Adventure #1 of Winter 2008 - getting home.

I’m sitting in the terminal in Boston, feeling very nostalgic for this past spring full of grad school visits and so much time in airports. Terminal E at Logan is actually much more chill than others, yet I’d rather be downtown Boston, or at home, or in Cambridge. Because of a winter storm both here and in Minnesota, we’ll see if I make it back tonight.

edit: Nope. But keep reading...

I suppose the other part of this story is that I stayed up all night keeping a certain someone entertained and full of apple cider and brie while he was finishing his final exam for discrete math (something with euler circuits and cacti. Nothing I truly understand…). Anyway, his flight out of Logan was at 9 am, so I have been at the airport since about 8 am – I’m glad I am decked out with banana chips, cheerios, fruit leather, hard-boiled eggs, and chocolate chips. Although, it is quite odd to have nothing to do (no schoolwork, that is). Thus, I vacillate between reading old random papers and organizing folders and old documents on my computer (hello report on oysters from age 11) or drifting off in an uncomfortable sleep listening to rather awful holiday music.

Then, in my semi-asleep stupor, I spied a gentleman named Alex in a spiffy winter coat and scarf. Alex is currently a student at Carleton studying biochemistry and theater, and I met him a few summers ago when I worked as a musician in the pit orchestra for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.


He had talked to me earlier about spending some time in Boston this December, but then it came to pass that I would be leaving and he would be arriving on the same day…oops. I called out his name, and he positively jumped out of his shoes. And then we ate at the Wok and Roll (no joke) and talked for awhile as my plane was pushed back even later into the night.

Weather picture one (around 12:30 pm Friday afternoon)


So, I went back to the gate and waited for my 1:25 pm departure time...and the plane was indeterminately delayed. Bad weather in Michigan had stopped our plane from arriving at the gate. However --- hallelujah --- the plane arrived at 5:30 pm. Okay - this is progress. We boarded at 6:15, and got ready to go, the pilots and flight attendants being super generous and staying past their time to get us home. And two hours later, after problems finding a crew to de-ice our plane, the pilots announced that the airport had been shut down. And so...back off the plane.

Weather picture 2 (around 8:30 pm Friday night):


After half an hour waiting in line to get my plane rebooked (and running down my cell phone battery calling the hotline), they announced that the plane was not canceled but rescheduled for the next day at 11:30 am. Good thing, too, because the people that finally got through on the hotline were aggravatingly shouting, "What?! There are no openings until December 23rd? That is absolutely unacceptable!" Our luggage finally returned on the carousel (well, most people's luggage...mine was MIA and there was no one out there to look for it, so I got myself a toothbrush from the luggage office and tried to find food that wasn't Dunkin' Donuts). I had to go over to Terminal C, walk through all of the weird office-y corridors, until wandering enough to find a food court. That closed at 8 pm. Sweet. Okay, so onto the next plan...a bar! I really just needed food, and given my four hard-boiled eggs and cereal menu for the day, I just wanted some vegetables. And boy did they oblige...with rubbery eggplant, nasty tomato, slice of mozzerela, all wrapped ever-so-sweetly on a butter-toasted hot dog bun. Beautiful.

I slugged my way back to the terminal, paid $8 for internet, and spent some time reading emails and catching up...actually, mostly trying to stay awake. At this point I had been up about 40 hours, and I was really dragging. After the airport finally quieted down (two international flights kept things hopping until 2 am), I slept awkwardly on those benches with armrests. Let me tell you --- sleeping to nonstop blaring Christmas music is not my cup of tea, that's for sure. I got up at 5 am, wandered around, and finally talked to the luggage people. Apparently my bag had gotten on the 11 am flight the day before - I certainly wish I had gotten on that flight...I got checked in, went through security, and made my way back to the gate.

The next day: weather picture 3:

The plane was on time, but then it was delayed...again, and again. We had a plane this time, but first no pilots...and then by the time we had pilots and were loaded and ready...the storms were so bad in Minnesota we couldn't take off. Finally, at 5 pm, we took off for Minneapolis, and I arrived in one piece at 7:10 pm central time. Phew. My other bag was just fine, and after waiting outside in the bitter cold, my dad picked me up from the airport and I was home to the snow and loveliness of Minnesota. Woo-hoo!