The Long Road Home

Today began at 5:00 am, an hour in which no one in their right mind should be awake.  Typically, I avoid “red eye” flights like the plague, but since we had to be back at work today, it was a necessary evil. 

Dallas was blanketed in snow last night.  I was afraid it might cause problems in the form of further delays and cancellations.  My worries were unfounded, though.  We hopped on our flight and made it home safely by mid-morning. 

After picking up the dogs, it was time to get to work.  I had to skip a couple of meetings in the morning, but other than that, the cancelled flight didn’t affect me too much.  I simply worked late and still put in an eight hour day. 

I’m a little sleep deprived, but that’s typical when I travel.  I’m sure I’ll get caught up over the weekend.  All in all, it was worth it.  We had a great trip.  I was delighted to get my skis back on the mountain; there’s nothing that can compare.

At work, I was reminded that the situation could have been much worse.  A colleague traveling home from Glasgow on American Airlines yesterday had a frightening experience.  The captain told passengers there might be a fire somewhere in the back of the plane.  Immediately, the plane turned around and headed back to Glasgow.  They were told to prepare for an emergency landing — in the water or on the ground.  Passengers were furiously texting and calling their loved ones.  My colleague was taking pictures (leave it to the marketing person to document the event; I’m sure it’ll make a great blog).  When it came time to land, they dumped fuel from the wings.  Everyone was silent as they assumed the position for an emergency landing.  Thankfully, the plane landed without incident, and everyone was safe.   

Yikes!  I travel a lot, but that would have freaked me out.   Compared to that experience, a cancellation and an unexpected night in Denver doesn’t sound so bad. 🙂