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Adventures in Travel
Well. we're in Cincinnati, but it was looking for a while like we weren't going to make it here...
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sdavido and I got to the airport Friday morning around 8. We had already checked in online, so after checking our bags curbside (standing in the cold for 1/2 an hour - brrr! But the lines were longer inside), we headed for the gate. Our flight was supposed to leave at 9:15, with a brief layover in Vermont, getting into Cincinnati around 1 p.m.
The flight was supposed to start boarding at 8:45, but there was no announcement then, nor at 9, nor at 9:15... we eventually discovered that the plane was there and ready, but there was no crew. It seems that because of the snow in Cincinnati, they had never arrived in Boston. Ok, this is a problem...
Over the next couple hours, SD- trekked back and forth to the ticket desk, looking for news. They still didn't have a crew. And the lines at the counter, and the clumps of people sitting on the floor, were getting denser. Several flights were supposed to depart from that gate, and it seemed that all of them were delayed for one reason or another.
We discovered that there was an 11:30 flight to Cincinnati, but there was already a waiting list of people on standby - including several airline crew members going to other flights. The agent we'd been speaking to said she'd try to get us on, but she couldn't promise.
Aside from general frustration, we had to reach SD-'s parents before Shabbos started at sunset (about 5 p.m. in Cincinnati)... if we couldn't get there in time, we would have to cancel our tickets (and somehow get our luggage back), and figure out when to reschedule.
Around noon, they announced that they had planes and crews for both the 9:15 Vermont and 11:30 Cincinnati flights. Finally! But there was a question as to whether there would still be a plane going from Vermont to Cincinnati. We got in line to find out, and were told they weren't sure. We didn't want to be stuck at the Vermont airport for 2 days, so we resigned ourselves to giving up, and asked if we could get our luggage back. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people at the counter at once, and by the time we were able to get someone's attention, the plane to Vermont had taken off with our luggage.
We panicked calmly (if such a thing is possible) at the agent. She did some searching and found a flight leaving for Cincinnati at 1 p.m. from a different gate, which she was able to get us onto (though not sitting together). We asked what we did about finding our luggage once we got there, and she said that the Vermont-to-Cincinnati plane would arrive shortly after ours did. Seems there was going to be one after all. Argh!
So we hurried across the airport to the other gate, and inquired as to whether we might be able to sit together. The agent said to check back in a few minutes. While we were waiting, we struck up a conversation with a young lady who had been at the other gate, and who, it turns out, had been trying to get to Cincinnati since Thursday morning. She was trying to get onto this plane, too...
We were able to get our seats switched to sit together, thankfully. Of course, when we actually got on the plane, someone was sitting in one of them. But fortunately the stewardess was able to find him another seat, and he didn't mind moving.
You can imagine our relief when the plane actually took off! And we discovered during the flight that our friend from the gate had made it on at the last minute. Now we just had to worry about finding our luggage when we got there, and making it to the house on time.
We landed at about 3:30. But we didn't actually get off the plane until 3:45, as they were having trouble getting the jetway over some ice. Sigh. We hurried to the baggage claim area, and saw that the plane from Vermont was scheduled to land in a few minutes. SD- went to the baggage service office, and discovered that there was a line wrapping around the room. The wait was estimated at 2 hours. Gulp! We decided that we'd be better off just waiting for the other plane to land. In the meantime, we were trying to connect with the car-service driver who was picking us up (his family always uses the same person - we've gotten to know each other fairly well).
Once a carousel was announced for the Vermont flight, we went over to wait for our bags. Mine (which is a bright pink chosen because it stands out) appeared shortly. But SD's bag (large, black, and, unfortunately, similar to 75% of the bags on the carousel) was not visible. The fact that there was luggage from 9 flights on that carousel was not helping matters.
We waited as long as we dared - with SD- attempting calls to the baggage service office, which was steadily busy - but eventually we had to leave. We were very disappointed at not having the contents of the bag (SD-'s clothing, my boots, gifts for the family), and SD- was worried that in the current chaos, by the time we could call in after Shabbos, there would be no chance of finding it.
