The Flight Up

August 12th, the children and I (Gale) woke up early to prepare for our trip to NYC. Jim Dixon graciously agreed (or was maybe conned) to take us from Rome to the airport which is about an hour and a half drive. Addison and Parker were so excited that there was barely a breathe of air that was wasted. When I uttered the words to Jim that this was going to be a long day, I had no idea of the truth the words held.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. After grabbing a bagle and muffin, we borded the plane right on time…..10:40 AM. The flight seemed to be moving along fine. Addison and Parker were so excited to be on their first plane trip that they would remember. After taking off they took pictures of the clouds and of the “match box” car set below. We should have landed a little after 12:00 PM. But the flight was taking longer than suspected. Then the announcement over the intercom……”La Guadia has a ground hold due to bad weather. Unfortunately, we are low on fuel and will have to be diverted to Dulles airport in D.C. We will land there, refuel, and service the baths. Then we should be on our way.”

So we land. I am guessing that it is now 1:30 to 2:00 PM. They refuel us and service the restrooms. We go to the end of the runway and sit and sit and sit. Again the pilot comes over the intercom and says that La Guadia is not allowing planes to come in or out, so we are going to have to get off the plane so that everyone can grab something to eat. Now, everyone unloads into a people mover which drives us to a gate where we all run to grab a bite to eat. All I know is that the three of us have had pretzels and other snack things since 9:30 this morning. At 4:00 PM, we got our Five Guys burger and fires and run back to the terminal that we had been called to. This entire time, I am trying to figure out how to get Brad by making collect calls which his cell phone can’t accept!!! Thank goodness I had enough change in my purse to make a four minute call (I know….smoke signals would have worked better!!!) to let him know we where fine.

Again, we load onto the people mover and head back to the plane. This was at 5:00 PM. The plane moves to the end of the runway. Again we sit!!!! And sit!!! And sit!!!! The Italian couple behind begin to argue in Italian. I know in English she kept saying that she was about to make a scene if they did not get the plane moving. Up to the flight attendants they both went…..and back…and up…and back. Of course Addison and Parker’s eyes are as big as saucers. All I could think about was the TV show Lost. I was not real sure that I would be able to live with these folks if we did not get to La Guadia soon!!!

Finally, at 7:00 PM we begin moving. Rumor was that we were going to be able to take off. This actually happened!!! When the plane was off the ground, everyone began to clap. It was such a great feeling. We landed in NYC around 7:45. After one more 4 minute call, we were off to get our bag, hail a taxi, and see our new home. We arrived at 175 9th Avenue around 9:00 PM. And even with our stuff every where, it felt good to be home!!!!! WOW!!!! What an adventure!