Well my friends, let me tell you, it has been QUITE a day!
Luckily, things started off pretty smoothly with our drive from Albany over to Hartford, CT. Jay and I got to chat along the way and watch the sun rise, which came along with the prettiest colored pink sky.
I laughed to myself when Jay brought up the saying, “Red……….” but I guess the same holds true for travelers…
I got to the airport in CT with no problems, and even had time to spare with checking in. However, my trip through security brought about roadblock #1. You see, I thought I had done really well with my packing, making sure that all liquids were the correct size, stored correctly, etc… Well apparently, I wasn’t thinking that hair products were included in that (DUH) and I had them in my carry-on. Before I knew it, BOOM, confiscated. Looks like somebody just made out with a brand new bottle of Redken hairspray and foam mousse. Hey Mom, looks like I’m going to need another one of those when I get back! 😳
I shook it off, realizing things could have been a lot worse, and decided to get myself settled with some breakfast. I made a pit-stop at Dunkin’ Donuts, ordering a veggie egg white flatbread sandwich, along with a toasted almond flavored iced coffee. It was my first time trying the toasted almond flavor and I must say, I am definitely a fan! 🙂
After boarding my plane, on came along roadblock #2. Our flight, which was due to connect in Baltimore, was delayed due to storms. Ok, no prob, we’ll just sit it out for a few extra minutes. Then the pilot announced that the Baltimore airport was shut down. Then I panicked. Then I realized I’d already been sitting on the plane for 35 minutes…
Finally, we were in the air, 45 minutes behind schedule. By the time we got into Baltimore, my connecting flight was long gone…roadblock #3. And after talking with the women at the counter, (who were incredibly rude by the way!) I was basically told that since my tickets were “Standby” passes, I was lowest on the priority list and it would be highly unlikely that I would leave on a Southwest flight today. Roadblock #4…awesome.
Following a mini breakdown in the middle of the Baltimore airport and a handful of calls to Jay, we figured that my best bet would be to just buy a ticket on another airline. At first I was angry, but then I just said “screw it” – I wanted OUT!
So I bought my ticket to Chicago and hopped onto another airline…which I then found out only flew into O’Hare Airport. My checked luggage was on its way to Midway Airport. Roadblock #6. Another mini-meltdown ensued. Followed by more phone calls. Which finally led to a game plan, thanks to Jay. A little research determined that a shuttle ride from one airport to the other would be my best bet, so that was the plan. Once I was finally able to sit down and take a breath, it was already 12:00 (a full hour after I should have already been in Chicago) and I realized I was hungry.
I snacked on about a gazillion handfuls of Vanilla Goldfish Grahams…
…and a Banana Streusel muffin that I packed for myself.
Finally, I was Chicago-bound!
To give you the short version of the rest of my day…
- Arrived in Chicago after sitting between a man was nauseating B.O. and a woman who was constantly sneezing and blowing her nose.
- Enjoyed a Sprite Zero, because it kept my nose out of other nauseating smells…
- Went to grab the shuttle that Jay arranged for me…after waiting an extra 20 minutes and calling, turns out the driver got a FLAT TIRE and was not coming to for pick up.
- Attempted another shuttle and missed it by 5 minutes.
- Rode on the “L” train for my first time solo…sat surrounded by a guy who had no idea about “personal space” and a group of young teenagers bragging about their latest theft binge…
- Took the train back to Midway from O’Hare to get my luggage that was left.
- Picked up a hommus plate from Starbucks because I was absolutely FAMISHED…
- Finally met up with Hillary at Midway, got back on the “L” and headed to the hotel.
- Just finished getting ready, and now we’re off to a par-taryyyy!
Thanks for reading about my horrific travel day. Let’s hope for smooth sailin’ from here on out! 😀
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