Airport Hell

Our Trip Home: A Time Line

1:00: arrive at the Raleigh-Durham airport for our flight home

1:30: make it through security- realize the flight has been delayed till 3:00

3:00: board plane for what should be a 2 1/2 hour flight to Dallas

5:00: The captain comes over the speaker & informs us that we are circling Monroe Lousianna because DFW airport is closed due to high winds... he assures us it will only be a few minutes until we are cleared to land.

5:30: pilot comes back on & tells us we are being re-routed to Houston so that we can refuel as we wait for Dallas!

6:30: land in Houston...and wait...

7:00: still waiting...

8:00: yep, still waiting...

9:00: we have been sitting on the god-forsaken plane now for 6 hours...we have to pee, the baby in the aisle next to us won't shut-up & we have officially missed our connecting flight back to Tulsa...

10:00: F'ing pilot announces that we will be taking off for Dallas in a few minutes...

11:00: FINALLY LAND @ DFW!!! we stand in line for 30 minutes to either get a flight home or a hotel. They give us a voucher for a hotel room. We go down to get on the shuttle thats supposed to run every 15 minutes...or so we thought...

11:30: call the damn Comfort Suites Shuttle to get a pick up at the airport...

12:00: call the damn Comfort Suites shuttle AGAIN...

12:20: shuttle arrives...

So, we get about 5 hours of sleep before we have to be back at the damn airport. We're on standby all morning... we don't get the 8am flight, or the 9am flight or the 10am flight...

But, some angel dressed as an American Airlines worker magically gives us 2 seats (next to each other!) on an 11:00 am flight!!! Now, the only thing to worry about, is where is our luggage??

This was the pile of luggage waiting for us in Tulsa-- all our bags were there! YAY!! I had never been so happy to be back in Tulsa!!!

Lessons Learned:

1) never travel the day after Thanksgiving!

2) Bring food on the plane... Mike & I were starving after 8 1/2 hours on the damn plane, but the family in front of us brought bananas & chips & candy!!

3) always pack a change of clothes in your carry-on!