Home Sweet Home

Our last day in New York was pretty hectic.  Our only objective was getting to the airport and getting home.  I was dreading the trip to the airport after the trip from the airport to our hotel was so hellish.  Ross, master of the subway system, assured us that he had found a better way to the airport, which was quite the relief.  Not blaming him in the slightest, but it was still 5 different trains and a buttload of stairs.  I was so excited to get to the airport so I could just get on the plane and not move for the next five hours.

Getting to the airport took longer than we anticipated, and when we got to the counter to check our bag in they told us that we were too late checking in.  The lady helping us was nice and said she was going to see what she could do for us but said, "I don't want to give you false hope, you don't have a prayer." She took off with Jordan's ID and boarding pass in search of a supervisor.  This was stressful 'cause we didn't know what would happen if we didn't make the flight, if we would be able to get the next flight and who knows when the next flight would be.  Our flight was boarding, and every minute she was gone I could feel our window closing.  She came back and said that she had to get a higher up supervisor, and eventually her supervisor came back saying they will be able to get the bag, and us, on the plane.  But they left Jordan's ID elsewhere and had to go track that down.

We hurried through security and to the gate, only to find that the flight was delayed.  I was never so happy to for a flight to be delayed.

Then the flight got delayed several more times due to a mechanical problem they were trying to fix. It was supposed to leave at 11:20, and by 1:30 they simply cancelled the flight.  We got in line to get onto another flight, and the person that was helping us apparently knew nothing about the original flight being cancelled.  Once she figured out the situation she was able to help us get on a later flight, making sure that our bag would go with, but the flight didn't leave until 7:00 pm.  We met up with my sister and her husband and they said they were getting on a flight that left at 2:30.  Which was interesting that we weren't put on that flight in the first place.  So, we got our tickets changed to that earlier flight, making sure she put our bag on that flight and not the first two. I had a stack of tickets that were piling up.

Then an announcement was made over the PA system that they were going to get a whole new plane, and the original flight was uncancelled.  So, we had to get our tickets and bag changed right back over to that flight.  By this point I had said goodbye to everything in our suitcase 'cause I was sure there was no way it was going to survive all the changes and make it on the right plane.  Our new flight was delayed a little bit, which at this point was just par for the course.  I didn't let myself believe I was getting on that plane until I was actually in my seat.

When we pulled out I wanted to cheer.  I guess that only happens in the movies.  That cheer would have been premature though since we spent an hour sitting on the tarmac taxiing along and waiting for our turn on the runway.  When it was finally our turn I got a look at the line behind us and there were 8 planes behind us waiting for their turn.  I know there were 8 because the guy sitting directly behind me was narrating everything out the window to the person who was sitting next to him.  That person was also asleep.

"I see the Delta building, and a person standing on the runway, I see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 birds behind us.  I see the yellow lines on the pavement..." And so forth until we took off and he began to describe the different kinds of clouds he was seeing. No joke.

When we landed I got to hear, "I see the Great Salt Lake, and big mountains topped with salt.  Or it's snow or salt, I don't know which."

Ah, but I was so happy to see those salt-covered mountains.  More importantly I was overjoyed to see that our bag made it to Utah with us.  It had just as hellish an ordeal getting on the plane as we did.

I love going on trips, and I love coming home.  Being in crazy different places really makes me appreciate home.

Now, to figure out where I'm going with the flight vouchers Delta gave us for cancelling our flight that ended up being uncancelled...