Sooooo, I had all these grandiose ideas of relaxation, rejuvenation, and recharging while I was visiting family in Louisiana this week. Well, it didn't quite work out the way I planned! We flew out of Eugene Thursday morning, and arrived at LAX right on time....and that was the end of things going as planned! We boarded our flight for Dallas and after sitting for about an hour, the pilot told us that there were engine problems...not a good sign! (Can I just add here that I swore off flying with this particular airline a few years ago...now I remember why! )
We sat on this airplane with approximately 400 other folks for an hour with no air....YES it was hot.... until they finally got a maintenance crew to come out and take a look. Another hour later and we were told that we were "good to go". So, off we went to Dallas arriving an hour late! We had planned to meet our oldest son there, have a nice dinner, and continue on to Louisiana together.....
didn't quite work out like that........not even close!
The boarding time came and went several times with no explanation regarding the delay. We all knew that the storm was moving in and that we had a very small window of time to get out of there. Finally they told us that they were fixing some broken seats on the plane...
musta been a really rowdy crew of passengers on the flight before us!
Two and a half hours after our scheduled departure, they told us to board the plane. Then we taxied out on the runway, waiting for our turn to be de-iced.
We waited,
and waited,
and waited,
and waited....
All around us, other planes were being de-iced and allowed to depart. During this time, we were strongly discouraged from getting up and going to the bathroom...we might "lose our place in line". Finally, the de-icer got to us and started to work on one side of the plane.
But...guess what?
They ran out of de-icing solution half-way through the process!!!
Finally, after sitting on the plane for two hours, we were told that FAA rules state that passengers can't be held on the plane for more than two hours, and that we were going back to the terminal.
Such an outcry from the passengers...sounded like a mutiny!
We taxied back to the terminal, grabbed our carry-on articles and exited the plane. Then, we got a chance to wait some more! By the time someone finally officially canceled our flight it was past midnight. Then we had to wait for someone to come and get our valet luggage off the plane. So now it's 1 AM and it's obvious that we are going nowhere...
what to do???
One group decided that they were going to make a break for it before the storm unleashed its full fury on Dallas, so they headed for the car rental area. The rest of us knew that we'd be spending the night in the terminal...we were told that all the hotels close-by were booked. We headed to another terminal to get something to eat in the only open restaurant. We managed to scrounge up one cot and the rest of us "slept" on the benches in TGI Friday's from about 4-6 AM.
Stay tuned for part 2.... (this drama is far from over!)
The French Gypsy
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