In February 2009, I needed to attend the National Boards in Washington, D.C. for the Civil Air Patrol. What should have been a straightforward trip turned out to be a nightmare. While I was hoping it was a dream, what had happened to me you can’t make up.
I intended my trip to be a simple round-trip journey to the national boards. I was planning to visit friends in New York, my mom in Pennsylvania, and the national boards in Washington, D.C.
On that Saturday morning, I woke in plenty of time to make the flight from the greater Laramie Airport.
It was clear weather with a temperature of 2 degrees. My flight was scheduled to leave at 0650, and I was comfortably waiting a half an hour before the flight. Fifteen minutes before take-off, security checked us in, but oddly enough, our plane was not in front of the terminal yet. As soon as we checked into security, ground handling towed the plane to the front of the terminal. Interesting, but no worries, my next flight leaves at 0900 and it was only a 45-minute flight. I noticed they plugged a power cart into the plane. As we were waiting, an attendant notified us that there was going to be a delay. It was cold out, and they had to warm up the plane. I am thinking to myself, it is 2 degrees, there is snow on the ground, and it is Wyoming. I am sure this was as obvious the night before. Thirty minutes go by and TSA updated us that the power cart was draining power from the plane. They would have to go to Cowboy Aviation to use their cart. So, they drag our plane over to Cowboy Aviation. Fifteen minutes later, our plane was running engines and taxied to the taxiway to do a pre-flight. Great! I will still make my connecting flight. The pilots then bring the plane over to the terminal and shut down the engines. No problem, I expected this so they could load passengers. But, the TSA attendant commented that both the pilot and co-pilot left the plane, this was not a good sign. Apparently, no one noticed that we busted our flight window, and the pilots had to redo the paperwork to get into Denver. Once everything was in order, we finally departed. The pilots expect we will arrive in Denver at 0845. Crap! Only 15 minutes to my next flight.
We arrived in Denver as expected at 0845 and pulled into the “A” terminal. Unfortunately, my connecting flight was in the “B” terminal. I knew that I could make the “B” terminal in 10 minutes if I pushed it. At 2,000 fewer feet, the running was easier. I arrived at my connecting gate at 0855, only to see them pushing my connecting flight back. Five minutes earlier than advertised! Someone was happy, there was a free seat next to them, but that was not me.
Here I am in Denver, standing in line, waiting for the check-in agent to get done with the person in front of me so that I could get instructions on my next steps. As soon as the woman in front of me finished, I stepped up for help. But, the agent started to walk away without a word. I asked her where she was going, and she told me she had to go to another counter. Since there were two others behind me, I asked her what to do. She told us to go to customer service. This was now pretty obvious because we were not getting any customer service where we were standing.
After spending an hour in customer service, the agents notified me that I was now on standby to Chicago. They directed me to the proper gate. At this point, my luck seemed to improve because they had a couple of open seats to Chicago. I was able to catch a flight out of Denver. But, I would never make my flight to Rochester on time. When I got to Chicago, I found out I was again on standby.
But to add to the story, the only weather front in the entire nation sat right over Chicago. We were experiencing blizzard conditions. This was delaying all flights out. Regardless, I report to my gate. I am pleased to discover that I am number five on the standby list. I think it was terminal “B.” Well, the service desk reports my plane is going to be late by at least an hour. So, I grab a bite to eat and work on some CAP stuff. Well, my flight comes and goes, and I never moved from my fifth place. The next plane to Rochester leaves from the“C” terminal. To get from one terminal to another in Chicago, you have to go outside and board a bus. I get to my gate and I am still listed as number five. Again, a plane comes and goes, and I stay at number five. The next plane to Rochester will again leave from terminal “B”. I again bundle up and brave the blizzard to take a bus to my gate. When I get there, I ask about my chances to catch a flight. The agent said the flight was full and my best chance out was flying to Buffalo. Well, Buffalo was closer than Chicago, so I grabbed a standby flight to Buffalo. The flight was to leave at 2200. The problem with Buffalo was that the car I had reserved was in Rochester.
