If you've been paying any attention to the news, you've likely heard about the level EF4 tornado that blew through the St. Louis airport on Friday evening. Our original flight home was scheduled for early Saturday morning, so we were awoken by an even earlier phone call indicating that the airport had been shut down and our flight canceled.
And thus commenced one final and unexpected adventure for our trip: getting home for Easter.
We quickly got ourselves ready and packed, called the airline to reschedule our flight out of a nearby airport (a mere 250 miles away), and made our way to the concierge to find a rental car. This step proved to be nearly impossible. We went through the list of nearby rental companies, all of whom said they had no cars available...until the very last name on the list.
Next, we hopped into a cab and were on our way to a car rental place near the airport. And we stood in line for over an hour, knowing we needed to be on the road 5 minutes ago, in order to make our flight out of Indianapolis.
Finally on the road, we made the realization that Indianapolis is an hour ahead of St. Louis. Meaning we just lost another hour. Not to mention the downpours we faced for the first hour or so of the journey across Illinois.
After stopping for lunch, and basically admitting defeat, we called the airline to see if there were any later flights as it was looking very unlikely that we would make the flight. There were no seats left, so we set out to make this flight with all deliberate speed.
In record time, we pulled into the airport parking lot with 15 minutes until take-off. I called the airline once more to check if the flight was still scheduled for an on-time departure. It was.
B grabbed both suitcases, and we made a mad dash for security, and again to the gate (Home Alone style). There were approximately 3-4 people sitting in the seats, and no airplane to be seen.
The very nice ladies at the counter informed us that our plane had just left Philadelphia, it's origin. The flight back to Philly was delayed for another 2 hours.
Taking a breath for probably the second or third time all day, B and I found our way to a bench at the gate. Yes, we had made it, but I was fuming. How could the airline not have known that this flight would be delayed? I called more than once to check it's status, and I was not pleased.
Just then, a man dressed head-to-toe in camo, walked by. He was on the phone with his wife explaining that as long as the plane takes off by X time, he would still make his layover so he can spend the next 4 days at home before going overseas later this week.
That really helped put things in perspective, and actually made me feel quite grateful for how well the day was going.
Regardless of everything else, we had a really fun trip. We were not hurt in the storm. We were able to find open seats on a flight home. We were blessed with one of the last cars in St. Louis. We received countless texts from family and friends, making sure we were safe. We made the flight. And we would make it home in time for Easter.
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What are you grateful for on this gorgeous Monday afternoon?
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