On Travel
This has been an excellent trip. It has been wonderful to trade in the “silver and gold” of friends old and new.
Flying, however, stinks. Pungently.
On the way out, I will admit, it was my fault. Neither of the two alarms I set went off, and when I woke up 3 hours after I was supposed to leave the house, panic was the name of the game. And yet, thanks to the amazing work of a brilliant United ticket agent at the Charleston airport, I reached my destination on time.
I thought my travel woes for the trip were over, but boy was I wrong. The Amtrak leg worked great yesterday–even to the point of being comfortable. I slept the whole way. The Super Shuttle leg from Amtrak to airport also worked great, with only one small glitch from a person that apparently didn’t understand the concept of “ride-sharing.” Had a great conversation with my driver, who had only been in the U.S. for five years after moving from Cameroon.
And then I got to the airport, and all I have been hearing since is “weather.” Weather delayed my flight last night, causing me to miss my connection to Charleston. Weather caused my morning flight to be cancelled earlier today, meaning I’m still in Virginia. But weather better not mess with the ticket that I have in my pocket, set to depart at 4:45 tonight. I have already lost another full day of work during a very busy time, not to mention the extra vacation day.
But as I have said over and over today, I am grateful that I have friends in Northern Virginia–and that those friends are willing to bail me out. Thanks to Pete and Kelly, and of course Piper, for the housing last night and airport ride early this morning, Katie for the other rides today, and all the HSLDA folks for giving me such a warm welcome on my unexpected visit today. You all turned a massive inconvenience into a huge blessing.