Recently my son Cody and I made a trip to Seton Hall University in New Jersey for his college orientation. From there the plan was to leave at 7:00 pm and arrive in Fort Walton Beach, Florida by 11:00 pm for dance nationals.
Well... there were storms in New Jersey which caused flight delays. Of course since we were making a connection in Atlanta that meant we would miss our connecting flight.
Plan B - We changed flights to arrive earlier in Atlanta and rent a car to drive the rest of the way to Florida. However...the crew on that flight had flown too many hours so the flight was delayed until 1:00 am while they waited for a fresh crew. Unfortunately we could not switch back to our original flight because it had now been filled.
Plan C - Hang out at the Newark airport until 1:00 am, take the flight to Atlanta, arrive at 5:00 am and take a connecting flight to Florida at 7:00 am. In the meantime, husband Bob is leaving St. Louis at 6:30 am and will beat us to Florida!
So...after a long wait at the airport we finally took off for Atlanta. A couple of gate changes and a nap on the chairs later and we were off for Florida at last!
Or so we thought...After only 20 minutes in the air the flight attendant quickly came through and told us to fasten our seatbelts. As we landed, I woke Cody and said -
"I don't think we are in Florida!"
Turns out our plane had mechanical problems and had to make an emergency landing at a very small airport in Columbus Georgia without another plane or passengers from any other planes in sight.
Plan C...They determined our plane was not safe and they could not get another plane to take us to Florida. So... they brought in a bus. After a two hour wait in Columbus and a four hour bus ride with little or no air conditioning we finally arrived in Florida that evening!
The good thing is we were safe and sound, our luggage made it even with all the confusion, and Bob was there to greet us. We had a wonderful time the rest of the week!
Wow, what a trip!
Passing time at the airport
Columbus, Georgia
Notice there are no other planes in sight!
We gather to hear our fate.
Our bus to Florida - the bus driver is reading Mapquest as we board
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