The Best Vacation Ever! Chapter 1: Will We Ever Get There?

We left for vacation on Thursday, August 8. We were scheduled to leave Chicago's Midway Airport at 10:15 am and arrive in Baltimore at about 1:15 pm. That was the plan....

We left about 15 minutes late and were slated to get in about 20 minutes early. We were making our final approach... you could see houses, trees, people. Then, suddenly, we were above the clouds again. The pilot came on, announcing that Baltimore was experiencing bad weather (turns out there were 60 miles an hour winds and a micro burst) and that we did not have enough fuel to keep on circling. So we were headed to Norfolk, Virginia.

We landed in Norfolk at about the time we should have landed at BWI. We went to the gate to await further instructions. However, Southwest only has two gates in Norfolk, so soon we were pushed back from the gate and went to sit on the tarmac. We waited for further instructions... and waited.... and waited.... After three hours, the plane had just about run out of beverages (including water), there was no food, and everyone was getting a bit claustrophobic sitting in a metal tube. We still couldn't get a gate, so they rolled up the stairs, we all disembarked, and headed for the terminal. We were told that we needed to stay inside the secure area of the airport.

Of course, at Norfolk airport the food court is located outside of the secure area. 136 passengers mobbed the 1 sandwich kiosk and one small restaurant. After an hour and a half (it was now 6:00 pm), it was announced that we had clearance from Baltimore to leave, so we re-entered the plane, got settled, and pushed away. Then the pilot came over the PA... "Don't know how to tell you this, folks, but one of our hydraulic systems is not functional. We have to have a mechanic look at it. However, Southwest doesn't have a staff mechanic working at Norfolk, so they have to call in a contract mechanic". So we sat in the metal tube for another two hours while the mechanic came and tested the aircraft. It turned out to be a circuit breaker had flipped off. So, now at 8:00 pm... we're ready to leave. Except.... not so fast! Turns out....

1. Baltimore had once again closed due to weather, and
   
2. Our crew had been in the cockpit too long and were no longer eligible to fly.

Sooooo...once again we got off the plane and they canceled our flight. Since our flight was canceled, we no longer got priority to be the first plane into BWI once the weather cleared. But Southwest did have two flights going to BWI from Norfolk that night--the first was fairly full, the second fairly empty. The decided to combine those two flights and have them be the first to leave; we would board the second flight and follow them. You guessed it... they got the first flight loaded and it left at about 10 pm; they had us line up.... and yep, BWI closed again. Our 8 minute wait to board turned into another two hour delay. Finally, we took off at about 12:30 am, and arrived in BWI at about 1:30 am. Due to all the delays at BWI it was like a beehive, and the rental car desks were still open. We got our rental car about 2:30 am, and made it up to Gettysburg at about 4:00 am. Overall, it totaled almost 12 hours of delays, with 5 + hours spent sitting on the tarmac, 5+ hours sitting in the Norfolk airport and and extra hour of flying time. The worst part was that we missed the King family reunion which had been planned for Thursday evening. We did get to connect with everyone there, but not all at once like we hoped...

Were there any bright spots of all this?

1. The kids behaved like champs. They each had a moment when they broke down in tears from frustration and hunger, but hey, most of the adults felt like doing that too!
2. When you arrive at the rental counter at 2 in the morning with children and not too many cars available (and sympathetic attendants) you can get upgraded for no additional charge. We had reserved a sub-compact; we wound up with a small SUV which suited our needs very nicely. Because we were so late getting in, Budget even adjusted our rate downwards because we had the car one less day!
   
3. The traffic at 3:00 in the morning between Baltimore and Gettysburg was very light.
4. When we arrived home, we found 4 letters from Southwest in our mail. In each letter was an apology for the delays, as well a $150 voucher for another flight on Southwest.