Flying in circles

I usually only publish posts to this blog when I have photos to go along with them. But, on Thursday, when Levi and I left on what was expected to be a 3 day/2 night trip to Akron, Pennsylvania, the camera was the least of my concerns.

Ben and I dropped Noah off at Debbie's house, and then we headed for the airport. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:40 a.m., so Levi and I burned a little over an hour crawling around at our gate, waiting to leave. Finally, we got to board the plane and it was a pretty full flight, but it just worked out that the seat next to us was empty. That was the first sign from God that our day would turn out well. I was so relieved that the seat was empty b/c I was planning to feed Levi when we took off and I was going to need the extra space to make that work. Then, the pilot got on the intercom and said we were delayed leaving and would have to sit on the plane for an hour. My connection in Chicago was tight and I knew I wouldn't make it with this delay. Maybe our day wasn't going to turn out so well.

When we finally left the ground, Levi was a perfect travel companion. He nursed on the plane before we took off. He slept for a little while and ate his lunch without complaint. Another sign from God that our day would turn out well.

We got to Chicago the screens told me our next flight was "Closed" - perfect. Now what?! A very friendly customer service representative helped me figure out what my options were and I booked a ticket on a flight that was to leave at 4:15 to Philadelphia. Now, Philly was not my original destination. I originally had plans to fly into Harrisburg. So, Ben saved the day and changed my rental car reservation to Philly and everything seemed like it was going to be just fine. I would get to PA, just a couple hours later than I had originally planned. Levi slept while I figured all of this out - all signs from God that we were going to be OK.

The bad news is that the flight to Philly was delayed and didn't actually board until 6 p.m. and once this large flight was full of people, all ready to depart, it was announced that the flight had been canceled due to mechanical problems. It was announced that safety is United's first concern, but then they didn't give any instruction for everyone to get off the plane - it was pure chaos as each person tried to get off the plane and figure out their best option for getting out of Chicago...kind of ironic. Levi and I waited for our turn to get off - what was the rush? Nothing was working out for us at this point. However, through all of this, Levi was an angel. He napped, nursed, played and charmed all sorts of strangers in the airport.

Our next flight was scheduled to leave at 8:15 to Philly, oh wait, it's delayed until 9:15. So, we would get to Philly after midnight, then rent a car, install the car seat, I would have to navigate my way out of a city I've never been to, to a small town in rural PA about 2 hours away, settle my finicky 8 month old into a hotel room and then crash for whatever sleep Levi would allow me to get. All to attend a full day of meetings the following day with my MCC communications colleagues. Hmmm...that didn't sound good. That scenario didn't even feel like something I could tackle on my best day, let alone a day as long as this one had been.

So, another very helpful customer service representative booked us on a flight back to Wichita. The flight was to leave at 8:05 and arrive in Wichita just before 10. Nice! We hustled through the beauty that is known as the walkway between concourses B and C at O'Hare (I truly love that part of the airport, it might have been the highlight of my entire day) and made it to our gate just in time to start boarding. The flight was on time, the flight took just a little less time then it was scheduled to and Levi slept for the entire thing. My always helpful parents met us at the airport to take us home. Too bad our bags were still in Chicago...but at least we were home!

God was looking after us all day and never gave me more then I could handle. Ben was a strong support to me all day and Levi was on his best behavior. Thank goodness I don't have air travel plans any time soon.