The van driver (who we had found along the way) was very sympathetic. She kindly offered to take our luggage ticket and go by the airport later that night, after dinner at her sister's, and see what she could find out. We were, of course, tremendously grateful.
We arrived at SD-'s parents' house just as it was starting to get dark. Whew! But their driveway hadn't been plowed yet, the snow was about a foot deep, and my boots were in the missing suitcase. SD- sloshed in for a couple plastic bags for me to put over my shoes. After all the uncertainty, we were very glad to get there.
Later that evening, a bit after 11, there was a knock on the door. The van driver had brought our missing suitcase! She and her daughter went to the airport after dinner, and after searching through a sea of luggage (she estimated 500 suitcases, most of them black), they somehow found it. As you can imagine, we were thrilled, and very grateful! We're going to pick up something nice for her as a thank-you...
Tonight, we've been making arrangements to get together with various friends and relatives while we're in town. The time is going to go by very quickly. Our schedule of who we're seeing when at the moment looks like this:
Sunday afternoon - SD-'s brother N & his fiancee F
Sunday night - friends G & D
Monday afternoon - aunt H (possibly see cousin D earlier)
Monday night - cousin G
Tuesday afternoon - friend S (possibly cousin D, if not before)
Tuesday night - sisterjoecoustic :-)
Wednesday - return home
If possible, we want to try and fit in aunt B, friends R & W, and friends M & B, as well. As I said the time's going to go by very quickly! We want to try and get SD- fitted for a tuxedo for N & F's wedding while we're here, too.
Not sure whether I'll get to answer mail and read posts while we're here - I just had to post an update about our trip! But if not, I'll try to catch up when we get home. Hopefully the trip home will be nice and boring!
sdavido and I got to the airport Friday morning around 8. We had already checked in online, so after checking our bags curbside (standing in the cold for 1/2 an hour - brrr! But the lines were longer inside), we headed for the gate. Our flight was supposed to leave at 9:15, with a brief layover in Vermont, getting into Cincinnati around 1 p.m.The flight was supposed to start boarding at 8:45, but there was no announcement then, nor at 9, nor at 9:15... we eventually discovered that the plane was there and ready, but there was no crew. It seems that because of the snow in Cincinnati, they had never arrived in Boston. Ok, this is a problem...
Over the next couple hours, SD- trekked back and forth to the ticket desk, looking for news. They still didn't have a crew. And the lines at the counter, and the clumps of people sitting on the floor, were getting denser. Several flights were supposed to depart from that gate, and it seemed that all of them were delayed for one reason or another.
We discovered that there was an 11:30 flight to Cincinnati, but there was already a waiting list of people on standby - including several airline crew members going to other flights. The agent we'd been speaking to said she'd try to get us on, but she couldn't promise.
Aside from general frustration, we had to reach SD-'s parents before Shabbos started at sunset (about 5 p.m. in Cincinnati)... if we couldn't get there in time, we would have to cancel our tickets (and somehow get our luggage back), and figure out when to reschedule.
Around noon, they announced that they had planes and crews for both the 9:15 Vermont and 11:30 Cincinnati flights. Finally! But there was a question as to whether there would still be a plane going from Vermont to Cincinnati. We got in line to find out, and were told they weren't sure. We didn't want to be stuck at the Vermont airport for 2 days, so we resigned ourselves to giving up, and asked if we could get our luggage back. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people at the counter at once, and by the time we were able to get someone's attention, the plane to Vermont had taken off with our luggage.
We panicked calmly (if such a thing is possible) at the agent. She did some searching and found a flight leaving for Cincinnati at 1 p.m. from a different gate, which she was able to get us onto (though not sitting together). We asked what we did about finding our luggage once we got there, and she said that the Vermont-to-Cincinnati plane would arrive shortly after ours did. Seems there was going to be one after all. Argh!
