OK - that's probably a little over-dramatic. It's not my worst nightmare - I have much worse that involve blood, crashing etc. However, last night was a doozy. My DD and I were flying to Chicago to see my family. I had actually changed my flight earlier in the week to a day earlier because of a pending ice storm in Seattle, so I thought we were going to be fine. I was very lucky to secure two first class seats (lucky baby!) and was prepared for a long, uneventful flight. Well, as we were leaving the house around 4 PM, it started to flurry...I had a bad feeling. We got to the airport, went through security easily and i headed to the gate. While I was in the airport, they switched the gate THREE times and not just little switches like C12 to C4, but entire terminals. UGH. So we schlep over to the N terminal, I secure some food for my daughter and we snack before the flight. I planned this flight b/c it' coincides with her bedtime - I was very optimistic she'd sleep the whole flight leaving me is silent bliss. Well...you know what they say about the best laid plans.
We got on the flight a little bit late and got settled. Family after family passed us so I was warmed to know there were a few babies on the flight including one other in first class. The snow was dumping at this point and the wind had picked up to about 30-40 miles an hour. Everyone got on the flight and we weren't' going anywhere. DD has limited patience for immobility, so it was starting to get frustrating for her, me and everyone around us. They had to de-ice the plane and that took about 30 min. We FINALLY pushed back from the gate about 1.5 hrs after scheduled take off and I called my folks to let them know. They were planning to pick me up in Chicago at 11:30 PM which made me feel bad, so this made me feel worse - they were going to be there at 1:00 AM! We get out to the runway and are in queue. The pilot sends back the first mate to check the wings for ice before we take off. Of course, we need more de-icer - so back to the terminal. They can't find a working gate so they park near one that doesn't work. Long story short, they de-ice teh plan and then 5 min later cancel the flight. As we were at a non-functioning gate, they had to bring up stairs and all of us had to descend from the back of the plane down VERY VERY slippery stairs, walk across the tarmac to the jet way and up some more VERY VERY slippery stairs. Thank god there were kind people that helped me carry things b/c we had the car seat, diaper bag, another bag...oh yeah the baby AND I'm pregnant.
There was a very kind woman (Pamela) who let me use her phone and I found out that I'd already been rebooked. I still headed into the terminal to get my bag, call my husband and check on my ticket. While waiting in line I saw so many moms and babies. One gal had a 2 month old and this other gal (Alissa) had a 10 month old - she happened to be the same gal from my flight! I felt so awful b/c she was separated from her husband who was stuck in Juneau with their three year old and she had no idea what she was going to do. I invited her and her son back to our house for the night and they stayed with us. We actually had a nice time and she was reunited with her husband and daughter this afternoon. Unfortunately, I just heard that all Alaska Air flights were cancelled again - I hope they either found their way home or a hotel room!
Well - what's the moral of the story? There are some very nice people in the world - nothing like a humbling experience to bring people together. A personal thanks to all the kind people who helped me with bags or offered to hold Piper in case my arms were tired. :) It makes me want to be a nicer person.
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