Our travel "adventure"

At about 2 AM Sunday morning, a fellow passenger commented on my positivism when I referred to our travel experience thus-far as an adventure. But, as I told her, I have to choose my words carefully when my three-year-old is listening. And I have to put on a happy face and turn a disaster into an adventure, in order to keep the situation from getting worse!

Here is the timeline of our travel to Boise, to celebrate Thanksgiving with Scott's family, as best I can recall:

Saturday

3:00 PM: Our friend Adam picks us up and drives us to the airport. Thanks Adam!

3:30: We check in and discover our flight is delayed 20 minutes. Turns out we have a plane, but no one to fly it. The crew is in Billings, MT, dealing with a snow storm.

3:30 - 9:50 PM: Our flight status is updated 7 or so times, always displaying a new delay, 30 to 60 minutes more than the prior one. Now the weather in Billings is cooperating, but the equipment (i.e. the plane) isn't. We race on the moving sidewalks, ride the tram a bit, play in the play area, eat some comped food, drink some wine/beer (that helped tremendously), play a few games of Uno, and so on. In other words, we pass the time as best we can.

9:50 PM: We board the plane. The plane leaves the gate.

10:?? PM: We get de-iced. We taxi to the other end of the taxiway. We feel the plane fish-tail. We are informed that due to freezing rain, the runway isn't exactly safe to use.

11:?? PM: After various explanations and apologies about grounds crews, airport policy, blah-blah-blah, we are finally informed the airport has been completely shut down and we aren't going anywhere. At the moment, not even back to the terminal (about 400 yards away), because we will likely be unable to stop.

Sunday:

1:30 AM: after the tarmac at the gate is sanded, we are towed back to the gate. We de-plane to utter chaos as everyone is simultaneously trying to find out what hotel we have been set up with and what flight we've been re-booked on.

2:30 AM: after a futile wait for our luggage at baggage claim (not going to be able to get our bags after all... something to do with ice/equipment), we head to the light rail station to take the train to our hotels. No taxis are willing to drive, no hotel shuttles will come and get us - the freezing rain is THAT bad.

2:49 AM: long story, but our little family misses the light rail train (my fault). All of our fellow long-suffering travelers are gone, off to their warm hotel beds. We are stuck for another hour, which is when the next train will arrive.

4:00 AM: we walk in the freezing drizzle 1.5 blocks to our hotel from the light rail station. Walk isn't really the right word - I should say slide. I've never seen frozen rain like that, and I was born in the midwest.

7:15 AM: Our wake-up call. We immediately call and learn that our 9:05 flight has been delayed until 10 AM. Scott and Zach go back to sleep, Charlie decides it's time to eat. Then the rest of us eat a delicious warm breakfast (thanks Embassy Suites) and head back to the airport.

The rest of the story gets better, other than the fact that our new flight was not direct. But after a brief stop in Salt Lake City (where we loaded up on more comped food), and a slightly delayed flight, we finally got to Boise around 4 PM Sunday. Our luggage arrived sometime after 11 PM. We got it Monday morning (thanks Ian for going to get it!), and finally got to change out of the clothes we'd been wearing for far too long. Whew.

Lessons learned:

1. ALWAYS pack as if you are going to be traveling for 24 hours. Especially if your kid wears diapers.

2. People are good and kind. Thank you to the fellow mom who gave me a diaper. Thank you to the man on the plane who wordlessly became my extra hand when he saw I was struggling to hang on to Charlie and tie my coat around my waist. Thank you to the people who took the time to smile at our kids and tell us how well-behaved and/or cute they were. There are more examples, but in general our fellow passengers were resigned but dignified in their handling of the entire experience.

3. If I have to experience that sort of travel nightmare, I want to do so with my little family. The boys were FANTASTIC. Yes, I'm their mother and therefore biased, but honestly - they handled it so well. No tantrums, very little crying or whining. Charlie clearly thought it was a grand adventure - his big eyes were constantly looking around, taking in all the new sights and sounds. Zach was so very sleep-deprived, he hadn't even napped Saturday because he was so psyched to go see his cousins. But as exhausted as he was, Zach just went with the flow, asking lots of questions as he always does, finding ways to have fun amidst it all. And Scott was his usual self, calmly dealing with each new roadblock thrown our way, finding the humor where he could.

So I'm thankful. Thankful for so much, things big and small. And I know it's early, but Happy Thanksgiving to you all.