 as of February 14th.
My wife woulda made 100 too, but she got cancer.
All the Kohler women were sturdy stuff.
My wife’s mother’s maiden-name was “Kohler.”
My wife’s aunt (her mother’s sister) made 98, and probably woulda gone farther had she got an operation.
But others felt 98 was enough.
That aunt’s name was “Ethelyn.” She was loathe to spend any of her wealth, because she was “saving it for her old age.”
“Ethelyn, yer 98!” they told her.
My wife’s mother lives in an apartment in a retirement-center in De Land, Fl — in the shadow the the mighty De Land water-tower.
She’s still independent-living, although she can hardly see. Macular degeneration.
Her first-born son at age-74, her only remaining child, who has a house nearby, tends to her. Which I find ironic since they were always at each other’s throats.
I expect this guy will also make 100 if his health holds out. His last name is “Button,” but he’s a Kohler.
(His mother’s name is “Dorothea Button.”)
So, 100 years. All-and-sundry are expected to attend this momentous occasion.
Including yrs trly, who since his wife’s death has felt unable to travel. —That is, anywhere I can’t drive. I’ve driven to Altoona (PA) to chase trains (I’m a railfan) many times, 250 miles, about five hours.
I’ve also driven to northern DE, south Jersey, and near Boston, MA.
None of that is flying, like to Floridy.
I considered taking Amtrak’s Auto-Train; my wife and I did that once.
Auto-Train travels from near Washington DC to mid-Florida, over night.
With Auto-Train you take your car with you, so in FL you’re driving your car instead of a rental.
The hitch is the time an Auto-Train trip would entail: a day-or-two to get to DC, two more days for the train, two more on the train to get back up to DC, then one-or-two more to get home.
We’er up to six or eight days plus two more in FL with my wife’s mother.
So I decided I would fly. With that I fly down Friday the 12th, spend two days with my wife’s mother, then fly back on Monday the 15th.
In fact, I coulda flown down Saturday, but my airline, Allegiant, only flies Friday and Monday into Rochester.
It’s a direct flight, Rochester to Orlando-Sanford (Sanford).
Friday through Monday is only four days, much easier on my dog.
So, time to make my airline reservations. Easy as pie, I hoped. I’ve done it online before.
I would use Allegiant, an el-cheapo outfit suggested by my sister-in-law who lives in Rochester, my wife’s brother’s first wife.
I went through all the steps, seat-selection, then bypassed the hotel deals, theme-parks, and car-rentals. My brother-in-law would pick me up.
Last step would be baggage selection; Allegiant charges for baggage.
“Personal,” yes; “carry-on,” yes; “checked baggage,” pass.
Next.......
Circle back for baggage selection.
I tried again; circle back.
I tried a different browser, Safari instead of my Firefox — I have both, but mainly use Firefox.
Failed again with Safari.
After dorking around at least an hour, I finally gave up, texting my brother-in-law in FL I was from the wrong generation.
And of course Allegiant doesn’t have a phone listed on their website; they’re like Amazon, secretive.
Customer queries are via e-mail, so I sent an e-mail.
“Thank you for contacting Allegiant. Your e-mail will be answered in 24-48 hours.”
Great! Time is passing, during which seat-prices rise.
Turns out “pass” was the hitch — I was e-mailed that — they wanted me to declare no checked baggage.
And so my airline reservations are made, and we hope my plane doesn’t augur into the Everglades.
First time I’ve done anything like this since my wife died.
I couldn’t before.