We were supposed to have left Aspen yesterday at 5:45. By around 11:00 last night I was suppposed to have seen my child, kissed his fat cheeks, and rejoiced at being back home No such luck.
We got to the airport yesterday around 4:30 only to be greeted by a really long check-in line. At first, I was just worried about the length of the line. Then it hit me--the line wasn't moving. At all. Anthony went to check the departure board. When he came back, the look on his face wasn't reassuring. He then said words that I absolutely didn't want to hear, "Our flight to Denver is delayed. We're going to miss our connection." Let me tell you, it was all I could do not to cry. We continued to wait in an epic line in order to speak with the airline about our options. After waiting about an hour and 1/2, the attendant came over the loud speaker and announced that our flight was now canceled. I thought I would puke. Everyone in line around us was panicking, including me.
Flights couldn't get out due to high winds in the mountains.
Snow was due to move in overnight.
All flights the next day were completely booked because of spring-breakers, and even those flights might not get out.
All shuttles to Denver had already left for the day.
And did I mention there was a huge rock slide last week that blocked part of the highway from Aspen to Denver?
I'm pretty sure I looked completely crazed. Actually, I know I did.
As I continued to stand in a meaningless line, Anthony left to see what else we could do. He returned with rental car keys and the news that we were going to make the supposedly 3 hour drive to Denver so that we could hopefully have more options. As we were leaving, we noticed another desperate-looking woman with a 7-year-old boy. Anthony stopped and offered to give her a ride. As soon as she opened her mouth, we knew she was from the South. Hilarious. Turns out she's from Memphis, TN.
So there we were--4 Southerners heading out in a rented Toyota Corolla trying to drive to Denver. We made it with relative ease through the rockslide area, and we felt like we had made the right decision. Until it started pouring snow and ice. Nothing is more reassuring than seeing signs that say, "Sharp incline ahead," or, "Check your brakes," or, "Trucks must use tire chains," as your husband is driving through mountains on solid sheets of ice. I prayed a lot last night--a whole lot. It went a little something like this--"Dear God, just please let us see our child again. I don't want him to be an orphan."
After driving for almost 2 hours in the ice, we decided to pull over and check into a hotel. It was after 10:00, and we were exhausted. Poor Anthony was spent, and he didn't think we should risk driving in the ice any more even though we were less than 20 miles from Denver. We all agreed.
After checking in, we got on the phone with the airline again and tried to reschedule our flight. We got some pretty good news--they could get us on a 10:45 flight today, which would put us in Memphis at 2:30. Awesome. The lady confirmed the flight and said she would e-mail us the itinerary. There was just one problem--when we got the itinerary we understood why it was so easy for her to reschedule--she booked our flight for January 15, 2011. I am not making this up. We had to call back, AGAIN. We finally got in touch with a lady who understood our situation, and she explained that the only flight available was a 7:30 flight tonight. They couldn't do anything more because flights were already a mess due to storms here and on the East Coast. Everything left was booked because of spring break.
So here I sit, in a hotel in Evergreen, CO, praying that our 7:30 flight tonight actually gets off the ground.
If they make a sequel to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, we may be starring in it.
1 comments:
oh no! I feel so bad for you guys! I know that you are dying to get back and see sweet Sam! I will say a little prayer that you get to take off tonight!
Post a Comment