It's Christmas. So I flew home for the break.
What's a flight without a good story? Impossiable (for me at least).
I was using my vocher to fly home, which means that I had to fly out of New Orleanssince United doesn't fly out of Baton Rouge. My flight was at noon, but my co-worker was catching the Atlanta train at 7:30 so I offered to drop her off.
I was rather proud of myself. The night before I packed my bags and was the most prepared for this trip then any trip I have taken this year. I packed the night before I left for China and Europe. This was also the case for my trip to Boston, but I had a good excuse since I was in the hospital the day prior to boarding the plane. So the fact that I had all my bags neatly packed and laid out on my futon by 11:00pm was amazing.
I went to bed, setting my alarm for 4am.
The next morning I pressed the snooze button twice, but I still had plenty of time to gain consciousness and take a shower before Lynn arrived. When she called, I went to my car and we headed for New Orleans. Before hand, I had to drop my key off at one of my neighbors so my coworker could get my key from him and feed my cat.
When we left Baton Rouge the only thing that made the morning unhappy was my lack of coffee. I mean, I had that feeling that I left something behind. But when do you NOT have that feeling?
We drove through the Lousiana swamps at 5:00am – entering New Orleans over the lake at 6:30, and arriving at the train station. Everything was good. It was one of those surreal mornings. It felt good. We found the train station easily and I helped Lynn upload her bags. She was a girl, so she thought it necessary to bring back LOTS of presents. After we checked her bags, I wanted coffee. So we went to the café in the station.
I reached for my wallet – the wallet that, not only contained all my money and credit cards, but also my only form of ID. The ID that will allow me on the train.
My wallet wasn't there. My mind flashed to the my wallet laying on my table at home. My home in Baton Rouge – an hour away. I quickly bid Lynn a farewell and began a race back home. At this point I was OK. It was 7am, my flight was noon, and Baton Rouge is only an hour away. There were two glitches in the plan. First, my car was on Empty and I had no money. Second, my key was laying on my neighbors floor. Hopefully he was home and awake so I could get my key, open my apartment gate, and unlock my door.
Surprisingly, all these events took place smoothly. I had enough gas to get back, my neighbor answered his door, and I was able to leaving Baton Rouge by 8:30. I was a little concerned that the airport would be packed due to the holiday. Even though, I should be OK.
I drove to my pastor-friends house, who would be taking me to the airport. We left for the airport with an estimated arrival time of 11:00. Flight was at 12:00. We were good.
When we got to the airport, I realized I had left my cell phone in the car. I debated if this was important. I couldn't decide. But Pastor Nare was determined to retrieve the device. We flew back home and I arrived back at the airport at 11:20. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make the flight. How is it possible to make a flight in 40 minutes, on the Saturday before Christmas. There is no way.
I was at the terminal in ten minutes. No kidding. They weren't even boarding the plane yet. I was relieved. I guess the airport in now dead post-Katrina. I'm lucky. The flight was eventless and on-time. I even flew through the deadly Washington-Dulles, where I received my initial voucher that was allowing me to fly home cheap.
United still sucks. Upon boarding the plane, we were told that the seats were screwed up so we were to take any open seat available. After deplaning my carry-on (that was checked plane-side) was ripped. But I went to the luggage people and they said they would give me a $20 voucher. So I actually GAINED from the flight. Sweet.
My aunt picked me up and we went to Lafayette. I was home. I love this place.
What's a flight without a good story? Impossiable (for me at least).
I was using my vocher to fly home, which means that I had to fly out of New Orleanssince United doesn't fly out of Baton Rouge. My flight was at noon, but my co-worker was catching the Atlanta train at 7:30 so I offered to drop her off.
I was rather proud of myself. The night before I packed my bags and was the most prepared for this trip then any trip I have taken this year. I packed the night before I left for China and Europe. This was also the case for my trip to Boston, but I had a good excuse since I was in the hospital the day prior to boarding the plane. So the fact that I had all my bags neatly packed and laid out on my futon by 11:00pm was amazing.
I went to bed, setting my alarm for 4am.
The next morning I pressed the snooze button twice, but I still had plenty of time to gain consciousness and take a shower before Lynn arrived. When she called, I went to my car and we headed for New Orleans. Before hand, I had to drop my key off at one of my neighbors so my coworker could get my key from him and feed my cat.
When we left Baton Rouge the only thing that made the morning unhappy was my lack of coffee. I mean, I had that feeling that I left something behind. But when do you NOT have that feeling?
We drove through the Lousiana swamps at 5:00am – entering New Orleans over the lake at 6:30, and arriving at the train station. Everything was good. It was one of those surreal mornings. It felt good. We found the train station easily and I helped Lynn upload her bags. She was a girl, so she thought it necessary to bring back LOTS of presents. After we checked her bags, I wanted coffee. So we went to the café in the station.
I reached for my wallet – the wallet that, not only contained all my money and credit cards, but also my only form of ID. The ID that will allow me on the train.
My wallet wasn't there. My mind flashed to the my wallet laying on my table at home. My home in Baton Rouge – an hour away. I quickly bid Lynn a farewell and began a race back home. At this point I was OK. It was 7am, my flight was noon, and Baton Rouge is only an hour away. There were two glitches in the plan. First, my car was on Empty and I had no money. Second, my key was laying on my neighbors floor. Hopefully he was home and awake so I could get my key, open my apartment gate, and unlock my door.
Surprisingly, all these events took place smoothly. I had enough gas to get back, my neighbor answered his door, and I was able to leaving Baton Rouge by 8:30. I was a little concerned that the airport would be packed due to the holiday. Even though, I should be OK.
I drove to my pastor-friends house, who would be taking me to the airport. We left for the airport with an estimated arrival time of 11:00. Flight was at 12:00. We were good.
When we got to the airport, I realized I had left my cell phone in the car. I debated if this was important. I couldn't decide. But Pastor Nare was determined to retrieve the device. We flew back home and I arrived back at the airport at 11:20. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make the flight. How is it possible to make a flight in 40 minutes, on the Saturday before Christmas. There is no way.
I was at the terminal in ten minutes. No kidding. They weren't even boarding the plane yet. I was relieved. I guess the airport in now dead post-Katrina. I'm lucky. The flight was eventless and on-time. I even flew through the deadly Washington-Dulles, where I received my initial voucher that was allowing me to fly home cheap.
United still sucks. Upon boarding the plane, we were told that the seats were screwed up so we were to take any open seat available. After deplaning my carry-on (that was checked plane-side) was ripped. But I went to the luggage people and they said they would give me a $20 voucher. So I actually GAINED from the flight. Sweet.
My aunt picked me up and we went to Lafayette. I was home. I love this place.
