Hi, all!
We did finally make it home as well...although not as intended.
Our return trip was via United, connecting through Chicago. We apparently were just a few minutes ahead of the Huffman's, but we did land in Chicago...and then we sat on the runway, awaiting our gate's opening up due to a late departure.
We waited for quite some time (about 30 minutes?), when the captain announced that the departing aircraft was ready to leave the gate...but that a storm was coming, and we may have to ride it out in the plane, should ground crews be hustled inside.
At that point, I was on the phone with my mother, letting her know that we had made it safely to ORD...when my call waiting went off. It was an automated message from United, announcing that the connecting flight to Cincinnati was "affected by...CANCELLATION". I repeated to myself "AFFECTED BY?", and Matthew caught wind that we were in for a long haul. Mind you, we're still on the plane.
Then the storms roll in. The plane was shaking rather violently at times. The captain again came on, and announced that we would indeed ride out the storm...as not only had the ground crew gone inside, but the terminal and tower had been evacuated!
After about 30 minutes of plane-shaking winds, the storm passed. We were advised a little later to go to another gate. However, as the plane approached the gate, we were again stopped. The captain again on the loudspeaker...apparently the gate had been damaged by the storm's winds. We would either be rerouted to yet another gate, or we would have to wait for maintenance to fix the gate. I was unaware at the time that the size of the aircraft determines what gates with bridgeways can be accessed...and our A320 didn't fall in the "one size fits all" category.
More waiting.
The captain again...and we're finally being moved to another (and final location). By the time the door of the plane opens, we had been on the plane (and on the ground) for 2 hours and 45 minutes...just 15 minutes shy of the FAA "Passenger Bill of Rights" deadline.
BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE!!!
We then filed into a line at that gate, to get reassigned on the next flight. Another 30 minutes...and finally we are assigned the last two available tickets on a 4:30 PM flight to Cincinnati. Hmmm...that meant some serious downtime. And "oh, yeah"...the gate agent casually mentioned that we had waited out TORNADIC ACTIVITY while on the plane. YIKES!
We'd already been told that hotel rooms were pretty scarce...did I mention there were hundreds (if not thousands) of people that were stranded in O'Hare??? We could rent a car (at our expense), for about $350 one way (even rental cars were in short supply). So, we decided to spend the night "a la Tom Hanks" in the terminal.
Oh, how I wanted to throttle those young kids who were screaming while playing hide and seek!!!
Finally the noise died down and we settled into a fitful sleep.
Matthew awoke me around 5AM, stating that the morning's flights to Cincinnati had been posted. So we hoofed it across the entire length of Terminal C to the gate and had ourselves added to the standby list for the 7:30 AM flight.
Waiting...
more waiting...
more defeated feelings waiting...
...until we got the LAST TWO seats on the flight!
We finally landed in Cincinnati around 10AM yesterday. And would you believe that our luggage made it with us???
So now you've heard OUR story (hehe). Let me just close by saying how incredibly nice it was to meet everyone, and get to know many of you better. We will also be posting pics (thanks, Larry). Thanks to everyone who participated in the FE, and thanks for the incredible gifts. Oh, one quick story for Kim...not paying attention, we opened the key lime juice, and Matthew took a sip. The look on his face was PRICELESS! I then had to share in the misfortune. We'll be using the rest to make a pie or two!
--Drew