2WannaBRetireesinPanama: ALL PACKED AND NOWHERE TO GO.

Seems like ever since we went to New Orleans last year, our mini-trips that entail flying are not quite working out they way they are supposed to. Our long vacations to Turks and Caicos, Panama or to Seattle no problem (hope I didn't jinx future trips). But when we attempt to get in a four day weekend away and if it entails getting on a plane, problematic. I blame it on my dear friend that we flew to New Orleans with last March. She cast a voodoo spell of some sort on The Guinns. This couple can't catch a break whenever they fly. Flights delayed and canceled on them always. It is a given for them. For New Orleans, there were major delays due to rain in Cleveland. Nowhere else on the map showed rain except there. And as luck had it, we were flying north to catch a connecting flight to go south. We arrived to NOLA eight hours later than planned. Key West had snow trapping us. But with that trip and the tension of not knowing if we would get out of DC or not, we actually arrived earlier on the new flight out of a different airport. I am starting to dislike flying and the unpredictableness of it. But I love the places I can go! I will never give up on it. I just may make my four day weekend trips five days from now on.

This trip we had planned was to take us to Niagara Falls (staying on the Canadian side) and Toronto. We were going with our Lake Anna roommates since the four of us hadn't traveled in quite a while together. We booked the flights in February and a dear friend of ours gave us her hotel points to use for our stay in both cities (if she didn't use them, she would lose them and wanted us to take them). Last night our friends called two hours after their discovery that their passports had expired. One expired a week ago and the other one month ago. Yes, we called them what they called themselves--dumbass times two. Try as they may, there was no way they could get anything done today at the passport office in DC before our ten am flight, and if they could get something done, they would be on a much later flight without anyway of getting to Toronto. Ray and I would have had the rental car and been long gone haha. So they would not be making the trip. They will pay a change over fee and be able to use the tickets another time within a year, but this weekend wasn't meant to be for them. I quickly searched the internet to get an idea of things to do, places to go besides Maid of Mist, because on this trip I decided to take a break from planning. I was going to let one of the others do it. She had all the notes. She had been doing the research. So as fast as I could, since I had an early rise time of four am, I created my own notes and headed to bed.

This morning Ray and I hit the ground running at five am. An impending storm with thunder, lightening, tornados and just heavy rain was due to start by four am. SUPPOSEDLY. Ray had about an hour of work to do at his office. When we travel out of Reagan National, we are able to use his parking space at work and then take the fifteen minute cab ride to the airport. We arrived at the airport by 7:30. Early, as usual. We had a quick breakfast. We went through security, and we found our gate. We were called to the desk to confirm our boarding passes and have our passports looked at once more. The sky had been dark, and the rain had come and gone. Right after having things confirmed, Rays phone rings. It wasn't our friends saying they were making it to the airport after all. It was the airline canceling our flight. Then the announcement comes that NO flights are boarding due to the severity of the storm being about ten miles to the west. Everyone would be staying put. But we had to get back in line (short, yay) to get on the next flight. Leaving at 2:40. We thought about having our friends come get us to take us somewhere outside the airport for lunch (we had a few hours after all and they now had nothing better to do), going to the nearest mall, or going back to Rays office. We decided to leave the secured area and sit facing the large windows where we could see the planes coming and going, coming and going. We listened to a middle school band play some jazz music. We read our books on our Kindle (me, archaic) and IPAD (Ray, current). We ate lunch at TGIFridays, since dinner wouldn't be until at least six pm when we landed in Toronto. We called the car rental agency to let them know our delayed arrival.

We then walked through security again, and once we approached the gate, we saw a very long line. There were many people rescheduling NYC and Philadelphia flights. The announcement came over that nothing in Philly was moving--no flights in or out. Ray got on the very long line to get our boarding passes confirmed. The woman remembered him (I didn't stand on this line and just waved to her when she checked the passports). He sat down...and his phone rang right then again. Flight canceled. Again. $700 flights, $100+ car rental, free hotel BUT still the cost for food, tours, and gas for a late arrival afternoon and evening in Niagara and a day in Toronto? It didn't make sense. By the time we would get in the car and make it to Niagara (if we were given a flight at ten am again tomorrow), it would be two pm or later. We decided to call it a day and get everything refunded. Seven hours in the airport (very much like New Orleans trip), and no major storm in Stafford.

The lake house was hit a little harder when looking at the weather map. Hope to find it solid tomorrow with power having stayed on. I will float there. I will create my own falls. Our roomates will be there, so we will vacation with them there. Niagara will wait, it isn't going anywhere. Just another trip to take before retiring to Panama. A five day trip.