My flight was delayed twice more, to 6:25, then to 7:00 PM. A cheer rang out through the waiting area when our gate agent confirmed that yes, our plane had in fact taken off, and was headed to Huntsville.
As a result of delays upon delays, many people shifted onto other flights... which opened up seats on the previously full plane. I was sitting in an aisle seat, so I went up to the gate agent and asked if I could get into a seat by myself. Then, I asked if I could resurrect my flight to Dubuque that I had cancelled at 10:30 AM. Rebecca, the gate goddess replied, "I don't see why not," and got me a seat on the 9:20 flight from Chicago to DBQ. She then created a new baggage tag and proceeded to walk it out to the tarmac to reattach to my bag. God bless her - seriously... she had been at the airport since 5 AM, was working 7 hours past her shift end, and had been yelled at by multiple angry people who were missing flights. She definitely went above and beyond (especially after another gate agent said getting my Dubuque flight back was impossible).
Finally we watched our American Eagle plane touch down in Huntsville and taxi to the gate. The crew on the plane stated, "We want to turn this plane around as fast as possible," and the crowd responded with, "How fast can the people on the plane get off?" As most of us had been waiting for hours, we were ready to head north.
Our crew member shared that the plane had suffered some major wind damage that had taken several hours to repair. Then they took off from Chicago and about halfway to Huntsville had a mechanical problem, which caused them to turn around and return to Chicago as Huntsville has no mechanics to work on the issue.
I have to say that I had one of the most beautiful flights today from Huntsville to Chicago - beautiful clouds, beautiful sunset, and smooth sailing.
Arriving in Chicago was not as smooth - they have endured a day of delays, cancellations, power outages, and weather. We sat on the tarmac after landing for about 20 minutes because our gate had a plane at it. Then we got close to the gate, but the crew wasn't there - so we waited about 20 more minutes to get connected to the jet bridge. At this point, it was 9:20 and I was absolutely convinced that I was sleeping in O'Hare and arriving on the early morning flight to Dubuque. Once we were allowed to get off the plane and I picked up my valet bag, I headed quickly up the jet bridge, where two of my space camp friends were at the desk finding out about my flight. Was it still on time? Was it delayed? Finally we found out it was delayed as well (from 9:20 to 9:40), so I jogged/walked from terminal G to terminal L. As I passed through other terminals I definitely felt lucky - there were many cots set up with people camping out waiting for flights - I was definitely hoping I wouldn't have to claim one of those places. I arrived at gate L4 to see that my plane was still boarding so I made it in the nick of time!
After a cloudy flight to Dubuque, we touched down around 10:55 PM, and to my amazement, my checked bag also made it home!
It has been an adventure - one that I am glad I don't have to repeat for awhile. I ended up canceling my children's lit class for Thursday because until 9:50 tonight I had no idea if I would in fact make it home. That's a worry for another time. Goodnight all!
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