Saturday, April 14, 2007

I am home, it took a little while to get here but I made it. I left Terra Haute Indiana yesterday around noon. The airport is in Indianapolis we had plenty of time so we stopped at the Indianapolis 500 motor speedway. It was a lot of fun we went through the hall of fame and even got to take lap around the race track. It was in a bus but still fun. The two gentlemen that were with me dropped me off two hours before my flight and life was good. We had heard reports of some weather related problems around the Dallas, Fort Worth airport (DFW). This is where my connecting flight was. I figured no big deal I would still get home. They (don’t you love “they”) slipped my departure time buy a half an hour. No big deal I had a three and a half hour lay over in DFW. We roll out from the gate and the pilot shuts the plane down. Explaining that we won’t be allowed to leave for a while and he is saving gas. So we sit for about half hour, no big deal I have a lot of time for my connecting flight. Soon we are off and flying heading south west 28,000 feet and making great time. About the time we are scheduled to arrive we are still flying and flying and flying. The pilot comes on over the radio and explains that there are a bunch of planes in a holding pattern. We circle DFW for about an hour when a flight attendant comes through and told us that DFW had been evacuated due to tornados at the airport and surrounding areas. I guess that everybody came back to the airport because we landed. My 8:50 pm flight was now scheduled for 10:15 pm, cool. I got to my gate and was waiting. They came up with a new time, 10:45 again cool. 11:15, 11:45, and 12:15 am, 12:30 and so on and so on. We were given the excuse that the flight that needs to connect with our air craft was setting on the tarmac and could not get to the gate. 01:30, 1:45 we boarded the aircraft. I got a blanket snuggled down into my seat and was ready to go home. Then it happens, the announcement saying that the aircraft had to have a “hail” inspection and the flight was canceled. We march off the plane and line up in the terminal to try and find out what is going to happen to us. It is almost 3:00 am before I get to the ticket counter and say “just get me home” I get booked on another airline for 8:30 am. No offer a hotel and I am turned down when I ask for a food voucher for breakfast I the morning. I toddle off to my new terminal and to look for a piece of floor to call my own. I find a nice chunk of floor right next to the window and the gate I need. I think I doze off around 4:00 am and I wake up about an hour later to a cold air drifting in form the window and the sounds of the airport coming to life. I grab a bit of breakfast and some coffee, board the plane around 8:00 and I am off for an uneventful flight home. I do manage to catch a couple of cat naps on the flight. That did help. I am home safe and sound, but I don’t have any luggage. I have had a tracer put on my bag and I just called the 1 800 number but they can’t seem to find my stuff. I am sure it will show up, and if it doesn’t I needed some new clothes anyway.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sometimes you just gotta role with it. Well done kenny.

Kenny said...

My bag showed upat 3:00 this morning