And then, I promised them Menchies. I was really hoping this one had Dole Whips! They did, but it was lemon...still, I think it was the only thing I could have. David and I were good, but Kendall tried to hog the one we got for the kids. You can see that Sam isn't exactly happy.
So, this is where I packed up the big camera. Of course, right after, the kids spot a bunny...and I was told I MUST take a pic...so out came the phone.
It was still on the early side, but we had nothing else to do and I wasn't sure how long things were going to take with the rental car...sooooo, we decided to head to the airport. Things went smoothly with the rental (once we finally found the return entrance) and while security looked nuts, it really wasn't too bad. Getting out to our gate went well too and we even had time to find Sam a souvenir. I always try and push them to not buy the first thing right when a trip starts...which would have been a slingshot, in her case...but here we were in the airport and she had nothing. Kendall bought those coloring post cards in Arches, but Sam was stumped. She wound up getting a hat with the Colorado flag. Not exciting, but she's worn it nearly every day.
As we were waiting on our gate to open up, I noticed the mountain storms starting to roll in. Just our luck, today would be a day that they impacted the airport. I knew it happened often because all of the bathrooms are labeled as tornado shelters. Still, I had no idea how bad it would be. There were people flying to Boston who were seated with us. They were delayed, but looking like they were finally getting out. Sitting with them was a scout leader (tons of troops in DIA) and his connecting flight from New Mexico had to circle a bunch of times before landing.
So, I looked outside and you could see the wind kicking up all kinds of dirt and dust and lots of heavy rain out there.
Not looking good! We also realized that it was around 5:30pm and we still didn't have a plane at our gate. We went past our boarding time and still no plane. As we got close to our departure time, we found out that our plane had been circling and waiting for clearance to land. Shortly after that, we found out that our plane was one of many that was being diverted...which bites because other planes were finally starting to come in for landing now that the ground hold was lifted. So, our plane was diverted to Cheyenne, WY. We thought this was good...Cheyenne was close, so it should take long to get it back. Boy were we wrong.
Our 6:25pm departure was changed to 6:35, then 6:45, and then 8:45. With that last change, our gate agent left...and we were sitting there watching another Denver sunset, when we expected to be in the air and close to halfway home.
Shortly after this, they changed our gate...and it was all the way on the other side of the terminal. They also changed our departure time to 10 pm. I was getting pretty ticked off because I could see from the FAA site that we were well beyond the average delay. I also got word that other airlines weren't nearly as delayed. Some of this was Southwest mismanagement and some was airline priority. Basically, United, American and Delta tend to have priority. I've experienced it before, but not in a long time.
There were no seats, so we were just sitting on the floor. The place was a madhouse since all of the Southwest and Spirit flights were in the same spots and they were all badly delayed. The kids finally found some seats and some hag actually tried to jump in and take K's when she came over to ask us a quick question...even though her backpack was in the seat. She wasn't even gone for 30 seconds! But that's how everyone was. It was one of those delays. And I know we didn't have it as bad as some. The woman next to me had an infant and some people had dogs. There were also several people waiting for unaccompanied minors who were on the diverted plane and they were nervous wrecks.
The flight time got pushed back again to 10:55pm and another gate change came in shortly after that. We wound up trekking almost all the way back to the other side of the terminal. I passed a family whose sun was doing cartwheels as we made this shift. The exhausted mom apologized, but I told her not to...that it was great to see someone upbeat and that it's so much better than the alternative. And we all sat some more at our new gate and waited...chatting with our new friends who were just as miserable. At some point, I also noticed how much our arrival time had changed. We were originally supposed to be in at 9pm! And sadly, we'd be delayed even more than this!
Our plane finally did arrive (to cheers and applause) and after we watched some tearful reunions with the unaccompanied minors as the passengers deplaned, we started getting that...I'M READY TO BOARD anxiousness. We also learned that our flight attempted a landing at DIA before being diverted. There were a lot downbursts and heavy winds with the storm. Supposedly the pilot came close to having wheels on the ground, but pulled up because there was just too much throwing them around. Oh well...so now we have a plane and we're praying all goes well because we're getting close to our flight crew's time limit.
It wasn't long before we were all lined up and ready to board. We were in the second half of group A, so it wouldn't be long...and then the unthinkable happens. DIA goes dark! I mean pitch black in a major aiport. The bad weather was long gone, so it wasn't that. I'm guessing it was a surge. I got this pic as the monitors were starting to reboot.
Everything halted for a bit because all systems needed to come back up for them to continue checking us in. Kendall started freaking out, saying it's a sign that we shouldn't get on the plane. I tried to think of it as Colorado liking us so much that it didn't want to let us go. Kendall kept going on and said the power was probably going to go out again and we'd be stuck there. Within seconds of her saying that, DIA went dark AGAIN! It came back up quickly, but now we're all pretty freaked. Here's the monitors starting to reboot again...
We eventually get on the plane and I'm just like...please Lord, get us out of here and get us home safely.
I took a pic of us once on board, but we waited for a long time. Why? Because one passenger didn't get on board. As a person who has been left behind (delayed connection- but I was already running through the airport- and they knew it), I really didn't think they'd wait for this guy...especially considering we were so heavily delayed and dangerously close to the crew's limit. After 20-25 min, he finally got on the plane!
DAY 16-what? This was only a 15 day trip!
Wheels off the ground at DIA at 12:00am MT!
It was an uneventful flight, but I barely slept. The woman in front of me was on a tablet and whatever she was watching kept strobing and was reflecting in her window. There were no freebies offered, but David did say they didn't charge the people next to him for their cocktails.
When we landed in Houston (Hobby) at 3am CT (ok...just before), the place was dead. This was my post...it was after 3am by the time we deplaned.
We all also needed to use the restrooms and the ones near the gate were closed! I know we were all tired and frazzled, but the woman walking next to us, telling us this was normal really didn't help. And when we all said it figured, last plane in would be at the farthest gate...she just had to add in that it's normal for that too. We found a set of bathrooms where the men's was open, but the women's was closed. The kids and I decided to use a family bathroom. By the time we got out, someone had decided to open the women's room.
We made our way down to baggage and we had an instant reply of arriving in Denver. The first three bags came out right away, and then the belt stopped. When it started back up, mine was out just before the belt broke down again. So, we ran to grab my bag before things got too crazy. The only good part about flying in this late is that our luggage was fast. Hobby is usually absurdly slow with this process. We'd lose this time though...
We went out for our parking shuttle and there were none for our lot. I was already anxious because I realized that my card with our parking info was in a checked bag, but hey...I had my picture of my spot (from the beginning of the TR)! In any event, I usually book through the Parking Spot. There are three at Hobby, but I go with the closest one. The other two had plenty of buses, but here you have 14 people...including us...waiting for the one lot not sending buses. We all called several times and after 30 minutes of waiting, we finally got our shuttle. Those morons even insisted it was there and that we just weren't seeing it. UGH!
All was good with my vehicle and while they refused to discount anyone for the troubles, I was just happy to be driving home. Of course, Hobby is a long drive for us (compared to IAH, which is only about 15-20 min away). We got home around 4:15am and were in bed by 4:30...just to be up before 7am to make it to an appointment with K's allergist. All of this was so we could get the dogs early from boarding and head to Austin to see David's dad. I've run on for so long that I can't remember if I wrote about how we got a call on nt 1 of the trip that his dad took a turn for the worse. In any event, we made a very sleepy drive to and from Austin after this.
So, this is it. This is where the trip ends and technically where the year of the national parks ends for us. I will have some closing thoughts coming up as well as a picture recap, because it's been a pretty incredible year of travel.
