Friday, July 3 we flew out of OKC for the Northwest to visit family for 2 weeks. We arrived at the airport and only checked one bag since they now charge huuuuuge fees to check your bags. The result was that Ry & I each were carrying a backpack & additional (heavy) carry-on. The airport prices are so outrageous we decided to share a small sandwich and a bottle of water. Thus appeased, we headed to our plane.
We boarded toward the beginning of the line, found our seats and settled in. Within a few minutes it became apparent there was a problem. Some of the seat assignments for our fellow passengers (seats they paid extra money for) do not exist. The pilot came on and told us that we are on the wrong type of aircraft. The next 15 mins. was spent trying to sort everyone out when the pilot finally said, "we are going to be late, get on board and find a seat." Another 15 mins. and we were underway.
The next time we heard from the pilot, he informs us that Denver airport is closed due to a violent thunderstorm. We circled Pueblo, CO for a while. 45 mins. later he tells us we have clearance to land in Denver, but we now do not have enough gas. We are diverted to Colorado Springs to fuel up. We land only to find out that we are one of many who need gas. We are #7 in the line up.
The pilot comes on again - (we are learning this is not a good thing) to say that they are working on a plan to de-plane us and shuffle us between the planes ahead of us so that we can get to Denver and hope to make some of our connecting flights that have also been delayed. They are going over flight manifests, trying to determine available seats, and figure out how they are going to handle the luggage. They are also trying to get stairs or jetways cleared for us. 15 mins. later the pilot comes back with the news that there have been lighting flashes and all ground personnel have been called in. We can't get gas, we can't de-plane, however, we can sit and wait.
30 mins. later the pilot comes on with "I have some bad news and a bit of good news." Turns out that our pilot & co-pilot have been flying since 3am and with FFA rules, they only have 6 mins. to get us to Denver before their allowable flight hours run out. Not gonna happen. Soooo, the new plan is that we are going to de-plane here in Colorado Springs. We can choose to stay there overnight (on our dime) or they will bus us to Denver and book us flights for the morning. We all get off the plane, find our bags and walk through the deserted Colorado Springs airport. It is a holiday weekend so the airport basically shut down at 4:30 that day. It is after 7p.m. and we are all hungry and nothing is open. We spend another hour of being shuffled around in the confusion. Ryan & I teamed up with a family with 2 tiny girls and tons of bags. Between all of us, we get loaded onto one of the busses, thinking that it will be better to get to Denver. Larger airport, a better chance of food and we can get flights first thing in the morning.
We load and enjoy some sleep during the drive. Suddenly, we are awakened when our driver pulls off to the side of the road. The check engine light has come on and he can't get the bus to drive. Eventually it is decided that the second bus will continue to Denver and drop off those passengers and come back for us. Of course we are in the middle of nowhere. The 3 little ones on the bus had been doing so well. They were so tired. There was some crying but they really did well considering everything. We shared what food we had, we laughed, we texted & called family. When the other bus returned an hour later, we de-bussed into thick mud. I will never forget participating in an assembling line along a remote highway in the mts. of colorado at 11:00 at night as we transfered our baggage to the new bus. It was so crazy.
We arrived at Denver after midnight where they had hotel & food vouchers waiting for us. Some even got their baggage fees returned since we had handled our bags more than the airport personnel. We were estatic to find that Burger King was open!!!! After eating we found our shuttles and drove the 20 mins. to our respective hotels. Ours was a very modern one called Aloft. We were at the same hotel as the babies & I was very proud of Ryan. He helped all the parents with their bags without even being asked. We finally crashed into a very soft bed a bit after 1:30a.m.
Four hours later my wake-up call sounded and we bumbled our way back to the airport, made our way through Denver security and found our gate. There we find that our plane is seriously overbooked and they are desparately looking for volunteers to be bumped. After everything, I decided what did we have to loose? We didn't have young kids, we didn't have a connecting flight and we would be booked first class on the noon flight. So, we volunteered and cheerfully went to collect our free flight vouchers. We even had time to find the Sees Chocolates!
In the end, we finally touched down in Seattle on the Fourth of July around 2 and made it to my sister's house by 3:30, 25 hours after we had left OKC. We learned a lot about choosing to be positive, laughing, and helping each other. We made some great friends and definitely have a wonderful memory. We can hardly wait to fly the friendly skies again!
