Flight Cancelled

Travel days are a drag. We got up at 4:45AM to get off the ship at 6:00AM for our bus to the airport. I continued reading Laura Bush's memoirs but had to stop when I realized we were at 9/11 and I could not handle reading about that on a travel day.

When we got to the airport, we were told that our flight to JFK was cancelled! Mechanical problems, they said. We formed a massive line in front of the Delta ticket desk and waited and waited... no one looked happy as they walked away after being waited on. A lady next to us checked the internet and found that she had already been re-booked onto a flight tomorrow. We thought for sure that is what would happen to us, and we shrugged and resolved to suffer one more evening of fun in Rome if that is what the universe wanted to do to us ;^) 

But when we got to the desk, we were placed in a US Air flight to Charlotte leaving just 30 minutes later than our original flight!  Awesome.  I did the happy dance, told some people in line what we got, and then split for security.

It was a strange experience in the airport.  We stood in line for an initial security screening, stood in line for checking bags, stood in line for another security screening, jumped on a bus to get to our gate, hung around for awhile, presented our tickets to board the plane, went down a million steps, and then gopt on another BUS for the ride out to the huge jet on the tarmac!  There were two stairways leading to the jet. There were nine seats in our row (2 5 2). 

Anyway, the part I skipped is that we used up the rest of our Euros in the airport for coffee and croissants at Food Land (super yum) and then bought water to carry on to the plane. Luckily we also ran into Lela and Robert, whom we had met on the ship but never exchanged email addresses with.

Oh, and I got a migraine between the coffee and running into Lela! Luckily I had Immitrex right there in my carry on.  I had a long period of sparkly lights and moderate pain. I was worried that I would mis-read something and make us miss our flight, but it worked out fine. Once we got on the plan, I slept for quite awhile and then woke up feeling much better and even able to read.  (This morning, when I cough or sneeze, I have residual sharp headache pain, but that is normal for me after a migraine.)

I like US Air.  The flight attendants were awesome. I watched The Blind Side, finally, and cried.

It is so good to be home. I am leaving soon for work, and Lou is out walking Miss Samantha right now.

What a fabulous trip!