So we hurried across the airport to the other gate, and inquired as to whether we might be able to sit together. The agent said to check back in a few minutes. While we were waiting, we struck up a conversation with a young lady who had been at the other gate, and who, it turns out, had been trying to get to Cincinnati since Thursday morning. She was trying to get onto this plane, too...
We were able to get our seats switched to sit together, thankfully. Of course, when we actually got on the plane, someone was sitting in one of them. But fortunately the stewardess was able to find him another seat, and he didn't mind moving.
You can imagine our relief when the plane actually took off! And we discovered during the flight that our friend from the gate had made it on at the last minute. Now we just had to worry about finding our luggage when we got there, and making it to the house on time.
We landed at about 3:30. But we didn't actually get off the plane until 3:45, as they were having trouble getting the jetway over some ice. Sigh. We hurried to the baggage claim area, and saw that the plane from Vermont was scheduled to land in a few minutes. SD- went to the baggage service office, and discovered that there was a line wrapping around the room. The wait was estimated at 2 hours. Gulp! We decided that we'd be better off just waiting for the other plane to land. In the meantime, we were trying to connect with the car-service driver who was picking us up (his family always uses the same person - we've gotten to know each other fairly well).
Once a carousel was announced for the Vermont flight, we went over to wait for our bags. Mine (which is a bright pink chosen because it stands out) appeared shortly. But SD's bag (large, black, and, unfortunately, similar to 75% of the bags on the carousel) was not visible. The fact that there was luggage from 9 flights on that carousel was not helping matters.
We waited as long as we dared - with SD- attempting calls to the baggage service office, which was steadily busy - but eventually we had to leave. We were very disappointed at not having the contents of the bag (SD-'s clothing, my boots, gifts for the family), and SD- was worried that in the current chaos, by the time we could call in after Shabbos, there would be no chance of finding it.
The van driver (who we had found along the way) was very sympathetic. She kindly offered to take our luggage ticket and go by the airport later that night, after dinner at her sister's, and see what she could find out. We were, of course, tremendously grateful.
We arrived at SD-'s parents' house just as it was starting to get dark. Whew! But their driveway hadn't been plowed yet, the snow was about a foot deep, and my boots were in the missing suitcase. SD- sloshed in for a couple plastic bags for me to put over my shoes. After all the uncertainty, we were very glad to get there.
Later that evening, a bit after 11, there was a knock on the door. The van driver had brought our missing suitcase! She and her daughter went to the airport after dinner, and after searching through a sea of luggage (she estimated 500 suitcases, most of them black), they somehow found it. As you can imagine, we were thrilled, and very grateful! We're going to pick up something nice for her as a thank-you...
Tonight, we've been making arrangements to get together with various friends and relatives while we're in town. The time is going to go by very quickly. Our schedule of who we're seeing when at the moment looks like this:
Sunday afternoon - SD-'s brother N & his fiancee F
Sunday night - friends G & D
Monday afternoon - aunt H (possibly see cousin D earlier)
Monday night - cousin G
Tuesday afternoon - friend S (possibly cousin D, if not before)
Tuesday night - sister
joecoustic :-)Wednesday - return home
If possible, we want to try and fit in aunt B, friends R & W, and friends M & B, as well. As I said the time's going to go by very quickly! We want to try and get SD- fitted for a tuxedo for N & F's wedding while we're here, too.
Not sure whether I'll get to answer mail and read posts while we're here - I just had to post an update about our trip! But if not, I'll try to catch up when we get home. Hopefully the trip home will be nice and boring!
no subject
Go to Home Depot and get some surveyor's tape- it's this fluorescent plastic, non-adhesive tape surveyors use to tie around trees, stakes, etc. to mark boundaries, lines and so on that they've measured.
The stuff is pretty eye-catching, and if you tie some on the handle of your luggage, you'll spot it a bit easier.
Best if you take about four feet of it, fold it in quarters (so you have four layers) and tie it that way- it'll be more robust and baggage handler-resistant.
Your challenge will be to find some in a colour that will match your outfit. :-)
no subject