My husband would tell you that I'm late for everything. That is, of course, a lie. I just try to squeeze as much as I possibly can into every minute. And sometimes that puts me a little on the back side of on time.
So you can understand how proud I was to arrive at Denver International Airport more than two hours before my plane was scheduled to leave. I went through security, found a plug that worked and started catching up on all the blogs I hadn't visited while I was at the conference. Did I mention DIA has free wireless internet? LOVE that!
The flight was scheduled to leave at 9:05. At 8:35 it occurred to me that my part of the concourse was really quiet. No passengers were waiting. No ticketing agent was at the desk. I pulled out my boarding pass and realized that I was supposed to be at B79, not B29.
If any of you are familiar with DIA, you know how long the B concourse is. Am I exaggerating when I say it's at least a mile from one end to the other?
I flew down that concourse in record time, arrived at the gate and found a line. I did NOT want to stand in line to talk to a desk agent. What if they'd already loaded the plane? Out of breath with my heart in my throat, I looked up at the digital display of outgoing flights. Santa Barbara was not listed. Now I was really worried.
At 8:55 I finally get to the front of the line. The Santa Barbara flight has been moved. Down an elevator and another quarter mile to gate B85.
I won't repeat the expletives that came out of my mouth at that point. Of course, when I arrived at B85, there was another line. And when I looked at the display, again, Santa Barbara was not on the list.
This time I took cuts. I'm sorry. I didn't arrive at the airport two hours early only to miss my flight!
Of course, as it turns out, I was still early. The flight had been delayed until 10:15. And then it was delayed again. Let's just say that by the time I crawled into bed, it was 1:30 a.m. here, 2:30 a.m. in Colorado.
If this is what happens when you're early, I'm going back to being late.
14 comments:
Yikes! So very frustrating ... to arrive early and then have that heart-sinking feeling followed by way too much chaos ... all to discover a much-delayed flight!
I'm usually late too, but I blame my kids. :)
That sounds like a frustrating late night! You must have been frantic!
That does not sound fun! But at least you finally got home. : )
I hate travelling!! Especially on airplanes. Necessary evil, I guess. Can't wait to hear everything about the conference! I've never been to a conference before, do you think it was worth the $$?
I once had this kind of day. I was SO SO SO rattled. So rattled that I never even got on the flight, which would have taken me to the one single conference to which I've ever been invited, on behalf of one of my YA books.
I definitely feel your pain.
This is what always frustrates me about flying. I think it has gotten worse!
Don't ya just love air travel? Very frustrating (but entertaining to read about).
;-)
Oh, so glad it worked out! But it certainly gets the adrenaline pumping, doesn't it!
I so know this feeling! Glad you got home safe. :)
Glad you got there safely. Yikes!
Sounds like something that would happen to me!
I'm so glad you had a great time at the conference. Good things are going to happen for you!
Whew! Glad you made it! And at that altitude, it couldn't have been easy running around. As a mommy, I was hoping you got in a nap the next day. Getting home in the AM and then taking care of kids is no fun.
Overall impression of the conference?
Hope you don't hate Denver after that. It was great meeting you, your blog is GOOD. I was thinking of blogging, but now I'm scared.
Got shot down by Nathan in a record two hours, but still sending to Rose. Any news on your front?
What a mess! But you survived and arrived home safely. Hope you had a great time. We'll chat soon.
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