Getting to Vegas

I’m going to break this up into a few posts because otherwise it’s going to be too long. Getting there really sucked. I have no pictures from these 2 days because we didn't want tokens from them. It could have been worse, we could have not made it at all, but I wouldn’t wish what we went through on anyone. Our plane leaving Austin was delayed for mechanical reasons. When it was delayed the 2nd time we suspected that we wouldn’t make our connection so we went to speak with the woman at the counter. She said that if there were enough people on our flight catching the connection then they might hold it. She couldn’t call and check or tell us how many people it would take. After talking to her it looked like our best bet was to get to Dallas and go from there. There was nothing from Austin to Vegas the next day so if we were going to get there at all we needed to at least be in Dallas.

Our connecting flight was delayed as well so Jonathan sprinted down the airport to check it but they took off as we were getting off the plane. They were supposed to leave almost an hour before we got there, why they couldn’t wait another 15 minutes is beyond me. There was another flight that had been delayed even longer so we got on the stand by list but had no luck. All of the American Airlines people were very un-helpful. We were put up in a crappy motel and told that we were top of the stand by list for the 1st flight out the next day. To sum up that evening it took us over an hour to get to the hotel and we got about 4 hours of sleep. There was a little entertainment when Jonathan was wheeling himself around in a wheel chair while we waited for the shuttle that never came.

When we got to the airport the next day we were numbers 4 – 7 on the stand by list and didn’t make the flight. At this point I just wanted to get home, but there were no open seats on flights to Austin either. We finally asked to speak with a manager who at least explained why we were having so much trouble. We stood there and debated about what to do long enough that she managed to book us on 3 separate flights to Vegas all leaving by 12:50, granted we had been there since 6:30. We had 1 person booked on the 9:00 flight and the rest of us on stand by, and finally at the top of the list. We all managed to get on that flight. Marlene was in 1st class. They originally put Jonathan and I in 1st class too but kicked us out as soon as we got settled because the people showed up. Damn them. Will was super generous though and gave his exit row seat to me so that I had a little more space.

I generally don’t get claustrophobic. It takes a lot to get me there but not that day. I think it was a combination of the lack of sleep, the extreme swelling, all the stress, and the completely packed plane. I tried to sleep but I just couldn’t and that just made it worse. It was the most awful plane ride of my life. By the time we got to Vegas I hadn’t eaten in 5 hours and I was in such a panic that I was almost in tears. I couldn’t talk and tell everyone what was going on or I would have totally lost it. I just sat on the floor of the airport and snacked on some nuts while I calmed down. The urge to pee eventually got me up.

I don’t think the baby liked flying. He was very still that day, probably from all the stress but he squirmed on the way up, and on the way down.

But at the end of the day, thankfully we were in Vegas, still with ½ a day left. We checked into the Mirage and settled into our room. It was lovely. You can go here to see pictures of the rooms. Our room was quiet and very large. But the best part was the bed! It was a new serta mattress and so comfy. The room had been newly re-modeled and was so great. For only $98 / night it was a steal. We ordered room service, took showers, and then a nap. And the vacation was back on track…