Airport Games

You can't get home from here

It was both the longest and the shortest flight delay I have ever experienced.  After a perfect ski trip with the Red Solo Cup Crew we headed to the Hayden/Steamboat Springs airport.  The snow we wished we had on the slopes decided to fall as we were leaving...perfect.  Luckily, we showed up at the airport at least an hour before our scheduled 2:50 departure time just like good travelers.   Bags were checked, boarding passes were in hand, security had been cleared and we waited. 

The 7 of us heading to the airport... 
skis in the bag over my head, suitcases behind the guys and snow gently falling outside.

We waited dutifully for our plane to arrive in Hayden.  The visibility was limited at best.  Our plane passed once, twice...three times and headed back to Denver for refueling...among other things as we would find out MUCH later.  We were officially "delayed".   So we waited. 

Some of us read our books.  Some of us watched the stuff we had downloaded for the flight.  We watched it snow and waited.  Eventually, we got hungry and since the airport is small, we ventured outside of security and snagged a couple of tables at the only restaurant with a full bar and ordered drinks and lunch.  We ate, we played cards, we drank, we watched the updates on the flight status.  It was not encouraging. 

I am not exactly sure what "recovery" is....
but things were not looking good.

Meanwhile, we were holding court in the restaurant playing a lively game of "Oh Heck!" and keeping our waitress entertained and busy.  She sadly informed us that the restaurant was closing at 4 p.m.  4 pm!  What is up with that??  We stayed until they ran out of wine glasses and started serving wine in Stella Artois glasses.  Yikes!  After we finished our generous portions of wine and our Oh Heck game we were forced to go back through security and wait on the other side.  The other side was crowded and smelled like bacon.

Wine and cards...that's what you do during a delay.

With our flight still not officially cancelled we listened for updates and anxiously waited to hear that our plane was on its way from Denver.  Since it was the night of the Oscars we sat down at a table in the "bacon restaurant" and watched the Red Carpet.  We played Wisk.  We did not eat bacon but I think everyone else did!  As the day turned into night and our plane did not arrive, the inventory at the "bacon restaurant" dwindled.  The only food left was a few random bags of chips and day old yogurt parfaits....ewww.  The airline kept wheeling out carts with candy, chips, cookies and water as a consolation for the "delayed" flight. 

This one says it all!
Read the monitor, look of disbelief, check the weather and the flight status on your phone.

By now it was getting late.  We were getting a little punchy and were well past our lunch buzz and moving closer to our bedtime.  Our flight was the only group still at the airport waiting for a plane.  All of the others had either been cancelled or were in the air.  Many of us were making alternate flight plans for the next day just to cover our bases.  We were still all in fairly good spirits though, considering.  If you are going to be stuck in an airport for up to ten hours at least we were stuck with six of our good friends.  As the night wore on we finally heard that our plane had left Denver and was headed to Hayden/Steamboat.  There was joy and celebration all around! 

In anticipation of boarding an actual airplane we tried to stay awake by playing Heads Up.  You know...that game using your cell phone with clues you put up to your forehead and others give you clues and you try to guess who you are.  As we played, some people who may or may not have been trying to sleep by this late hour frowned and others joined in the fun.  What a hoot!  Two sisters who will now be known as the Super Fun Sisters joined in the Heads Up game.  We played many rounds!  It was the most fun I've ever had in an airport during a flight delay.  Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the snow, maybe it was the six friends, maybe it was the altitude....it was fun. 

Our plane finally made it to Hayden.  Passengers disembarked.  Some of them were friends of some of our friends and shared that the reason for the delay was mechanical.  Hmmmm.  We waited to board the plane.  And waited.  The bleary eyed pilot came into the gate area and announced there was a mechanical problem and by the time someone came and figured out the issue and fixed it, the flight crew would be timed out.  Bottom line...we were not getting out of here tonight.  Goodnight folks....see you tomorrow....good luck finding a ride back to town at midnight....or a hotel room....want some bacon?

This is when it is nice to have friends with a house in the area!  One smart person raced to the Avis desk and was able to rent one of the few large vehicles for the night.  There was a lot a scrambling going on in the airport all of the sudden!  People making sure they had a way home the next day, people trying to find transportation to town and accommodations for the night.  It was midnight!  The Super Fun Sisters were among those scrambling and ended up with us.  So now we were nine people, with luggage and a ski bag in a minivan heading back to Steamboat for the night.  The ride back to the house was hilarious...unless you were the driver steering our ship of fools home!

We made it back to the house and unloaded.  As a vacation home owner, the only thing worse than closing a house when you leave is having to close it twice in two days.  Many thanks to our hosts!  We all remade our beds, set up the Super Fun Sisters for the night and settled in for some well deserved rest a mere 13 hours after we first left.  What a day!

Red Solo Cups and Super Fun Sisters ready for departure!

We optimistically headed back to the airport the next day.  Yes, our flight was delayed...again.  Yes, we all sighed....   Fortunately, the delay was only hours instead of days.  We were all pretty much over the airport fun and games by this time.  We just wanted to get home... and we did....30 hours after our originally scheduled arrival. 

I will say, I have never laughed so much in one day in my life!  We played a lot of cards, we laughed, we read, we watched, we waited, we ate, we drank, we met some very nice sisters and we made friends.  We never really stressed out about our situation or got mad about it, we were with friends.  The airline compensated us for our inconvenience and the staff was more than pleasant dealing with over 100 unhappy travelers.   Life is what you make of it and I think we made the most of it that day.

The Harbinger of Spring

Hello Houston!  It's springtime!

At the beginning of March the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo rolls into town through chilly, sometimes rainy, late winter weather and three weeks later, when it leaves, Houston is in full bloom!  Three weeks of roping, riding, mutton busting, amazing live entertainment and pollen.  It's a pretty big deal....just ask the over 2 million people who attend every year. 

A couple of weeks ago my photography class went to the rodeo BBQ cook-off  and while I was stalking photo ops through the puddles I was reminded of those days back in Katy when the kids were young.  Even though we aren't cowboys and cowgirls, everyone can put their boots and jeans on and pretend for three weeks in March.

Back in Katy from 1986-1992 our kids were in grade school and they always celebrated the beginning of the rodeo with Go Texan day.  Everyone would wear their boots and hats and dress in the nearest thing to western wear we could scrounge up around the house.  The trail riders made their way into town a few days before the first Saturday of the rodeo and we would take the kids out into the windy side streets to watch the riders on their horses and wagons.  Seeing the trail riders made us feel so Texan!  If you don't go skiing or to the beach, the rodeo is the place to be during Spring Break.

Going Texan!

These March showers will bring in the azaleas, bluebonnets and greenery

Another event that signals the end of winter is our Red Solo Cup ski trip.  We usually go the last weekend of February or the first one in March, depending on schedules.  When we leave Houston spring is just beginning to show its shy face.  After enjoying our last taste of winter on the snowy slopes, we return to a city that has exploded with life.  This year's ski trip was one for the books and definitely deserves its own post!  Tonight the Red Solo Cup Crew is heading to the rodeo, yee haw!

Enjoy this spring!