Chelsea, waiting to board our flight back to the States.
I woke up pretty easily ahead of the alarm clock this morning and went for a short walk while Chelsea showered and finished getting ready. The area where we stayed is really a good area for tourists and I found other ameneties (Starbucks, etc.) within a couple of blocks of the train station.
We got everything packed up and headed to the Tube station at 8:00a. It was pretty quiet during my walk around 7:30a, but now 30 minutes later it was busier with the business rush! We had spotted the lifts (elevators) in the Tube entrance that would let us by-pass having to navigate the stairs with our luggage and we didn't have to wait too long.
The Picadilly Tube line was a different story... the cars were jammed packed, but we managed to squeeze in with our luggage. I just put my luggage against the pole in the center of the car and hung on there knowing that which either side door opened, I'd be mostly "out of the way". The crowd thinned out as we made our way closer to Heathrow, but it took a bit longer than normal and we arrived at Heathrow terminal at about 9:30a!
I could really tell that Chelsea was having mixed feelings about going home - she seems to really enjoy the European way of life and I was sad that our travels together were coming to an end.
We made it thru the check-in process fine, it was just slow with the luggage drop-off being the slowest part of the process. Security was a breeze as we didn't have to take laptops out of their cases nor take our shoes off.
We got some coffee and a snack and I tried to stay on my feet as much as possible knowing that I had 9 plus hours in a plane to Chicago. We boarded the 767 and, much to our surprise, we ended up with an empty seat next to us so we had a bit more room to stretch out. The flight went ok, and I caught up on some blog entries, watched 3 movies, and napped a bit. The pilot had warned us that Chicago was having some weather issues, but that we were in good shape with plenty of extra fuel in case we got into a holding pattern trying to land at O'Hare. But, fortunately again, we were only about 20 minutes late landing and made it through customs without any issues.
Once we got to the domestic flight terminal it was a totally different story!!! Chicago was getting snow again and the gates were packed with people waiting on delayed flights or hoping for stand-by seats. Our flight was showing delayed until 8:45p so we tried to find a place to "hunker down". I had intentionally purchased United air tickets so that I would be on the same flight as Chelsea so that if there were delays we would be together. Nothing would suck more than being stuck in an airport on Christmas Eve by yourself.
Tensions were running high as many flights were being cancelled and travelers were having to play the "stand by" game. After a while, I went for a walk and to get some food. I was walking back with an order of McDonald's fries when Chelsea came running down the hall. They had bumped up our flight departure to 7:00p and she was afraid that I wasn't going to get back in time. We were some of the fortunate few - our flight's plane had made it into O'Hare and would be making the flight to Nashville!!!
We finally boarded about 7:20p and about 7 lucky people from the list of nearly 50 stand-by passengers made it on as well. The pilot told us it was going to be a bit of a wait while our fuel was topped off and the plane de-iced. Finally, about 8:30p, we pushed back from the gate and got into the taxi and take-off pattern. After nearly an hour of taxiing, the pilot came back on and said the precipitation had changed and that we had been taxiing too long and that we would be returning to the gate for more fuel and another de-icing! Of course, people were moaning and complaining, but I was just happy to be on board a flight that seemed like it was going to make it out that night. I envisioned having to stay in O'Hare for a day or two if our flight got cancelled.
Finally, around 10:30p we made it back to the take off pattern and got under way! The flight to Nashville arrived at 11:58p - we were indeed some of the lucky ones! Of course, our luggage hadn't made it with us so we had to fill out the missing luggage forms and were told it might be Christmas day before we get our luggage. I had no issue with the luggage - at least we would be at home and with family for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Chelsea had a couple of friends that met her at the airport so we stayed up late talking and visiting when we got home.
It has been a great trip and one that I won't forget! Especially to get to spend so much time with Chelsea and do some great things together!
In the words of a friend, Keith Misegades, "I am a lucky man!"
Happy Holidays to all and may 2009 bring you good fortune!
No comments:
Post a Comment