The tale of getting from here to ... here

Wednesday we worked from home so that we could take a mid-afternoon bus to my mom's house. This put us only one bus away from the airport, which we hoped made it more likely we would make it to our 10:25 flight on Delta Thursday morning so we could go to Dan's Grandma's funeral.

It had snowed off and on since Saturday, sticking on Sunday and accumulating more each day. Snow in Seattle is never a pretty sight if you're trying to get somewhere. Everything seems to shut down, the streets get icy, slushy, and snowy all at the same time, and I usually stay home and refuse to look out the windows until it's all over.

Thursday morning I got up at 5:30 to check our flight status. Canceled. So I rebooked on the 1:15 PM flight. Dan was watching the weather report - freezing rain on top of the already accumulated snow had shut down the entire airport. But it was predicted to warm up by noon.

By the time walked out the door, at 8:30, the reports said one runway was open and operating and they were working on the second one. We hiked through the freezing rain to the bus station - a mile walk while stuff fell out of the sky and stuck to our ponchos, creating an insulating layer of ice. We just missed one bus, so we had to wait a half hour for the next one. Once we were safely on the bus and on our way to the airport, I remembered I had a camera.


Not exactly winter wonderland - the grey slush on the roads was made more exciting by the continuing freezing rain, but the bus made it safely with only a few exciting slips and slides. Unfortunately, while we were riding the bus we got the news that our new flight was delayed, followed by the message saying it was canceled entirely.

So when we got to the airport we entered the customer service line. They handed us a card with a phone number to call - the phone operator was only able to tell us they could put us on a flight the next day that would get us to Salt Lake City by 7PM. Too late for the funeral. He offered us a refund, but we instead waited through the hour long line to talk to an agent at the desk.

At the desk they tried everything - from checking the 7:15 flight that hadn't left yet (it was almost 11:00) to see if they had any extra seats, to checking all possible connections, to finally offering us standby on the 6PM flight. We took our seat requests and headed to the S gate area for a long, long wait.

Here's the top ten ways we entertained ourselves:

10. Counting how many planes we could see sitting still at their gates. How many do you see?











How'd you do?


9. Watching icicles grow on the airplane wings as they remained parked outside for the entire time we were there.



8. Watching a snowplow shove the slush and dirt around.


7. Talking with our fellow stuck passengers (I thought it would be odd if I asked to take their picture).

6. Talking to or texting our families.

5. Waiting through more lines to talk with more people, hoping someone might be able to help us.


4. Watching the board full of canceled flights.


3. Watching the de-icing, which reminded me of orange soda.


2. Watching a bunch of construction trucks working to remove the giant pile of snow out in the middle of the ramp.

1. Playing games on Dan's nifty Nook.


When we were finally given real boarding passes, we began to think we might actually make it to the funeral. We boarded the plane. It didn't look too promising.


There was a long delay while we waited to push back from the gate and begin de-icing. The nice flight attendant even switched Dan's seat so he could sit by me. Then there was an announcement. They had put too much fuel on the plane and the nozzles or whatever equipment they needed to remove some fuel was frozen. So 28 people needed to leave the flight. After only about 15 people had volunteered to go, I decided that if I left, maybe Dan would have a chance of going. I was totally crying as I left the plane. Another passenger said he'd give up his seat for me - a total stranger! It's amazing how awesome people can be. The flight attendant said I should stay because they were going to have to just pull off some non-volunteers anyway. So some of the standbys were called off individually.

Finally, at about 7:40, we pulled back from the gate, ready to de-ice. Then there was an announcement. We had run out of time - there is a legal limit to how long the flight crew could be on duty, and unless we de-iced and took off in 18 minutes we would pass that limit by the time we got to SLC. Most flights that day were delayed or canceled outright, and the delays were up to 4 hours. Our flight, with a shorter delay, was canceled ... next time my travel is important, I'll go with anyone but Delta. I'll bet all these people agree, especially since we watched the Southwest flight to SLC taxi past us on its way to a successful trip while we were stuck at the gate.


So, 14 hours after we left, we were back where we started - at a bus stop a mile away from my Mom's house, out in the cold, wet, slushy, icy, snowy night. We gave up.


This morning, the first thing Dan did is to check the flight status of today's early morning flights. They were canceled. This made us feel better about not trying to go standby on one of those flights. We hung out at my Mom's until late in the afternoon, when today's warmer temperatures and rain made it possible for her and my brother to drive us home with only moderate slipping and sliding. For a trip that didn't end up going anywhere, I sure got my fill of traveling for a while!