I remember the old commercials that asked “What would you do
for a Klondike bar?” Well, the question
that could be asked about my Spring Break is “What would you do to get to a
conference to present?” aka “What would you do for a line on your vita?” The
answer, in short, is ignore all possible bad omens and push on obstinately
through conditions that could, with different choices, be avoided. Now, I’m
not whining. I know that many people have suffered a great deal more through
the weather this winter. I’m not even
complaining. I look back on this as an unforgettable
experience. But it is also worth sharing, if only so that others can read it
and be glad it didn’t happen to them. And with that preface, let the tale
begin:
Friday morning was beautiful and sunny on the gulf coast of
Florida. Hubby and I were packed and ready to head to San Angelo, Texas, where
I would be presenting at an autoethnography conference. I had prepared and
practiced my presentation. As we put our luggage into the trunk of the car,
hubby crushed his thumb trying to put the handle back down. We later referred
to this as the first omen. After a little colorful language, we both shook
our heads and hopped in the car for the drive to the airport.
As is tradition, we went through the drive through of a
local restaurant (using the term loosely) and ordered hubby’s drive-time
coffee. It’s not a trip until the coffee
has been received. (Other coffee
drinkers will, I suppose, understand. I
am not one of these, thus I consider it a quaint and cute habit.) With coffee in hand, we hit the road again. A few moments
later, I heard a Charlie Brown-esque cry of “Well, dammit!” The coffee order
was incorrect. Thus, omen number two.
We arrived at the airport and got through security with no
trouble. We had packed only carry-on luggage – a small suitcase and another bag
each. At the gate, it was announced that
we could gate-check any luggage we wanted as a courtesy. Woo hoo! That saves the money we would have
spent checking it earlier and also saves us from trying to find space for it in
the overhead bins on the plane. With a smug smile on my face, I pulled hubby up
with me to check our carry-on bags. That would be the last time we would see
those bags….perhaps ever. The airline
still does not know where our bags are.
We dutifully turned our phones to airplane mode before even boarding,
and enjoyed a smooth flight to Dallas. As we landed, I turned my phone back on
and received a voice mail from the airline; it had been received while we were
still on the runway in Tampa. It
informed us that our connecting flight to San Angelo had been cancelled. No
flight. So, what to do? Do we wait for the rescheduled flight they
have us on the next morning? The weather report did not look promising.
So, we made a decision. We decided to go
home. After a lot of waiting, we got
booked for a flight that evening back to Tampa. And we got comfortable (as
possible) in the terminal. Then....one flight
home…..cancelled. Then two…..then three.
By this time, Dallas hotels were booked. People were starting to crowd the airport and
there was talk of cots and spending the night.
Hubby & I made another decision.
Car rental to the rescue! We made our way to the car rental hub with the
original intention of driving home, perhaps via New Orleans. (Spring break, after all.) When we got to the
rental counter, though, we began debating.
Could we make it to San Angelo by car? I had worked hard on my
presentation. I had even practiced it
for my students. And if we rented the car for a one-way trip, there would be an
extra $500 fee. Yep, we decided to try driving to San Angelo. So, off we went,
on Interstate 20.
To call this a bad idea would be understating it
slightly. The good news was I had driven
in bad weather before and those skills came right back to me. I skidded and
slid, but never lost control of that rental car. We saw overturned semis and vehicles of all
sorts that had slid right off the road. After about four hours of driving which
covered less than two hours of normal-weather driving, we decided to stop. Alas, there were no hotel rooms to be had! We
stopped at a Taco Bell and began searching on-line for an available hotel room. We found one about an hour away (again,
normal drive time) and called to make the reservation. Only about two miles
after merging back on the interstate, traffic came to a sudden and complete
halt. It was not the kind of traffic
that people call “stopped” but is actually moving a few miles an hour. Nope,
this traffic was moving zero miles per hour.
Starting at 11:00 p.m. (1:00 am my time) and continuing for nearly four
hours, we sat on I20. Occasionally we
would turn the car back on to warm the inside.
We attempted to sleep. We
entertained ourselves by telling silly stories and, yes, whining. And laughing.
A lot. Really, it was quite a
ridiculous situation. What were we
doing?
Finally, we saw a lone human coming our way. Good news! The right lane was now open. It was recommended that we stop at the next
rest stop, park, and sleep. Sounds
reasonable. Did we follow this
reasonable advice? Of course not! We had
a hotel reservation. That bed was
calling my name. It couldn’t be too much
further! (Ha!)
We finally arrived at our hotel in Abilene at 6:00 a.m. We had been recorded as a no-show and charged
for the room. Since we had paid for it, we asked to please have it for the few hours left before check out. It took a few minutes to
get into our room and pass out in the comfort of the bed. We also indicated that we would need the room
for two more nights. Playing it safe.
Saturday morning, I called the airline to see about getting
a flight home. After waiting on hold for
a long time, it hangs up on me. The web
site for the airline is also down.We go to Target to get clothes, since all we have is what we are wearing. By Sunday the airline phone lines have a
message saying that there is too much call volume, followed by being
disconnected. Web site still down.
I woke up Monday morning and immediately picked up the
phone. Success! Well, somewhat. I was asked to leave a number so that I could
receive a call back in about an hour. The call back did actually take place in
that time! Hoorah! The nice
representative on the phone booked us for a flight Tuesday evening at
7:00. At about 11:00 I got an e-mail confirmation
of our flight. I checked it. Thank
heavens I checked it! Flight set for 7:00 MONDAY. We checked out of the hotel and headed back
to Dallas.
We returned the rental car and got a shuttle back to the
airport. The wrong airport. (I forgot that Dallas has two.) One fifty
dollar cab ride later, we made it to the right airport and began the wait for
our flight home. We boarded. We waited.
The pilot announced that our flight was waiting for someone from
maintenance to come fix a loose wire in the luggage compartment. Then they
needed to get a part. Hubby and I were
giggling louder with each announcement.
It was par for the course. It was, amazingly enough, less than an
hour.
We arrived home, exhausted.
And happy. And there was no
question that ours is a strong marriage.
Not once did we snap at each other.
We laughed together at every new obstacle. We entertained each other. And we returned home safely. We were fortunate. And foolish. So, what would I do? Apparently, I would forget common sense and
drive through conditions that no one should take a car out in.
