The first picture is of the luggage carousel but it was on the bottom floor and kind of dark.  The second picture shows how the luggage comes down on a conveyor belt and falls into the carousel and then travels in a circle.  You pull your luggage off as it goes by on the slow moving carousel.  Neat.

     Whenever people who have traveled a lot talk about luggage, they tell about the times that luggage got lost.  The truth is, luggage DOES get lost but a lot of times it gets found, too.  Here is an example.  We were on the airport tour and our coach loaned two of us digital cameras.  We took all the pictures.  We went all over the airport, clicking as we went.  We were excited when USAir let us get on a plane and take even more pictures and talk to the pilots.  We were so excited that we didn't realize--until the plane took off for Philadelphia--that we had left the coach's new camera bag [with her spare battery and extra disks] in the plane. 
     We tried not to panic as we reported the missing camera bag.  We left the airport figuring that we had seen the last of it.  Less than an hour later, we got a call from the airport telling us that the camera bag was found, it made the trip to Philadelphia that WE wanted to make, and it would be sent to our coach.  All lost luggage is not lost forever!

Lost.... 

....And FOUND!

     Now that we've told you that story, we need to suggest that you plan for the possibility that your luggage might get lost.  Sometimes it gets sent somewhere else and it takes the airline a day or so to find it.  They send it to you then.  

     Large airports have special places where you need to go when your luggage is lost.  You give them some information and describe the lost suitcase and they give you a claim form.  They will contact you when they locate it.

This does not help you if your toothbrush or favorite blanket or teddy bear is in it, though.  You should pack a small bag to carry on the plane that includes enough stuff to take care of your needs for the following day.  This includes teddy.  Then if your suitcase gets lost for a day, you won't be walking around in day-old clothes.

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