Weekend Travel- The Bad

That should be the really, really bad. Anyway, after a fun weekend with family we were scheduled to fly from Omaha, NE to Cincinnati and change planes there to continue on to Boston. Cincinnati is a big hub for Delta, so lots of planes go in and out of there. If you were watching the weather you know that Ike was wreaking havoc in the US over the weekend... our flight from Omaha to Cincinnati was no exception. We experienced the worst turbulence I have ever been in. So bad that I actually had to make use of the in-flight barf bag. Gross. I never thought that would happen in all my travel experiences.

Because the winds were so strong we were diverted along with many other flights headed for Cincinnati to Dayton, Ohio. Landing was precarious because of the strong winds. The passengers on the flight were silent as we were trying to land, I think we were all praying for a safe landing. Cooper thankfully had fallen asleep at this point.

We finally landed after a few attempts in Dayton. At that point were were stuck with many other planes on the tarmac because there were no gates available to get us off the planes. This whole experience is hard enough when you are an adult traveling, but throw a toddler in the mix and it really gets crazy. We were stuck on the plane for a few hours while Delta ever so slowly worked on getting planes to a single gate and unloading passengers. Finally we were able to get off the plane to find that pretty much all flights were cancelled -- no surprise given the winds even though the pilot/flight attendants were saying we were going to get back to Cincinnati so everyone could make their connecting flights.

Once we exited the plane it was mass chaos in the terminal. Remember, there were many planes, not just ours, that were diverted to Dayton and there was ONE Delta employee helping hundreds of stranded passengers reschedule. She was obviously not able to handle her job well and kept making annoucements about everyone being patient and calming down, and how this was the first time this had happened to her, etc. I cannot figure out why Delta did not provide any additional support to her. At this point there was tons of misinformation going around the airport and it was crazy. Regardless, Ben and I knew at this point that we were on our own to figure out how to get ourselves back to Boston.

Rather than wait for hours in a long and slow moving line only to find we were stranded in Dayton we decided then and there that we were going to rent a car and drive back to Boston. I was not thrilled with the idea of getting on another plane that day anyway, so this was a good choice for us. Luckily we were also able to rent a GPS and car seat for Cooper from Avis and we were on our way. Almost. By this time it was around 6:00 pm and we had not eaten all day except for a small breakfast, and Cooper had had some snacks on the plane. Most places in Dayton had lost power except for two fast food options which had lines out the door. So, after another long wait and a quick meal we were finally on our way. Ben drove until 2 am, I took the graveyard 2-4 am shift and then again around 6:30 until we got to Boston and ended up in massive traffic on the turnpike. While stuck in traffic on Monday morning in downtown Boston we got a call from Delta saying that they had re-booked us on a flight leaving Dayton at 2:00 pm that afternoon, but that flight was also cancelled so they re-booked for a 5:00 pm flight as a courtesy... hmm, courtesy? From Delta in this situation I think not. We finally got to Logan around 9:30 am on Monday morning to pick up my car at the airport and back home at 10:30.

Overall, we're lucky and thankful that nothing worse happened while in the air, and we got home safe and sound. I know not everyone affected by the storms can say that, so we are lucky to have gotten out safe. Cooper was a great traveler and adapted well to all the chaos. He even slept in the car from around 9 pm until 6 am without too much trouble.

It has never felt so good to be at home.