The first day of our exciting vacation certainly started out
exciting. Because I was so concerned with arrival time I neglected to look at
the departure time for our flight to Boston. We were all surprised to discover
the flight left at 4…AM… Naturally that meant only the guiltless could have a
restful few hours of sleep. The rest of us tossed and turned watching the clock
and news reruns until finally at 1AM we decided to put the coffee on and stop
pretending. We arrived at the terminal
by three and of course, flew through the security line. Our only other
companion turned out to be the president of ASU. He was also on our flight but
it seemed a bit strange there were only the five of us heading to the gate. Being
the clever people we are within a short time we figured something was wrong and
sure enough we got online to find our flight was cancelled.
Yikes! Bob got on the phone and finally tracked down a live
agent who said yes indeed our flight had been cancelled due to mechanical
problems. But not to fear they found another flight got us set. It was only to
be two hour delay so we decided to skip the plans to leave the airport for
breakfast. But, At the gate we discovered that our new flight was delayed an
hour. Grrr… Yes, we could have gone to Denny’s and been back in plenty of time.
Our new route went via Chicago where, yes, once again we heard the familiar “Your flight has been delayed…”
except they added, “the mechanic should have it fixed soon…” More crabbiness…
The days turn into weeks and the weeks into years… okay not
really, just seemed that way.
We decided it was good that we hadn’t made any big plans for
the afternoon, though somehow we arrived only two hours after our originally scheduled
time. Don’t ask me how this is happened. Our plane was only slightly larger
than a Cessna but maybe we travelled at warp speed. Or something.
As
you can imagine Matthew was not in the best of moods. He He does pretty
well for one with autism. We start talking about the trip about a week before
leaving and two of the carry-on bags we carry are filled with his important
stuff. But unexpected delays are hard. He doesn’t like that other people were
boarding other airplanes while we were sitting and waiting. Well, that and the
fact that they had CNN on the television until someone switched it to Cartoon
Network and then, in what seemed like less than a minute, switched it back to
news.
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| Oh look! A dinosaur right in the middle of O'Hare airport! |
Technology does aid travel and he used up the battery
skimming through pictures on the ipad, admiring himself and sister. I realize
too that there are a whole bunch of “Matthew” pictures I don’t remember (like the flashlight on top
of the 12 pack of soda—I’m sure there is some good meaning to that.)
We did have one highlight and that were able to get
Matthew’s picture taken with a very polite soldier who waiting for his flight
to Arkansas. We think we might start working on a book of Soldiers and Matthew.
He does like these heroes a lot.
Oh, I am reminded of our whole TSA experience which I have
to share. Of course, the first time through was a breeze. The agents were super
friendly and very conscience of Matthew. It was so easy. Since we had to rebook
we ended up going through security a second time. This time the day shift was
on. Talk about a bunch of grouches. No smiles, no asking how are you. Nothing.
Instead, they barked orders to us and when Matthew forgot to take his hat off
the scowling agent took it off his head and checked it for contraband. As
Rebecca says, there are good reasons to catch that early flight.
Day 2 adventures will surely be more fun.
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