Due to airline prices, we chose to fly back to Florida yesterday. It turned out to be a long, long day.
6:00 AM (CST): The alarm woke us up to a winter wonderland. We wondered why the only time we saw snow this trip was on the drive home from Milwaukee on December 16 and yesterday morning, when we were set to drive back to Milwaukee to catch our flight. No snow at Christmas time. Just snow during our travel times. The area had 4 - 6 inches predicted. At 1:00 AM the ground was still bare, but by the time we arose, we had a good two inches covering the roads and landscape. A white Christmas would have been fine; a white new year I could have done without.
7:00 AM (CST): We were packed, the house was shut down, and we were on the road. The white-knuckled drive from Green Bay until just south of Fond du Lac was snow-covered and slippery. As we drove further south, the snow turned to rain so the roads were wet without (thank God) being covered with ice as we had feared. We spent some time in Mayfair Mall, had a quick early lunch of Mall-grub, and were on our way to the airport.
11:30 AM (CST): We arrived at Mitchell Field and returned the rental car. Our flight was not due to depart until 2:55 PM, so we had plenty of time to kill before they called our flight. Since we both had pre-TSA approval, getting through Security was simple. We were carrying two pounds of sealed, aged Wisconsin cheddar cheese which we thought might be questioned; however, our bag was scanned and approved with no questions or problems.
2:55 PM (CST): We were glad to spend the time in the airport rather than battling the elements because rain mixed with freezing rain and snow continued to fall from the sky. Nearly on time, we were called to board our flight. Within half an hour, we were loaded and ready to roll. So far, so good.
3:30 PM (CST): The pilot taxied the plane out to the runway and then announced that we were being routed into an area where freezing men on giant lifts could de-ice the wings of the plane. He told us that the de-icing would take about 45 minutes. It did.
4:15 PM (CST): After the wings were de-iced, the pilot announced that we were cleared for take-off. We taxied for a couple more turns and down a couple more runways until we were poised for take-off. Down the runway we rolled, gathering momentum... for a moment. Then we did not accelerate anymore. Rick said, "Oh-oh. We're not taking off. We're not going fast enough."
4:20 PM (CST): My husband is so smart. As the plane decelerated, the pilot announced that a warning light had come on and that they had to get the plane checked out. The good news, he told us, was that a mechanic was at the airport, so once we had the problem fixed, we shortly would be on our way. Yeah, right. The mechanic came aboard, and after about 20 minutes, the pilot again was talking to us. He explained that we would be taxing back to the terminal because the mechanic had to shut down the whole plane.
4:45 PM (CST): We were told to de-plane and to take all of our luggage with us. This task, of course, took another half hour as we had 132 people on board. Since lunch had been early, we were hungry as we waited for news on the plane, so Rick went to Auntie Anne's Pretzels and bought us each a big pretzel to munch on. Such a romantic, gourmet dinner for our anniversary!
5:20 PM (CST): The desk attendant announced that we would soon be re-boarding the plane. Uh, oops, what? OK. The desk attendant apologized a few minutes later as he announced that when the mechanics started the plane, ANOTHER warning light came on. Not good, however, the news was still better than learning about those idiot lights blinking at 30,000 feet!
6:15 PM (CST): The desk attendant announced that our plane was grounded but that the airline was looking for another plane to take us to Tampa. We all breathed a sigh of relief as none of us really wanted to board a plane with mechanical problems. I asked others standing around us if they wanted to share the price of a cab to Tampa but had no takers.
7:00 PM (CST): We were told that a plane was coming in from Las Vegas, and that we would be able to take that plane to Tampa. We were moved to another gate so we would not be in the way of other passengers who were booked on flights that WERE leaving on time. We were told that we would be taking off at approximately 8:00 PM and arriving in Tampa at 11:40 PM (read: 12:40 AM EST). Rick called the SuperShuttle to tell them that our plane was delayed and that we would not be arriving until after midnight. They assured him that SuperShuttle ran 24/7 and that an agent would be on duty until at least 1:00 AM.
7:15 PM (CST): Rumors started circulating that we would get a voucher from the airlines, and soon after that, we were told to line up in two general alphabetical lines (A-L to the right, M - Z to the left) to receive our vouchers. We learned that if a plane was delayed due to mechanical problems for more than two hours, the airline would give each paying passenger a flight voucher. We each received a $200 voucher for future flights. That action probably quelled the mob mentality that was starting to brew among the hungry, irritated, exhausted passengers.
8:00 PM (CST): We all boarded the plane (again) and were then sent to get the plane de-iced (again). Finally, we left the ground. Applause broke out among the passengers. The pilot said, "Think of it this way. You got two plane rides today for the price of one: one around the airport on the ground and now this second one in the air." Weather across the eastern half of America is crappy right now with snow in the north and severe storms in the south. Rick predicted turbulence, and once again he was correct. I hate it when he is right in these circumstances.
12:30 AM (EST): We landed to a clear, humid, 80 degree early morning in Tampa. We were home free... or so we thought. The Phase Two of the Hassle (the SuperShuttle Phase) began. The clock was approaching 1:00 AM by the time we got to the SuperShuttle check-in. The surly, tired agent was less than helpful, and after three encounters with her, Rick was fed up. People had been waiting for over 1 1/2 hours for a Shuttle pick-up, and we had no patience to wait much longer. My blood sugar plummeted to 45 and then down to 31 (normal is 80 - 120). Rick was starting to panic, so he said "to hell" with the SuperShuttle since they had not even booked us onto a future Shuttle and went to check on a car rental. We were told that a car would cost about $65 at Hertz. I did not want to pay that much, so we went back to the Shuttle area to see what a cab would cost. A cabby quoted us "about $55" which, of course, turns into $100 by the time the actual destination is reached.
1:30 AM (EST): We returned to the rental car area only to learn that Hertz (advertised as being open 24 hours a day) had actually closed at 1:15 AM. Expletive! Expletive!! Expletive!!! We went to Avis since they were the only manned counter and got a car for twenty dollars more than Hertz.
2:00 AM (EST): We were on the road. How Rick drove home is beyond me because I was totally wiped out by that time.
2:30 AM (EST): We arrived at Gladys and did just enough unpacking to get the cheese into the refrigerator and the essential medications out of the suitcase.
3:00 AM (EST): Twenty hours after our journey started in Wisconsin, we were finally able to fall into bed. I don't remember hitting the pillow, and if I kissed Rick "good night," I don't remember that either. Happy Anniversary!
We dragged ourselves out of bed by 7:00-ish this morning so that we could get the rental car back to the airport before the Sunday morning traffic started to get heavy. Rick had made an early-morning run to the grocery store, but we returned to get items for lunch and dinner today. And what did we do with the rest of the day? See below.
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