Oh What Fun it is to Ride...

in an airplane?

So this past weekend Isaac and I ventured off without John to the Homeland to visit my family.  We flew instead of driving to avoid unnecessary frustration of driving for many hours alone with a toddler.  (Hey, it sounded like a good idea at the time.)

Anyway.  We left our home airport at 8:20 on Thursday night.  We made it to Ohare a short flight later, and had a 45 minute layover.  This would have been quick by any standard (standard, of course, set by intense research on people dragging a carryon that is too short and keeps banging into their feet and spinning around, while also carrying a diaper bag of toys and books, and a whiney post-bedtime 30+ pound 3 year old.)  Anyway.  We sat on the tarmac waiting for our gate to be vacated for 45 minutes of my 45 minute layover, and by then I knew (via text) my flight had been delayed 1.5 hours.  So... no hurry anymore.  By the time we reached our gate, it was delayed 2.5 hours.  I guess our pilot was stuck in Never Never Land, where there were storms, and if they left now, they would be here at midnight.  20 minutes later, they hadn't left.  Nor 45 minutes later.  Now it's shift change, and your new gate agent will be arriving her in 15 minutes.  An hour later, we finally had a ticket agent again, and by now our flight was long since cancelled.  See you at 6 am.  Here's your hotel voucher.  For 4 hours of sleep?  No thanks.  Give me a blanket and pillow and I'll try for 5.  (Oh, and my boy, who had a while earlier been crying and writhing on the floor out of sheer exhaustion, was now running around the gate, proclaiming, "Mommy, It's time-a wakin' up!")

Well, after a long/short night, I can tell you a lot about gate C23.  For one, it's freezing cold.  The floor is hard and filthy.  There is also a mouse that lives there.  (That is when I moved to the bench.)  Isaac slept for about 5 hours.  I slept for maybe an hour and a half.  We got on our 6 am flight.  We made it safely to The Homeland 20 minutes early.  And 9 hours late.

The weather in the Homeland was colder than I had packed for, and raining.  It can only get better, I think to my ever-optimistic (smirk) self.

The homeland was great.  My family is tops.  :)  Pictures shall be forthcoming.

The ride home...  Well...

We left The Homeland Airport at 8:50am.  We arrive again at Ohare with a 45 minute layover.  We again sit on the tarmac, this time only for 10 minutes, during which time I learn via text that my 10:45am flight has already been cancelled, and I've been rebooked on the 4:05pm flight.  Seriously?!  Try convincing your already over-tired toddler to nap in a busy, loud, and well-lit airport.  It's really fun.  At 3:45, instead of boarding, they change gates, and then cancel the flight again.  Now we are booked on the 9:45pm flight, which would get us home shortly before midnight.

At this point I am contemplating smashing the window and throwing myself down in the path of the luggage-delivering golf carts I can see scurrying below, because if I spend one more second in this airport with a clinging and whining/screaming 3 year old (whom I dearly love), my head will most certainly explode.  Instead, I make plans to rent a car with some new best friends/strangers (hey, they looked like nice people) when I get a call from my caring husband who has twisted the arms of the airline until they agree to put us on a 6pm flight with a different airline.  Commence the finding new gate, procuring new boarding passes (again) and sitting for a couple more hours, while trying to resist the urge to cry and/or strangle someone.

We finally made it back to the Home Airport.  8 minutes early.  And 8 hours late.  Also, with no luggage.

The moral of the story:  Next time I'm driving.  Or taking my pogo stick.  Either one will be faster, less frustrating, and less expensive.

The end.

PS  As a side note, even after 8 hours in an airport, Isaac was still thrilled with all the airplanes (when he wasn't throwing a fit or asking every passer-by what their name was.)  "Mommy!  Airplane!  1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Airplanes!  Is that OUR airplane?!  Are we gonna on a airplane?!  Up up in the sky!..."

At least ONE of us was having fun.