It's not where I expected to be today... oh, well...My flight to Chicago was supposed to leave last night at 7:05. We boarded at 7:20 or so. Once the plane was all boarded, the captain announced that storms in Chicago were preventing flights from leaving or landing at O'Hare Airport, so the plane was deboarded and we were told to wait until further notice.
At 8:15, the weather in Detroit had worsened, including flashes of lightning, so all flights from Detroit were delayed. My connecting flight to Heathrow was on a different airline and would board in O'Hare at 8:50 (Chicago time, that is -- one hour earlier than here) and would leave at 9:50. I worried and considered and talked to the gate people and called the other airline, and in the end... well... I didn't get on the plane.
When I left at 8:45, the plane was still there, reboarded but not yet on the runway. If I had been connecting at any other airport, I would have taken the risk. Let's say it got out on the runway at 9 o'clock. The other departures were delayed too, so let's say it got off the ground at 9:10. It would have got into Chicago at 9:30 Chicago time. Then let's give it some time to get itself to the gate and whatnot. Last time I was at O'Hare, I had to stand in a long, snaking line of people going through security at a snail's pace. That cuts my connection time down to five or ten minutes right there to get to the gate.
I suspect my brave and fearless mother would have risked it. But I didn't dare. I couldn't do it! I'd have been chewing my nails off the whole trip and then running like a maniac and then maybe not even making it, and then there I'd be, stuck in Chicago. I even called to see if the flight to Heathrow was listed as being delayed, but apparently it wasn't, or at least the phone information hadn't been updated if it was.
The good news is, they gave me a travel voucher for 300 dollars! Whoo hoo! Scott and I can go on some fun little journey sometime this summer.
Meanwhile, they re-booked me for today and sent me on my way. Scott came and got me. Here I am. At home.
Sigh...!
The challenge will be tracking down my luggage. I keep getting conflicting stories: it's probably in Chicago, it's probably already in Belfast, it's probably at Heathrow. No one can tell me anything.
If I don't get my luggage, I will be wearing jeans and a T-shirt to Peter and Jilly's wedding. Not to mention wearing those same jeans and same T-shirt the whole rest of the week, too. I put everything in that suitcase!
Cross your fingers for me!
