I went to the airport early thinking I would pick up a few souvenirs but the limitations of the slight amount of space I could make in my carry on bags limited me severely so I didn't get anything special or even of much interest. The ten hour flight from Johannesburg (departed Monday at 11:20 am MDT) to Frankfurt, although long again, went well and I managed few short naps along the way. The eight hour layover in Frankfurt went reasonably quickly. When I went through security in Frankfurt the guy said to me, "You have a lot of things in there and we would like to do a special test." Of course I immediately feared the worst but all they did was swab my computer, my big camera and one lens before sending me on my way. The flight to Washington also went smoothly and the fed us twice in eight hours - one a full three course meal and then a salad plate. I was a little concerned that US Customs might not allow me to keep the billtong (jerky) I was carrying but there was apparently no problem with it.
When we landed in Washington (Tuesday at
2:00 pm MDT) there were incredible line ups to get through Immigration and Customs. That took more than an hour and made me almost miss my connecting flight to Chicago. I arrived at the gate, after walking/running for what felt like miles, just as the last of the people were boarding. On top of that the temperature was 35C and I was soaked top to bottom. Breathing a sigh of relief I boarded only to have them announce that the Chicago airport had been shut down for an hour at least. Right away I had to begin worrying about making my connection there as well as whether
my luggage would make it because when I left it at the transfer belt they were enormously backed up. We finally got underway and landed in Chicago. Once again my next gate was about as far away from where we parked as is possible and had to run like mad to get there in time. I arrived just as they were calling my name. I got everything sorted out, sat down and breathed another sigh of relief. That one too was short lived as they soon announced a two hour delay as a result of thunderstorms and a great deal of lightening in the area (just heard on tv there was also flooding and lots of downed trees). I went off to have a beer and try to cool off (around 30 and VERY HUMID) here. When I went back to the gate
(8:00 pm MDT) I was amazed to see that there was no flight listed on the board. No one knew for sure what that meant so we sat and waited for someone to come and tell us what was happening. When that didn't happen I went to the next gate and they checked and told me that the flight had been cancelled and I would have to go to Customer Service to be rebooked. I did that after standing in line for another hour. The agent first offered me a flight leaving at 6:00 am to Denver with a connection that would have (in theory) got me into Edmonton around 11:30 but the thought of yet another airport transfer was too much for me at that point
(in fact I don't want to see the inside of another airport for quite some time)
so I asked when the next direct flight was. I am now booked on one leaving here at noon and getting into Edmonton around 3:30. The agent had no idea where my luggage was so all I can do is hope that it makes it home sometime.
The only compensation the airline offered was to provide a cost shared hotel room
($49 my cost) so I agreed to that as I didn't want to hang around the airport for another twelve hours. In
theory I suppose I am not even here legally since I wasn't supposed to be staying but I will worry about that if or when it becomes an issue. When I got into a taxi, after another long line up, and told him where I wanted to go his response was, "Where's that?". I almost lost it at that point but bit my tongue and gave him the hotel phone number to call and get directions. $45 US (so much for my discounted room
charge) later I arrived at the hotel to hear the desk clerk telling someone to
use a local suburban taxi company because they only charge about $20. Oh well the hotel provides a free shuttle back to the airport - it was too late for the hotel shuttle last night as they quit running at 10:00 and it was almost midnight here when I finally made the arrangements.
Since I am flying standby from Edmonton to Yellowknife I have no idea what I
will face when I finally get there. As it is I didn't learn of the
cancellation here in time to cancel my room in Edmonton so have to pay full
price for that one even though I didn't make it.
My fingers remain crossed for the flights today..... I might still make it back on the day I planned but after this fiasco am not going to hold my breath.