It all started about 4am when the alarms went off and we hurried to get ready in time for the shuttle to pick us up.  Once we got to the airport I slightly freaked out since there were hundreds of people in the ticketing area.  Thankfully they all were not going to the same airline as us.  Security was very light at 6am and in fact we just walked up with no line to wait in.  Then the normal wait before boarding, etc.  So as we begin to board and we pass through the first area my wife and I heard a crackle in the radio and they said to halt boarding for a potential maintenance issue.  “Oh great” was our first thought.  So what we did was sit or should I say stand in between the plane and the boarding area on the Jetway.  I knew from past flying experience that if we got on the plane we were stuck and they would not let us off for any reason.  So we just stood there watching these people look over the plane.  After awhile we asked the boarding agent if we could come back out to the seating area and she said if we did they would have to take us off the plane.  “oh great”  So now we wait in limbo.  After awhile we hear that there is a dent in the plane and they are talking with corporate about it and people on the ground were taking pictures, etc.

So to make a longer story shorter, they finally take everyone off of the plane and we go find some comfy seats and sit it out while they fix this dent.  We were supposed to take off at 7:30am and I think we finally made it about 1:30pm.  So we had a nice 6 hour delay.  What we were really worried about was the pending storms that were going to hit Seattle.

Yep we didn’t beat them, in fact in snowed about 1″ I do believe before we got there.  I swear we were going to slide off of the runway.  As I sit and write this on Christmas Eve, It’s snowing again.  So far 2″ this morning on top of the 10-12″ we already had on the ground.  So looks like this will be a white Christmas after all.

It’s so beautiful to watch but we are stuck with a car that is not snow worthy.

More trip updates later.

Saturday was quite the long day.  But if you ask me, I will say it was worth it.

Saturday morning started off by driving over to my friends house as we were going to drive up to the airport together.  We got to Dallas Love Field around 12:15pm as we had to get through security.  Our Charter plane (by Southwest Airlines) took off about 2pm and it was a somewhat short flight and we got there about 3:45pm.

Once we hit the ground there were 3 tour buses ready to pick us up.  Once we all boarded we were off to Iowa State University.  I think we got to the stadium about 5pm (1 hour prior to kickoff) and walked around and took some pictures.  Of course the game started shortly after that and it was a good football game.  Go Aggies!  Texas A&M won 49-35.  After the game we headed back to the buses were we had to wait up to 45 minutes to get everyone back on board to make our way back to the Airport in Des Moines.  Once we arrived at the airport we had to all go through security again (which seemed to take forever) and once we were aboard the Southwest Pilots got us home in quick fashion.  We landed back in Dallas about 1:45am, and we drove back to my friends house, picked up my car and drove home.  I got to bed about 3:15am.

It was a very, very long day, but one I hope to remember forever.

American Airlines is now charging for all checked luggage on their flights. Something like $15 for the first bad and $25 for the second. I understand that they are losing money because of fuel prices, but aren’t we all?

I think this could be a recipe for disaster. It really could be, travelers might stop flying cause the prices are through the roof. Maybe not. Maybe this is what American Airlines thinks will make the airline profitable. For me this and the fare increases will probably delay our summer trip to see the family in Seattle, cause it’s too expensive.

Gas in Grand Prairie - A local gas station was giving away 200 prepaid $40 gas cards yesterday. But was it really worth the wait in line? For this one local woman, she showed up at 4am and when the promotion started she was one of the first 10 to get the cards. Wow 6-7 hours really? for less than a tankful of gas? I think it’s great they are doing it, but even though the gas prices are hovering around $4 per gallon here, I think 6-7 hours of my time is worth more than sitting waiting for a prepaid card worth $40.

Stars - Well they didn’t make the cut. Better luck next year. (see that is short )

And not so local:
Colorado – Huge tornado rips up some towns and kills 1. If you haven’t seen the video your local news or CNN or pretty much anyone has, you should watch it. It’s crazy… Click the CNN link.

So I got lucky today and my flight with American Airlines was NOT canceled.  Thank goodness.

So after arriving I took a little road trip to Bellevue and then back to Renton.  It’s good to be back home and see the old familiar sites and all the new construction going up.  I do NOT miss the traffic, and I thought the traffic was bad in Dallas/Fort Worth, but wow it was already bad when I moved away from Renton but it just sucks now!!!

Here are 2 shots, one of Bellevue from the car and the other from Lake Washington from Renton (via the car)

Tomorrow I hope to get some more pictures and post some to my photo page of the ones I took today.

So after soccer practice, I jammed home to start packing for my trip home to Seattle tomorrow.  So as I sit and watch the news while im getting things togetheer I hear this:

Link: http://www.nbc5i.com/news/15827911/detail.html

Basically American Airlines cancelled a ton of flights today and I sure hope mine is not one of them.  They are interviewing all these people, and since there bags were checked they wont give them back, etc. etc.

I just want to get back to Seattle tomorrow.  So far the flight status says ‘On Time’

Tomorrow might be a disaster!!!