Missed Connection

I went to visit my brother and family in Ohio. (I mentioned this a few times already.) Every other post this week I wrote before I left for my trip. As I write this for today, it is Wednesday the 9th. I got back yesterday (Tuesday). 

I was supposed to arrive home on Monday. 

(This is going to be a long one. So... TL/DR: I got stuck in Denver overnight for reasons.)

The last time I visited was for Thanksgiving. As I was leaving, my sister-in-law mentioned that I should return to see the 4th of July with them. (My brother loves setting off fireworks.) Okay, then...

I was set to return on Monday. Because the Long Beach Airport is small, it does not have direct flights to/from Columbus, Ohio. So, for my return flight, I was going to change planes in Denver, Colorado. I had a little over two and a half hours layover. (I was scheduled to land from Columbus at 3:10 and take off to Long Beach at 5:45.) 

I got to the Columbus Airport early. I got through the TSA line (shoes off). I found my gate. And then, because I had time, I went to find someplace to have lunch. I checked my takeoff time, and we were delayed. By a couple minutes. 

Me at lunch.

It was probably 1 o'clock (EDT). I took my time. Had a nice lunch. And then I went to find my gate again. At this point our takeoff was delayed again. It got pushed back a couple times, so instead of taking off at 2 PM as originally scheduled, we were looking at more like 2:30. 

But I had that 2 1/2 hour layover. I'd be fine... 

The gate next to us was headed for Nashville, Tennessee. And instead of getting ready to board, they got some bad news. Weather delay. And announcement after announcement was about having them reschedule connecting flights. I was sorry for their troubles, thinking they weren't my troubles. Ah... 

It was time to board. They had the first boarding group line up. (I was in the second boarding group.) They waited. And they waited. And they waited. Still, no call to start boarding... 

Finally, the boarding guy told those in line they might as well sit back down. It would be a while. 

Most of the passengers got out of line. We waited. 

"That alarm you heard is for a lightning strike. Because it struck within three miles of the airport, we are on a 20 minute mandatory delay. No flights can take off or land." 

I turned to find that it was now raining outside. Okay, then. 

After a while we got another announcement. We were going to start boarding soon as the plug that had popped out (my memory on the exact phrasing is fuzzy, so I may have incorrect terminology here) had been fixed. 

Hey, what? 

The announcer chuckled. "Oh, you weren't informed of this?" He realized that we hadn't been told why they had halted boarding, so he explained the problem. As they were getting the plane ready for us to board, they found a popped plug (?? or something like that). They called maintenance. Who were on the other side of the airport. Then, of course the lightning delay meant no personnel outside. 

But now it was all fixed. Finally, we were going to board. Hooray!

We took off sometime after 3:15. (My last texts to everyone letting them know I was sitting on the plane were at 3:15. Then I put my phone in airplane mode.) 

We got to Denver in good time. However, we couldn't land. Something-something weather. We circled for a while. Then the pilot explained that we could land pretty soon, but we were going to need to refuel first, so we were being diverted to Montrose. Montrose? What's a Montrose? 

It was twenty minutes away. And, we landed at about 5:10 PM (MDT).

Welcome to Montrose, Colorado. This was out my window on the plane. 

We could not get off the plane. So, everyone got into the aisle to use the restroom (including me). Hey, they said we could stretch our legs a bit. 

Remember my connecting flight? 5:45 MDT. According to my phone, it had been delayed to 6:10. When we took off at about 5:35, the pilot said it would take us about 35 minutes to get back to Denver. 

We landed in Denver at about 6:45. 

I took my phone out of airplane mode to find a text. My connecting flight to Long Beach had been rebooked. 9:15 AM. (Long Beach does not have late flights. My original flight had been the last one of the day.) 

Now, I did have options. It's not like Long Beach is the only airport. But LAX? Maybe John Wayne. I was tired. I'd get back late and then I'd have to figure out how to get a ride from the airport. I decided I might as well get a hotel for the night. 

First, I wanted to get my checked bag. Baggage claim was down an escalator and a train ride away. Did you know the Denver Airport has a train? 

I found a very nice lady in the baggage claim area (for bag issues), and I asked if I could get my bag. She said she could ask. My bag was checked through to Long Beach, and it was currently booked on a flight to Sacramento, and then somehow it would make its way to Long Beach. (It turns out that tag that they tell you to keep is useful for something.) She sent a request. Said to check back in twenty minutes. At twenty minutes she said to check back a little later. 

A little later she found me. Said she found a baggage handler who found my bag and had retrieved it. They just needed to find a vehicle to transport it back to baggage claim. This would take some time, of course. 

I was just so happy to get the bag. I needed to take my contact lenses out, and my stuff plus my glasses were in my suitcase. 

While I was waiting on the bag, I booked a hotel. My brother was kind enough to do some internet research and find me a phone number. I got my bag a little after 9 PM, and then I headed out to get a shuttle to the hotel. 

I didn't get on the shuttle until about 10:30. The shuttles weren't well identified. The one with the correct hotel name had the wrong hotel address. (Same name. One was on Airport Tower Road--where I wanted to go. This shuttle was for Gateway or Garden Park something or other.) When I finally identified the correct shuttle, I realized that it had come by three or four times. 

I got into my room about 11:30. The shuttle back was for 6:30 AM. (That was the only time they had available, but I didn't mind as I wanted to actually make my flight back. Early was way better than late.) 

I got a shower. For dinner they had frozen dinners available (for a very inflated price) in the lobby (microwave in the room). Besides snacks on the plane, my last meal had been at 1 PM EDT. I took out my contacts. And I got a couple hours sleep. 

My hotel room. Just what I needed.

The hotel had breakfast included. And then it was back to the airport. I was dropped off at the wrong airline, but one of the employees directed me towards where I needed to check my bag. I went to print a label for the bag, but that wouldn't work. Sigh. 

There was an available clerk at the bag drop off. I explained the situation. He said I had a bag checked. I pointed to my bag and said this was the checked bag. He understood, and he printed out a new tag. Then I was off to find the TSA line. 

(The workers I encountered at Denver Airport were so very nice and helpful considering the situation. This could have gone so much worse.) 

The line went quickly. I went through screening (shoes on!?!). The TSA agent said we could leave our shoes on. I double checked. Really? Yup. I found out (after I got home) about that rule change. 

Then it was back to the train and back to the C gates. But reversing my path from Monday after having a bit of rest and some food helped me mentally. (I was still fried, but a little less so.) 

I was way early. 

The flight home, day 2.

Better early than late. I texted the family. I ate another breakfast at the airport. 

But one thing just pissed me off. For the flight I missed, I had managed to snag an A group boarding. I was so excited. I'd get on the plane early. But for my rebooked flight, I was downgraded to a C group boarding. That that just... Because, seriously? (Had to be said.)

As we got ready to board (pretty much on time), the guy in front of me and I got to talking. He was on the flight with me from Columbus. (Truck driver. He was picking up his load in Long Beach and he would be driving it to New York.) He also had the same boarding issue. However, he had not been able to retrieve his checked bag. Apparently, it had made it to Long Beach ahead of us. 

I got stuck with a middle seat. Sigh. But the flight into Long Beach was uneventful. 

We landed around 10:30 AM PDT. And home is about 10 minutes away. (I commute farther to work.) 

I got home. Unpacked. And then fell asleep for about three hours. Still, today, Wednesday, I'm feeling a bit wiped. But I'm home. Yay!

Maybe next week I'll talk a little about the trip itself. Although, family, so it wasn't a big touristy thing. 

And now you know why I was a bit late visiting blogs this week.