It’s been a crazy two weeks. After taking care of Ember two days in a row down here two weeks ago, I was pretty tired, but on Wednesday, the 4th of June, I finished ironing and packed my suitcases for our trip to Texas. We went to bed early and were up and ready to leave for the airport at 6:30 Thursday morning.
I made two predictions about this trip: (1) that due to the short layover in Philly on our way down, our luggage would not make it to the plane; and (2) that due to the predictable bad weather in the mid-west this time of year, we would be delayed in Chicago on our way back. I was right on both predictions. I did not predict we’d get lost going to the motel after renting the car. We had directions, and we’re very good at following directions, but due to the state of Texas’s inadequate signage on all roads, whether interstate or surface side roads, we spent two hours driving around instead of the 30 minutes or less it should have taken us. Of course, it didn’t help that the GPS that came with the car didn’t work properly -- probably because we took so many turns it too got confused.
The luggage was delivered to our motel at 11:20 PM Thursday night, the night of our arrival, but since there was no guaranty when we would get it, we had made a trip to Wal-Mart (one of my favorite stores.. NOT!) to buy a few things I had packed in the luggage. All-in-all, I purchased over $50 worth of stuff. Most of it wasn't used because we did get the luggage so the next day we returned the stuff.
Overall, the time spent in Texas was not fun. Ron’s family pretty much tolerates me, ignores me, or wishes I went away – depending on the person. I go to family functions because I love Ron. It is what it is, and I made sure that wherever we went, I had a book with me.
Being I grew up in a small family in number – and even now I have fewer blood relatives than Ron has grandchildren – it can be nerve-racking to be around his family with so many people. Toss in the relatives of his son-in-law, whom we were visiting, and there were at least 50 people, more than half of whom I had never met before.
The time there wasn’t a total washout because there were people I hadn't met before and it was enjoyable getting to know them, and as always, Ron’s grandchildren are the best of it all, especially the younger ones.
It was very hot while we were there and incredibly windy, an unusual phenomena for Texas, so the locals told us. Of course, everything is air conditioned, and except for the Fort Worth Convention Center where the graduation ceremonies were held, which was very cold, the AC in all other houses and buildings was set at a temp that was comfortable.
I was glad to see Sunday morning come. We returned the rental car and got to the airport in plenty of time, only to have the plane delayed because of bad weather in Chicago. After a delay of almost two hours, we left Dallas/Fort Worth, arriving in Chicago late. Late was OK because our scheduled departure flight was delayed due to weather. It was delayed until it was cancelled, thus leaving us with no way out of Chicago that night…. nor the next! After waiting in line for over two hours at United’s customer service, our first confirmed flight was at 6:25 AM Tuesday morning, over 30 hours away.
I think we handled it well. Ron, of course, can sleep almost anywhere so he got some Zzzzzzs in Sunday night. I can’t sleep easily anywhere and was awake all of Sunday night. Monday we wandered from one boarding area to another, as we followed around the flights on which we were standby. I think we went into another zone of consciousness because of being tired and frustrated at the whole event. Neither of us lost our cool or got angry. We did what we had to do and hoped for the best.
The whole thing was exhausting. Airports are noisy. There are thousands of people. Airline representatives are overworked and I’m sure underpaid, though to their credit, all of them were polite and helpful.
We finally got out of O’Hare as standbys about 10:30 PM central time on Monday night. The pilot put the pedal to the metal, so to speak, and did the usually two-hour trip in 90 minutes. We landed about 1 AM in Albany, got our luggage, which had been sitting in Albany for two days, and were home in bed in Greenville by 2:30 Tuesday morning.
It took me four nights to relieve the exhaustion and weariness of it all.
Last week was extremely busy, which contributed to the length of time it took me to get back to normal. Wednesday I had two doctor appointments. Thursday, Ron had three doc appointments and from Albany we went right to his grandson’s baseball game, so we were away from home from 7 AM until 8:30 PM. Friday I had Ember.
Finally on Saturday, I relaxed. After cleaning and doing a few other chores in the morning, I did nothing but relax in the afternoon. Saturday evening we went to another of Caleb’s baseball games only to have it rained out. Instead, Ron took me out to dinner.
Sunday was pretty much a total day of relaxation. The day ended with dinner at Elsie’s.
Gas prices – Sunoco and Cumberland in town: $4.239.
Weather – It’s been very hot in our area with most afternoons ending in weather more typically July than June, that is thunderstorms with lots of rain.
Life changes – Flying sure isn’t what it used to be. It used to be fun. Even though security measures can be a pain in the neck, they don’t make flying not fun. What makes it not fun is the airlines and their way of doing business, leaving people stranded in customer lines of hundreds of people and having only three representatives behind the counter. Delays are not fun. Being stuck in an airport for 30 hours is not fun. My desire to fly has fallen to zero and this is a big life change for me.
