Hey everyone!
So as most of you know, or at least SOME of you know, I had been traveling to wonderful Virginia Beach to see my handsome hubby while he was away on training. A 3 night 4 day stay; turned into a 5 night 6 day stay.
How could that be a bad thing you ask?! well let me just tell you......
The though of rendezvousing with my husband in Sunny Virginia Beach, strolling hand in hand while our toes are in the water, all the while childless sounded amazing, and since we had never been on a real vacation out of state with each other, without kids, EVER i decided to throw all caution to the wind (which never happens), pack my bags and head out.
Now i dont want to say it was the worst decision i had ever made because i had an absolutely amazing time with the hubby and i would probably have done it all over again but maybe change a few things!
no schedule, no cleaning, no mommy duties, just spending time alone with the man in my life was bliss.
But the reality hit me when i was trying to get home.
So lets just start from the beginning shall we?
Wednesday evening after i picked the kids up from school, we loaded up the cavalier (easy on gas, not like my SUV) with 2 kids, 2 large dogs, and 2 adults. Tight squeeze you might say! but we did it anyways.....
Once we arrived at Grams house i dropped her off, and the kids and dogs, and headed over to my parents.
Well that was easy!
I got up at 6, got ready and left for the airport... all went accordingly! Sun was shining, Weather was perfect, and i was hours away from my husband.... YAY!
I boarded the plane with ease...... lift off is where things turned sour..........
So as I am reading my magazine, day dreaming about sunny days and husband time i hear a loud explosion & Pop, followed by a trembling on the floor of the plane, and out of the corner of my right eye i see a flash, then black. My instant reaction was to jump up and say "WHAT THE FUCK!" as did most of the other passengers! To make the statement, "it scared the shit out of me" is far from what it really felt like. My instant thought was we were going down.
As we were trying to figure out what happened, a pilot was sitting in the seat in front of me, heading to the airport he worked out of. He did some recon and found out that our engine "swallowed" a bird. He alerted the flight attendant who then called the pilots on the plane phone. They had no idea that their passengers were freaked out, and had no knowledge that they just ate a bird. Awesome!
So we landed, and i quickly walked to my next gate. Got checked in, and awaited my plane. Well, with brians job at the airline we can fly for pretty much FREE, but the catch is flying on standby... meaning you are not guaranteed a seat..... So i didnt make it on the first plane out of that gate, but the kicker was, they had 2 open seats but they were awaiting the passengers. After the final boarding call, i was called to the counter and as my ticket was printing... Mr "im very late" for my plane arrived, and took my seat. Damn! So c lose, yet so far......
So i kept getting rolled and bumped off of planes left and right. My only option aside from sleeping at the airport was flying to Washington DC and brian driving to pick me up..... (3.5 hours).... he did it. I made it on the plane, first class, woot woot. and away we went!
15 hours of traveling, i finally was rewarded with my husband!
It was nice to see DC, but i certainly didnt miss living there!!!
On our way to virginia beach, it was nearly 1 am, and we still had 3 hours left of travel. We stopped for coffee and gas and continued to keep our eyes open with toothpicks!
Our ride was going smoothly, until we were near williamsburg VA. we were approaching hazard lights from several vehicles, and as we got closer we noticed there were people in the road. My first thought was "someone plowed a deer"....... unfortunately that wasnt the reality..... what looked like a deer, turned out to be a human on a motorcycle! We dont know what happened, or how, but someone hit a motorcyclist. We could see he was moving around holding his legs, he was definitly hurt. There were alot of witnesses so we had to keep going. THere was no reason to stick around. I couldnt and still cant shake that image out of my mind. I hope it turned out okay and he had nothing more than a few bumps and bruises.
Finally made it to the hotel, got 3 hours of sleep and started my first virginia beach day! brian had to work and i needed a new military ID so we had to go in early!
Just seeing the sights that i missed so much was awesome enough. driving around with the salt breeze in my hair took all my worries out the window.
I stopped and seen my dear friends- the white family! then headed back to the beach!
The rest of the trip was full of walking, sight seeing, sun bathing, and just enjoying being US! we got called honeymooners which made us giggle. I guess you could call this our honeymoon since we didnt have one!
My original day to leave was sunday, mothers day. I didnt end up getting out of the airport on a plane, but i did manage to get out of there with a handsome man. The trip was delayed a day....... or so i thought.
Monday morning we left again for the airport at 3 am, for the second day in a row. This time there was no other options. i got rolled over on the first flight, then decided to take a flight to miami to get out of the richmond airport. Got to miami, got rolled over twice, which made me miss my connection to chicago until that evening. A half hour before boarding, already being at airports for 17 hours, a lightning storm came in, and all planes became grounded. which then started all the delays..... and eventually cancellations. Hundreds of planes were cancelled and thousands of passengers where left to sleep in the airport. By the time all the planes were cancelled, everything was closed.... no taxi's out of the airport which meant, no body could stay at hotels. They rolled out thousands of cots.
I headed to the USO, outside of security. I stayed the night there with about 100 other military people and families. They provided food, drinks, a safe place to stay.
Morning came quick and after getting back through security, my flights gate changed 6 times. But this time i was guarenteed to get out of there. Phew!
I met a few older (85 year old to be exact ) people that were waiting all night for the same flight. Their enthusiasm and optimistic attitude was catchy! after no grumbling from flight cancellation to sleeping on a cot, they really turned my attitude around.
Last night after 30 hours in an airport and a 5 hour round trip to pick up the kids, i was so happy to see my home!
I worried the whole time because my kids were missing school and everyone had to take care of them. I felt bad because i couldnt do anything to fix it or change it. Just had to stick it out!
So thank you Mom, Dad and Gram. you guys rescued me and kept the kids safe!!! THank you thank you thank you!
Today the kids are finally in school and their teachers were delighted to see them!
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