The "short" trip East

I'll try to post the short version.  TRY.

After dinner with our clients, we headed to the airport.  The boss called the pilots to make sure they had wine onboard for us.  How cool is that?  We got to the airport, and I changed back into sweats and a Tshirt in the bathroom.  The pilots said that there were storms in KC, and getting home would be a trick.  They said we'd dodge the storms if possible, but if it was a line of storms, we couldn't get there.  Then they decided we'd fly to Columbia, MO, which is halfway home...then reevaluate the weather.

At Columbia, we saw that the storms had formed a line.  *sigh*  We kept watching and waiting.  The boss (who didn't return with us, he had more visits to make in IL) told the pilots to offer to get a rental car for Dan and I to drive home (2 hours.)  Neither of us was comfortable with driving into severe weather in a strange car late at night.  The only other choice was to wait it out with the pilots.

Wait we did.  Finally, around 10:30, we borrowed the "crew car" (one kept at small airports for flight crews to borrow) and went in search of a hotel.  We first stopped at WalMart.  Nobody had toothbrushes, toothpaste, deoderant or anything.  My company bought these things, thank goodness.  I tried to tell the pilots that my stay would be more comfortable with a big screen TV, but that was denied. LOL

We got to the hotel at 11, and checked in.  By "checked in", I mean we carried our toothbrushes to our rooms.  Then we went to find something to eat.  Guess what was open?  Yup, Hooters.  Oh well.  They have decent food.  We went back to the hotel a few minutes past 12.

I had yet to talk to Kevin, so he didn't know we weren't coming home.  He couldn't hear the phone.  He called me a bit after 1, and I explained the situation.  I emailed Mom and she returned my call at 4, as I had asked.  I didn't sleep much between those times, since the storms has arrived  in Columbia.  I think the total hours of sleep may be 3, if you add them together.

We got on the plane under sunny skies.  By the time we taxi'd out to the runway, the sky was dark and the wind was howling.  We had to get out fast!  We got in the air and had a decent flight.  Lots of turbulance during takeoff and landing, though.  I got some video of the landing, if anyone cares.

We landed at 9:15 Thursday morning...still in Wednesday's clothes.  I drove 35 minutes home, changed clothes, stopped at the school to let the girls know I was home, then went back to work.  By Thursday night, I was wiped out.  Yesterday was better, and today is wonderful.

Another safe trip, in the hands of the best pilots in the world.  Seriously.

So much for the short version.  Sorry.