Travel for winter vacation

Ok so I have been putting off blogging about my winter vacation for some time, but have really wanted to do so... its just that I have so much to blog about!


The days leading up to Christmas were crazy. I was working almost every day at AFU and shopping and wrapping in my free time. On the 23rd I flew to San Fransisco where I was going to visit and stay with my dad's side of the family. My sister had decided to go to my moms house where it was a bit on the quieter side for the festivities. It was our second Christmas away from each other EVER... I miss seeing hanging with her for Christmas and waking her up in the morning and watching her open presents and cook, but I guess that's what happens when you start growing up and leading your own lives.

My flight was through Chicago which was conveniently having a wicked snow storm at the time. I had no idea what kind of weather was going on over there and decided that it wasn't important that I get to the airport earlier than needed. However when I arrived at the airport and found that there was a huge long line for my airline going to Chicago. I stood in line and thought that maybe it would move fast. Then I overheard people talking about how ALL the flights in, out and through Chicago had been cancelled. I started a mini panic and then calmed myself down by telling myself that panicking doesn't help any... so I calmly waited in line. Then I overheard more people chatting and started the casual chit chat in line and found out that people had been moved and changed and that no one was really getting in or out of Chicago and all this crazy stuff!

A cool (good looking) Asian guy in line told us about how he was scheduled to leave for Chicago the day before. He said that he asked about taking an early flight but the flight attendant persuaded him to stay on the one he was scheduled for. He got on the plane. The plane took off. And then... they said that the take off gear wasn't detracting back into the plane so they were going to land in Dulles. Yep he flew from Regan airport to Dulles airport (A whooping 25 miles apart). Everyone was rescheduled but due to the storm a lot of flights were cancelled so he was trying to get on one today!

It was cutting pretty short to the last check in time when I finally got to the airline teller. He checked me in. Didn't mention anything about any other flights being cancelled. Checked my baggage and handed me my ticket. I casually asked him if it looked like it was going to be on time and he said it would be. So I had no fears or worries, but was weary at the thought of nothing going "wrong" as of yet.

Got on the plane. Plane took off about 30 minutes late due to taxing. Easy 2 hour flight.

Oh but my travel luck HAS to hit at some point!!!

I only had 45 minutes between flights and we took off 30 minutes late. We also had to sit on the tarmac when we landed to De-ice really quick and wait for some planes that were ahead of us. At this point I was thinking... I missed my connecting flight.

Got off the plane finally after hearing some other horror travel stories from people who had been traveling for over 48 hours in some cases!!! I went to the monitor and noticed that my next flight had been delayed an hour and a half!! YAY! I was going to make it. I even had time to stop for some dinner. I had dinner at Chili's (the only one that I have ever seen that serves breakfast!) and headed to my gate.

I waited at the gate for an hour and the flight just kept getting delayed later and later. Then we had to change gates!

It always cracks me up how life works. As I am walking over to the new gate I am approached by an Asian looking guy who says "Excuse me. Umm... Gate Changey??" to which I reply "Nihonjin desu ka?" and he replies "Sugoi!! Hi Hi Nihonjin Desu! Nihongo wakaramasu ka?" and then I replied in my fantastic Janglish "Choto. Nihongo musukashi! I lived in Japan for three years. Yes our gate has changed. You can follow me." We chatted for a little bit while we walked over to our gate. Afterwards I smiled at the ironies-out of all the people at the gate, the one white heavy set female in the middle of Chicago airport knew some Japanese!! HA! Life.

We sat on the tarmac for another 40 minutes or so after we got on the plane so that we could de-ice again. De-icing was an entirely new concept to this California born and raised, lived in Hawaii and hates snow girl! It was entirely fascinating to watch!!! First they hose the entire plane down with some kind of liquid then they spray it with what I am assuming is anti-freeze. Its so cool!! I was totally enamoured.

My flight ended up being delayed a total of 4 hours and coming in within 20 minutes of my step-sister and her husbands flight. My dad ended up having to only go to the airport once that night! He was happy, I was tired and life was good. If only every time things got that delayed they worked out that perfectly!