We set off from the Soo on the morning of the twenty seventh heading to Detroit to fly back to Wichita. We arranged our flight back to leave in the evening so we could spend as much time with our families as possible. The flight didn't leave until six at night so all we had to do was get up a little early and drive for six hours. Not bad, it goes by quickly. We even had time to stop by the grandparents house one last time for a quick coffee. The drive down was great, the weather cooperated and we caught just a little bit of snow.
We got to the airport about two and a half hours early. We had little to no traffic that interfered with the trip. Instead of going off somewhere and possibly losing track of time, we just had my parents drop us off. Sitting in a larger airport like Detroit isn't bad. There is stuff to see and do and walking around provides for great people watching. So there we sat, right by the gate. Reading, listening to music, talking, eating. All the while, it got foggier and foggier. It snowed for ten minutes and I started to think 'what if we get grounded here?' Our plane was twenty minutes late getting in, no big deal. We had an hour layover in Chicago. Maybe they are having some weather issues (come on, its Chicago!). The plane was unloaded, and then loaded. No sweat, just thirty minutes late now. Still time to run like hell to the next gate. And then....
'Uh folks, this is the captain. We are getting ready to head out we are just gonna make a stop to get some de-icer for the plane. It'll take about ten minutes' Shit. We sat behind several planes that had pilots that had the same idea.
I know it is important and I get it. Safety first, thankfully, not let's get in the air as soon as possible. We sat in that little plane for an hour before taking off. An hour! We were behind this group of college going to alternative spring break. They were off to save the world and were annoying as hell. The only bright spot was getting free alcohol from the airline for being patient with the delay. Andrea hooked me up with her free booze too. That was the best free whiskey I have ever tasted. Finally in the air I looked at my watch. The only thing that would save us would be a delay leaving Chicago.....
But no luck. We got off the plane only to find out we missed our connection by twenty minutes. Andrea collected her plane side checked bag and we talked to some flight person to find out about our options. By now we had been up for close to twelve hours. The next flight to Wichita wasn't until the next morning. We decided to get a flight to Kansas City and drive back home from there. What the hell. What's another three hours of driving. One problem. The luggage...
How was it going to get back to Wichita? We were told it would be put on the flight the next morning and we could pick it up when the flight got in. So off we went to board the plane to KCI. A little bit of a break in this now bleak day of travel. The flight went smoothly. No problems, no hitches, no plane de-icer. After landing in KC, we rented an over priced car and we drove. And by we, I mean me. Which is okay, I enjoy driving. We rolled into Wichita at two in the morning. I fell right to sleep. Dead tired. Only to have to wake up six hours later in order to return the rental and pick up the baggage, which did arrive. In one piece.
All in all, we were up and traveling for nineteen hours.
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