Flying...a necessary evil?

I have decided something: flying is a pain.

I've had some experiences worth blogging about, and after this last weekend, I really can't wait any longer to share.

This last weekend I traveled to Springfield, Missouri for a work conference. I arrived at the Dulles airport early Thursday morning. I ran into two of my friends, (first time that's ever happened.) They were headed to Hawaii for a vacation. We were all headed to Chicago for our connections.
We all boarded the plane on time; however, I commented to my friends that I wondered if we'd be delayed because of O'Hare. I had a really tight connection at O'Hare, 45 min, to be exact, and I had to get to another terminal. My experiences with O'Hare have not been so good. Sure enough, the captain came on, just as soon as we were seated and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, due to some unforeseen weather we are going to have to wait to take off for another hour." heh, there went my connection!

When my plane landed at O'Hare, I booked it! I've never run through an airport before, but there I was, tote over my shoulder, conference suitcase rolling behind me. I felt kind of rude pushing past people, but when you have to make a flight or wait for hours, you run as fast as you can. Thankfully, my flight to Springfield had been delayed for 15 min. I made it with 5 minutes to spare.

Once in Springfield, I stood and waited for my luggage...and I waited for my luggage, and I waited and waited. I began to realize with a sinking feeling that mine didn't make it. The airport was small enough that the guy unloading luggage came in, saw me standing there and said, "That’s all the luggage I got, hun. Come to the ticketing counter and we'll see what we can do."
So, I got my rental car and headed over to see about my luggage. They took my hotel address and said that my luggage would probably be on the next flight that night.

I headed to the hotel, with the clothes on my back, (jeans and flip-flops and a t-shirt) and my conference suitcase.
I had to actually work the conference that night; so I headed over to the conference, set-up and tried to "look" professional.

Thursday night I went back to the hotel and asked if my bags had made it. Nope.

Thankfully, I was staying across the street from a 24-hour Wal-Mart. I headed over there at about 11pm, (midnight in my body) and tried to throw enough stuff together to get me though the next day. I managed to find some cargo khakis, haha, and a button down top. I grabbed some pj's, toothpaste/brush and all that jazz and some poster board to make a sign for my booth.

The poster I got was really not the correct size, so when I arrived at the conference on Friday morning, I borrowed some scissors, (mine were in my checked luggage), and cut and taped it to the correct size. Somehow, in the midst of trying to figure out the sign, lack of sleep and just general out-of -it ness, I accidentally spelled Defense, 'Defence'. Go figure. I had put it up, even taken a look at it, and somehow not noticed, yikes. Thankfully, a kind lady was like, "um, do you realize that you spelled defense wrong...". Oh, I was so embarrassed! Uh, yeah, I was homeschooled:-) I tore that sign down and went through all of Friday with an un-marked booth.

One of our attorneys came in on Friday and his presence did help my booth gain some attention:-)

Friday night: no bags.

I went again to Wal-Mart, bought some different poster board and colored markers and spent my evening making better, homemade signs.

It must have worked because business was good on Saturday.

One of my bags did make it late Saturday night, in time for me to leave Sunday morning! The other; still lost somewhere. Dulles did put a tag for Vegas on one of my bags by accident, so I think it probably ended up there:)

On the way home, haha there were so many things that happened, but I'll share just one more...

I was seated amongst a group of Jewish ninth graders from Canada--they were on their way to D.C. They were loud and they were everywhere. The flight was anything but relaxing. On our descent, the pilot was not handling the plane well. There was little wind and seemed to be no reason for the rocky ride down. He would drop really fast, shake the plane, etc. The kids were screaming, and I started to feel really sick...I mean really sick! I've never gotten sick on a flight before. Right as we pulled up to the gate, I felt so bad, that I took off for the bathroom. I stood in there trying to calm my tummy, breaking into a sweat and wanting my mommy! I heard everyone leave the plane, but I felt so bad that I didn't want to leave the room. I stepped out once and asked for some water. Then I went back in. I heard the attendants saying, "She’s still in there". They knocked and asked after me. After about 5 minutes I stepped out to let them know I needed a few more minutes, and one of the ladies said, "You need to get off of the plane. Take a bag and if you need to throw up, just use it." At this point I was almost in tears. I felt like I was going to throw up right then and there, and she was telling me I had to leave and take a bag to throw up in on my way out! I grabbed my bag, the bag and my purse and headed out; praying all the way I'd make it to a bathroom. I made it to the bathroom, and somehow my stomach calmed. sigh...

I have so many more stories, but this one will have to do for now.

My next one will probably be, "Stuck all day at O'Hare because of Random Snow Storm in April."
Or perhaps, "Flight canceled because your captain's seat is broken."


On another note, Peter and I are both doing well. He had a conference in CA last weekend, and probably has his own airport stories to share.
I am glad to be back, and I was thrilled to see him.

Later.

Julie