Most of us didn't get quite enough sleep at the hostel, thanks to the lady who came in at 4:00 AM asking for shampoo. Somehow I slept through that, though no one else did.
We had planned to leave for the airport at about 8:30, but we were all up and ready by 7:45, so we left early. Consequently, we got to the airport about five hours early. They told us we couldn't even check in until 9:30, so we looked for breakfast (and found a Pollo Campero). When we finally did check in, we learned that our flight to Atlanta, scheduled to leave at 12:30, was delayed until about 1:40. This was the first domino in a long chain of delays. We were worried about making our connection, so we tried to switch to a later flight from Atlanta to Raleigh. We didn't all make it onto the same flight – the Kendalls and Margaret were switched to an even later flight.
Finally, after about three hours of standing at the check-in counter, we trudged down to a little shopping area in the airport where we ate breakfast and bought more souvenirs, before going through security. My mom's bag was searched because she had fingernail clippers with a one-inch nail file (how dare she!). Anna's bag was searched because she had dried fruit, that she bought at Costco. In America. I have mixed feelings about airport security procedures.
We ate lunch in the airport (are you counting? that's two meals so far), then we got on the plane to Atlanta. We arrived at about 7:15 EST. After we got through the chaotic customs and immigration process, we got the bad news. The second domino had fallen. The flight that most of us were on, scheduled to leave at 9:45 was delayed until 11:05. As far as we knew, the other three's flight was on time, at 10:50.
Allen Kendall (who commutes to Boston, remember? He spends a lot of time in airports) directed us to the best food court for dinner (three meals in airports). We found our gate early, because most of us hadn't been assigned seats yet. Then we got more bad news. Our flight was now delayed until 11:50. (That's delay number three). We played cards, we ate Cinnabon, we got coffee, we waited in line. Finally, we got on the plane which left at about 12:20 (thanks to delay number four). By the grace of God, for some unknown reason, Mom and I and Gabrielle and Zachary got to ride in first class.
We finally arrived in Raleigh at a little after 2:00 AM. Then we caught the news of delay number five: the flight that the Kendalls and Margaret were on didn't leave Atlanta until 1:00 AM. Chris's wife Teressa and son Timothy met us at the airport.
Next we spent a good hour or so at the baggage claim, trying to find all our thirteen checked bags, which were scattered among three different flights. We found all of them but one (a Pinon bag, which is coming from Atlanta today).
Finally, weak and weary, we climbed onto the minibuses at about 3:00. We got to Westover at about 4:30. I finally made it back to my own bed at 5:00 AM. My parents woke me up at 1:00 this afternoon.
So that, my friends, is the epic saga of the delayed flights of doom. Thanks for reading.
More to come: trip photos!
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