I arrived at Buffalo around midnight and strolled over to the rental car place. I checked with the rental car agent to see if I could change my rental to at least start in Buffalo. Unfortunately, the computers were down. But, the next agent over was willing to rent me a car. For $140, I could rent a one-way to Rochester. It was an expensive 60 miles. Before I left Buffalo, I stopped by the luggage agent to get an idea where my luggage was. I was confident that it was not in Buffalo. I was right. It was still in Denver.
Well, the drive from Buffalo was rather uneventful other than the fact that it was snowing, and it was 0100. I arrived at the airport in Rochester so that I could turn in my car first thing in the morning. I checked into a familiar motel at 0200. Exhausted, I jumped right into bed. I set my clock for 0730 so that I could meet a friend for breakfast. During my great sleep, I awoke to a loud conversation. I thought it was next door and that it would die down. Unfortunately, the noise did not die down. So, I got dressed to ask the troubling party to quiet down. It surprised me to see a group of four standing right outside my door having a party. After some friendly discussion, they moved their party. This was 0330. I went back to bed only more loud conversation woke me. Again, I dressed and opened my door to find the party has grown to six but it moved two doors down. This was at 0530. At 0730, I promptly woke up to get my car and meet my friend.
The day went very well, tiring, but well. I gave a martial arts seminar in the afternoon with some good friends. After training, I called the airlines to find out where my luggage was. All my uniforms were in my bag and the next day I was leaving towards Washington. The airlines had no idea where my luggage was. I took a chance and drove an hour to Rochester to see if my luggage arrived. When I arrived at the airline, the luggage agents were setting it aside and getting ready to call me. With my luggage in hand and a car with XM, I was back in Geneva, New York for a good night’s sleep. Before leaving for my Rochester trip, I noticed that I would be returning through Washington. I called my travel company and they told me that it would be possible to drop my Rochester to Washington connection once I arrived in Rochester. I figured I would turn in my car in Washington, and fly out of Washington after the boards. Keep this in mind, it will come up again.
My mom is doing well. I thought you would be curious. I visited her for a good day and a half and then drove down to Washington. When I arrived in Washington, I stopped by the airport to see if I could turn in my car and cancel my rest leg of my flight. Unfortunately, the information I received earlier was not correct. I am glad I checked with the travel agent before turning in the car.
The national board went well. Upon completion, I jumped in my car for a 7-hour ride back to Rochester. I stopped in Corning to sleep. I woke in time to turn in my car and catch my flight.
I arrived at my gate an hour ahead of my flight, so I sat back and cranked up my computer. My flight was scheduled to leave at 1050. Fifteen minutes before boarding, flight agents notified us that our plane was delayed in Washington due to snow. Someone failed to put de-icer on the wings. With snow on the wings, who would have thought de-icer was needed.
An hour and a half later, our plane arrived and we departed Rochester for Washington. Believe it or not, the only weather front in the nation was sitting over Washington. We arrived in Washington and pulled up to the gate. We waited for 30 minutes at the gate because someone had to find a set of steps so that we could get off the plane. I missed my connecting flight. But, this time, a flight agent booked me on a later flight without a standby, and I got extra leg room. This flight was on time. I managed to board, but I was stuck between two guys who were twice the size of me. As you can imagine, they were pretty big. I sat for four hours with my arms crossed but the leg room was nice.
Well, we arrived in Denver. I strolled to my gate. Everything seems to be going well. I will soon be home. Fifteen minutes before the flight, agents informed us that they needed to find some pilots for our plane. There would be a delay. I could only laugh. Well, a half an hour later, they found some pilots and we were ready to board. I was glad to be getting home. We took off and we were on our way, yeah! Halfway home, the pilot came on the speaker and informed us that there was a problem with an oil gauge. We would have to divert to a maintenance facility. In this case, the facility was in Cheyenne, Wyo., an hour away from Laramie. I could not get a break! Fortunately, the airline notified Bernadette, my wife, of the change in airports. She left a message on my phone that she was going to pick me up. At 2230, I arrive safely in Laramie.
Because I was tweeting this adventure every step of the way, my friends were enjoying every twist and turn.
Boy, do I love to fly. It is all about the adventure. I am planning my last trip to Washington to be via Amtrak.
Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash
