Traveling Day

Hello,

I do not know about you, but I am always just a little on edge the night before we travel, wondering if it will all go as planned. At midnight when I had finally managed to put aside anxieties about how the next day would go, I got a text message startling me awake. Oh no, the text was from the airline informing me that our flight was delayed for four hours. If I was remembering times correctly, I suspected that meant we would miss our connecting flight in Denver. After a bit I just thought that if we had to spend the night there, I would contact my friend to see if she was available so we could visit. Sleep was much more elusive after that. In the morning I was sleeping deeply when Miriam came rushing in to tell me that I should get up.

I explained the situation. Leroy, also having sleep issues, was up reading. We tried to check the website, but could not learn anything there. Andy and Miriam said, “You must call.”

We found a number that led to an automation answer that told us, “You will fly on another flight that was leaving two hours earlier than your delayed flight.”

That meant that we had some time, and we could catch our connecting flight. We got ready ahead of time so the girls played a card game with us. That was good for me as it helped calm me down. I was quite surprised that we even had seats together on the first flight where we had not been previously scheduled. Happy, happy me! We did not sit together on the second flight because we had gotten an economy fare and we were both in middle seats. That was fine as we each had reading material.

Going later meant that Miriam could take us to the train station so we did not have to drive one of their cars there and leave the keys in it. I did not feel so comfortable about doing that.

Temperatures were 30-40 F when we left Salt Lake and about 5 F when we got to Cedar Rapids. We stayed in the airport looking for the bus out the window and just ran out at the last minute. Later, waiting in the bus station for our connecting bus, one of the congregants walked though and offered us a ride home as it was on her way. Traveling was smooth and easy. Why do I waste any time or energy fussing in my mind when it often turns out well, maybe even better than planned?

Paula