Weekend Whirlwind to Wisconsin

AKA The trip from Hell.

All I wanted to do was get home for a couple of days to see my husband for the first time in several weeks and to help my grandpa celebrate his 90th birthday.  Silly me.  It hadn't rained in New Jersey since I moved here, so of course the weather was dreadful the day I flew out.  Make that the day I was supposed to fly out, because even though I boarded a plane, we never left the ground.  Multiple delays, lots of tears, a cancellation, an awful sketchy shuttle ride through NYC, another airport, a hotel room for 4 hours... Finally I got to Wisconsin, only to face the same ridiculousness on the way home.  Never flying American Airlines again.  While I understand they have no control over the weather, they should have control over their customer service, which was worse than bad.  On the way home, my flight was first delayed over a broken seat that had not been written up properly.  So much incompetence!  Plus, nothing makes you feel safer than a plane that is literally falling to pieces on the inside. 
And you know that new law about stranding passengers on the tarmac and how they have to let you off after 3 hours?  Well, they don't have to let you back on.  What is the point?

Anyway, here are some highlights from my brief and harrowing trip home:

After a 1.5 hour (not exaggerating) nap from 1:30 AM to 3:00 AM and a shower at the hotel in Queens I never planned on staying at, I thought I should at least glimpse out the window to see my view of the city.  Ahahaha.  Gravestones as far as I could see (which wasn't exceptionally far, given the hour).  No wonder this was the only room available around La Guardia. 

This is the cabin we stayed at in Bailey's Harbor.  1/2 the price of the hotel in Queens and much more to my liking.  Brent and I could live in a place like this someday with a few changes.  I think we'd need a full size refrigerator :) 

Chels, Neen, Amber, Me

We closed out the AC Tap on Saturday night.  It was a bad idea considering none of us have gotten much sleep lately.  Between Chelsea and Dan moving, Brent packing up our place, and my airport nightmare, we had all pulled (near) all nighters within the last week.  It was worth it though!  I got to hang out with some of my favorite people.

Amber and Josh strummed out some tunes.  At least some of us Alleys are continuing the family tradition...

This made me miss WI.  Can you guess why?

Despite everything I went through to get there, if you asked me Sunday, I would have said it was worth it.  Then there was the deja vu nightmare on Monday and the mental breakdown before Hebrew this morning...
I'd like to say it was worth it still, but honestly, I'm not sure.  I was crazy stressed before the trip and looking forward to it so much that I was a total basket case when it began to unravel.  It left me more frazzled than I ever thought I could be and unable to remember any of the studying I did at the airport.  I have a midterm on Friday and I'm in bad shape.  It was nice to see Brent and some family, but I think I've learned several lessons.
1. Listen to people when they tell you Newark cancels flights at the drop of a hat.
2. Never fly American Airlines, even if they have the cheapest flights.  Once you add up the unnecessary cab fare, hotel, time wasted, and nerves fried, you could have flown first class.
3. Moving away means missing out on things and it sucks.  Deal with it.
4. Next time you find yourself at the airport bar waiting out a delay, have at least 2 more drinks :)  You'll thank yourself once you are stranded on the tarmac with no air conditioning and no beverage service.
5.  Never think to yourself, "This can't get any worse..."

Thank-you to everyone who helped me deal.  I am truly appreciative.  All the calls, texts and Facebook notes really helped me feel not quite so alone.  Now off to study for 3 quizzes and a midterm :)