The boys and I left Toronto last Sunday. Abe drove us down to the airport in Buffalo, which saved us something like $900 over flying out of Toronto. Despite everything I'm about to tell you, it was still worth it.
We left with what we thought was enough time to make our 2:40 flight. As (bad) luck would have it, the wait to get across the border into the States was 1 1/2 hours. Four weeks earlier when Abe came to pick us up (also on a Sunday) there was no wait getting into the States. For whatever reason, there was last weekend so we did not make our original flight. They put us on stand-by status for the 7:20 flight out of Buffalo as well as the flight out of Atlanta into Dallas. They informed us that both flights were oversold. We had no choice but to cross our fingers and hope for the best.
Since it was more than 4 hours prior to our potential flight at this point, we had to load our luggage back into the car. We went off and killed some time in Buffalo. We returned to the airport, checked our bags and proceeded to the gate to wait and see if they would be able to get us on. They were kind enough to give Abe a "guest pass" so that he could come through security and wait with us. Fortunately the boys and I were able to get on that flight.
We landed in Atlanta at 9:30pm. We waited around until 11 only to find out the flight to Dallas was full and we weren't getting on it. Guess what? No more flights that night. They were sure they could get us on the 7:15 flight the next morning. Given the late hour and the need to be at the airport the next morning by 5:30 or so, I decided it didn't make sense to try and go to a hotel. So the boys and I camped out on the floor of the airport. They slept solid from midnight until 6am when I woke them up. I dozed on and off, maybe 10 or 15 minutes of sleep at a time. Morning came soon enough, we made it on the plane and landed in Dallas without any more problems or delays.
Ten hours later we were loaded up in my parents' van, starting out on a 19 hour drive to Wisconsin. Fortunately for me, my parents were a bit more rested than I, and did all the driving. Since we drove overnight, the boys were able to sleep half the trip which made the ride more bearable for everyone. We made it to my uncle's place just after lunch on Tuesday.
Why did we not go straight to WI from Toronto? At the time I booked our flights to/from Toronto, I just didn't see Wisconsin fitting into our summer plans. I had written off making a trip up there this year. When it came time to find things to do/places to stay during our last few weeks before leaving for Korea, Wisconsin started making more and more sense. And after finding reasonable prices on airfare, it made even more sense. So here we are.
The boys and I have had a wonderful time visiting and catching up with friends and family. We'll be in southern Wisconsin for a couple more days before we head up north to my parents' cabin. After a few days up there, we'll be flying home to Dallas from Minn/St. Paul.
Abe is currently in El Paso for the remainder of his training on the Dash 7. He still has a lot of work to do but when he finishes up out there on the 3rd of September and flies back to Dallas, I feel like we will be officially on our way to Korea. By the time we see him again, our car will be turned in (it's a lease) and our last shipment to Korea will have been picked up. The very next day (the 4th), the four of us will fly from Dallas to Seattle to Japan to KOREA!!!
We left with what we thought was enough time to make our 2:40 flight. As (bad) luck would have it, the wait to get across the border into the States was 1 1/2 hours. Four weeks earlier when Abe came to pick us up (also on a Sunday) there was no wait getting into the States. For whatever reason, there was last weekend so we did not make our original flight. They put us on stand-by status for the 7:20 flight out of Buffalo as well as the flight out of Atlanta into Dallas. They informed us that both flights were oversold. We had no choice but to cross our fingers and hope for the best.
Since it was more than 4 hours prior to our potential flight at this point, we had to load our luggage back into the car. We went off and killed some time in Buffalo. We returned to the airport, checked our bags and proceeded to the gate to wait and see if they would be able to get us on. They were kind enough to give Abe a "guest pass" so that he could come through security and wait with us. Fortunately the boys and I were able to get on that flight.
We landed in Atlanta at 9:30pm. We waited around until 11 only to find out the flight to Dallas was full and we weren't getting on it. Guess what? No more flights that night. They were sure they could get us on the 7:15 flight the next morning. Given the late hour and the need to be at the airport the next morning by 5:30 or so, I decided it didn't make sense to try and go to a hotel. So the boys and I camped out on the floor of the airport. They slept solid from midnight until 6am when I woke them up. I dozed on and off, maybe 10 or 15 minutes of sleep at a time. Morning came soon enough, we made it on the plane and landed in Dallas without any more problems or delays.
Ten hours later we were loaded up in my parents' van, starting out on a 19 hour drive to Wisconsin. Fortunately for me, my parents were a bit more rested than I, and did all the driving. Since we drove overnight, the boys were able to sleep half the trip which made the ride more bearable for everyone. We made it to my uncle's place just after lunch on Tuesday.
Why did we not go straight to WI from Toronto? At the time I booked our flights to/from Toronto, I just didn't see Wisconsin fitting into our summer plans. I had written off making a trip up there this year. When it came time to find things to do/places to stay during our last few weeks before leaving for Korea, Wisconsin started making more and more sense. And after finding reasonable prices on airfare, it made even more sense. So here we are.
The boys and I have had a wonderful time visiting and catching up with friends and family. We'll be in southern Wisconsin for a couple more days before we head up north to my parents' cabin. After a few days up there, we'll be flying home to Dallas from Minn/St. Paul.
Abe is currently in El Paso for the remainder of his training on the Dash 7. He still has a lot of work to do but when he finishes up out there on the 3rd of September and flies back to Dallas, I feel like we will be officially on our way to Korea. By the time we see him again, our car will be turned in (it's a lease) and our last shipment to Korea will have been picked up. The very next day (the 4th), the four of us will fly from Dallas to Seattle to Japan to KOREA!!!
Wowzers! I just looked at a calendar and that is just two weeks from tomorrow. Crazy!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment