Lessons Learned

Whew. Back. Whew.

We've decided, for our own benefit as well as yours, to write out the lessons we've learned from all our air travel:

1) Pack a change of clothes in your carry-on luggage.

My mom actually warned Grace and I to do this, since we were in danger of getting stranded overnight. We ignored the advice and got stranded overnight, so I ended up wearing the same clothes for three days straight. You see, we were supposed to fly from Cedar Rapids to Detroit around 6 o'clock on the first, from Detroit to London over the night, and arrive in London on the 2nd in the morning. Before we even drove up to Cedar Rapids, we discovered our flight to Detroit was so delayed, we would have missed our connection that night to London. So my mom called ahead and we were rebooked. The new schedule was fly from Cedar Rapids to Minneapolis around 7, then catch the night flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, arriving in Amsterdam around noon (local time). We would then catch a flight on British Airways from Amsterdam to London Heathrow, finally arriving late in the afternoon on the second. I was supposed to be at work on the third.

Well, we got to Cedar Rapids and boarded with no major trouble (except Grace was "randomly" selected for searching, which seems to happen to her a lot). Then we sat on the plane for about two hours. Long enough to miss the night flight from Minneapolis. Sweet.

You see, they had to de-ice the plane, but most people were on holiday, so it took so long to get the truck out to us that the plane no longer had enough gas to get to Minneapolis. Then we had to go back and refuel, and that took forever. The pilot apologized for the mess and bought everyone on board drinks. But, with alcohol free, it disappeared pretty quick and, by the time the drink cart got to us they only had tomato juice, vodka, apple juice and soda available.

Anyway, we flew into Minneapolis and learned another trick.

2) When you need a voucher or a flight rescheduled go to the desk with no line.

Everyone seemed to assume they had to wait in line at the gate we exited from. Not true. We got a free hotel for the night and were rescheduled for the exact same 9:30 pm plane the next day. So we had the whole day to spend in Minneapolis and I would have to miss a day of work. Fortunately there was the mall of America and my relatives, with home cooking and a pool table, so, all things considered it was a pretty great detour. Except for having to wear the same clothes. Also, we found we were a lot better at pool with bright lights, no alcohol and good equipment.

We also got $21 worth of meal vouchers each, good at the hotel and airport, which we used even though we had been fully fed by my aunt and uncle.

That night we went back to the airport and made our flight with no trouble (well, Grace was "randomly" selected for searching again. She asked the guards if it was because she had a foreign passport and they basically hinted that, yes, that was the reason). We both slept most of the flight, treated ourselves to some complementary wine.

Upon arrival in Amsterdam we hit a snag.

3) Always pack things you absolutely cannot do without upon arrival in your carry on luggage.

In Amsterdam they told us they couldn't find our luggage to load on the plane. I guess its not surprising it went missing between being re-routed twice between different airlines. Anyway, the sum of Grace's work for her papers, due Monday, were in those bags. We made it to the UK and, surprisingly, found my bag waiting, but not Grace's. We filed a report, pretty exhausted and having worn the same clothes for two and a half days. It was Thursday afternoon, but the bag Grace needed didn't arrive until Saturday afternoon. Anyway, she's requested an extension on the paper, having lost three full days of potential work (since we thought we would arrive on the morning of the 2nd and she didn't get her stuff till the afternoon of the 5th).

Those were the lessons learned on this flight. We have some other ones though.

4) If you pack liquids, like shampoo, in your checked luggage, put it in a bag, or, better yet, two.

It took bottles blowing up twice for me to learn this lesson well.

5) Write down the phone numbers of people you are supposed to meet, as well as the numbers of people in cities you may be stranded in.

We still haven't learned this lesson.

6) Double check the times of your departure.

We almost missed the train to Paris once, and did miss it another time because of a failure to learn this lesson.

Anyway, we're back in the big smoke. I only had to work Friday this week because of the delays, and I was surprised how easy it was to get up for work. I guess I really do like my job. Grace did not have such a good day. She didn't have any of her things yet and the lack of a sun, especially after the bright skies and snow of Iowa, was pretty depressing.

Speaking of Iowa, it was a really great vacation. We were really busy, but there was thick snow almost the second day we arrived and we hadn't seen the stuff for years. It was also great to see all the family and friends. I stocked up on a year's supply of music thanks to Andy (whose blog is linked to ours).

I love this European system of five weeks per year of holiday. I was gone for two weeks and haven't even used half my vacation!