Airport Adventures

I seem to have the worst luck flying anymore. In fact I joke that I can’t live back east because every time I try to fly back there something goes wrong. But this time it happened on my way home!!! I went to leave for my trip home and everything was going smooth. I made it through security and they started to board the plane and then the plane must have done something naughty because it became grounded and they were deboarding my plane. (Well…. Actually it was fog in Atlanta but naughty planes is much more interesting.) I went to see if I would make my connection in Atlanta and they told us all that we were fine. Then they announce that if you are going to these 7 different connections that you need to come talk to customer service. I go up and the guy tells me the next available flight lands in Phoenix at 11:00 PM the next day. I am supposed to be home in time for Marc to get the priesthood the next day and so that is just not going to work. I ask him what time the flight leaves and if I have ANY other options. He says the flight leaves at 5:50 AM and that I don’t. I do the calculations and realize I have about 12 hours before my plane is supposed to leave the next morning and I tearfully tell him to change my flight. He prints off my new boarding pass and I walk away. (Now… up to this point the customer service guy has been less than helpful and I am not impressed at all. He would be like midsentence with someone and then answer his cell phone and was very rude to everyone. Well actually he never became more helpful. Back to the story…) I look at my boarding pass and it says I am landing in Phoenix at 11:20 AM. Well now I am just confused because he clearly said PM when he was talking to me. It also said that my flight was leaving from gate ?. Now I don’t know if you have ever tried to find gate ? but it is really hard. I think it is next to gate ; but I couldn’t be 100% sure. So I called my personal travel agent (Melissa) and ask her to check my flight for me. I want to know which gate and when the thing actually lands. Sure enough it does land at 11:20 AM (that is a good thing) but it still out of gate ? (not a good thing). So I joke around with Melissa and my Mom as I call home and tell them that I am not coming home that night. Marc wasn’t as easy to joke around with….he was a little upset with it. I can’t say I blame him but I needed to find those silver linings. Anyway, at one point I asked my Mom if she wanted the good news or the bad news first. She says the bad news and I tell her that I am not coming home that night. She asks what the good news is and I say that I don’t have to worry about looking like Frankenstein the next morning at breakfast. Marc’s family was planning on coming over for breakfast and for those of you who have ever had the privilege of seeing me get out of bed…. I am so sorry. I do look like a very scary version of Frankenstein. Anyway, so I knew that I would be spending my morning in the airport and so I wouldn’t have to worry about frightening the future in-laws. I also said that I would just spend the 12 hours in the airport. I kept calling it a “bloggable moment” and said that I had been looking for one and this was my chance. I needed a new adventure and I was a big girl now so I would be just fine. I was all set with my plan. I didn’t want to spend the money on a hotel and to go home would be a little ridiculous because it would take 2 hours to drive one way and that meant adding 8 hours to someone else’s day and I just couldn’t do that. They would have but I figured I would be just fine. I called Melissa to tell her that G.T. would be picking me up from the airport and she was worried about me sleeping in the airport. I kept trying to convince her that I was fine and everything was good and then the mice came out. Yes I did say mice and not mouse. There were 2 very friendly mice. (When I told my family this story later they said I should have fed them or talked to them or made friends with them like Cinderella. But if I fed them they would have never gone away and I am not crazy enough to talk to rodents and mice are gross!!) So anyway, I was on the phone, probably midsentence, and I see the mice and start freaking out. Melissa at this point told me she was booking me a hotel and I didn’t argue with her this time, especially when I could hear a 3rd one coming to visit his other little furry friends. So I went to tell the closet TSA agent that the airport had mice and he casually told me they were the airport mascot. GROSS!!!! YUCK!!! DISGUSTING!!! I left that terminal so fast… I was probably a blur.

So I went outside and caught the shuttle to the hotel and stayed the night there is a nice big bed, with no mice, and not having to worry about other people being there while I slept. It was wonderful. It did take me awhile to get to the point where I was warm enough to sleep though. I woke up early and went to the airport and tried this whole leaving thing again. I made it all the way home and made it to be able to see Marc get the priesthood and I was so grateful I did. It was wonderful to spend the day with my family and his family and get to be there for all of it…. Well most of it…. Well some of it. (I was really late!)

So some side notes to this already ridiculously long post. On the way to Atlanta there were these two women who I swear were still stuck in high school even though they were clearly in to the airport and tried this whole leaving thing again. I made it all the way home and made it to be able to see Marc get the priesthood and I was so grateful I did. It was wonderful to spend the day with my family and his family and get to be there for all of it…. Well most of it…. Well some of it. (I was really late!)

So some side notes to this already ridiculously long post. On the way to Atlanta there were these two women who I swear were still stuck in high school even though they were clearly in their 40s. They needed some tips on how to dress modestly… it was disgusting! I also found out that I am planning my wedding ALL wrong because I was planning like this lady’s niece. Her niece is planning her wedding and had the audacity to ask the women in her bridal party what they wanted to wear. Apparently she should have just dictated all decisions. I have also asked the women in my bridal party and so I am going to apologize for asking their opinion…even though I am still basing my decision on it. I also found out that it is atrocious that I don’t know exactly what I want to be when I grow up. Apparently following the Spirit and knowing I will figure it out eventually is not good enough. Silly people on planes. They do make the trip really interesting though. I don’t think this will be a trip I forget for a very long time. But I am hoping the plane ride back goes a little smoother than the one out here did.