The taxi arrived fifteen minutes early. Good sign! Things are starting well for us. When we arrived at MSP, we were quickly able to check in and happily found that all our baggage was at or below the weight limit. After speeding though security (late afternoon on Monday = no lines), we grabbed a bite to eat and sat at our gate. All was going well, but perhaps too well.
Granted, the ladies at the gate warned us that we may have a delay due to the weather moving into Chicago, but they said that they were going to board us anyways.
We got on, pulled back from the gate and proceeded towards the runway. Then the pilot came on the intercom (you can guess where it goes from here) to inform us that we were being delayed by Air Traffic Control because there were too many planes on the ground at O'Hare. He estimated that it would be about 25minutes.
Five minutes later he came on to update us. He said that now, it would be at least another hour. So, as we waited, everyone got out their cell phones, informed others of the situation and settled in for a wait.
<-- Joni and I managed to get a picture on the plane during the delay. (Smiling here only because it's a picture)Shortly before the hour was us, the pilot came on again to tell us that we would be delayed at least another hour. Fortunately, this estimate was right. We got airborne and made into Chicago by 8pm. So much for a last quick visit to the city, but at least we were going to get some sleep before our 4am wakeup call.
Despite meeting the weight requirements, Joni and I discovered just how out of shape we were while dragging our luggage from the baggage claim to our hotel. Thank you Joni for booking us at such a CLOSE location! I don't think we could've gone much further.
So, I am finishing this note in bed, alarm clock set and wake-up call requested. The gun goes off at 4am on our southern race tomorrow. With luck, I'll be able to make a quick post from my new dorm room on a lush tropical island.
Thanks for reading, and take care!
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