Friday, January 25, 2013

Well... didn't quite make Ottawa...

Our plane out of Orlando took off 10 minutes early! Perfect! Great start to the day. It was about a two hour flight up to Washington, D.C. this afternoon, with lots of white fluffy clouds around us... couldn't see much as we flew.

As we closed in on Washington, I could see snow on the ground...yuck! Our approach was right along the Platomic River, and what a view of Washington you get as you approach your landing.

 

 

 

 

 

Then, all of a sudden, we found the Pentagon of all places! Now I did take the liberty of the cropping tool to get the show below of the Pentagon... but it is there!

Once we landed, that is when all the fun of the day began!

We had a 1 hour lay over for our flight to Ottawa. They loaded us on the bus, to take us out to our plane, and then the pilot jumped on board the bus and says, "Oh, by the way, the black water line from the toilet on the plane is frozen, so we have to call maintenance to fix it...so, we are back to the terminal to wait! OK. An hour goes by, and then an announcement, "Oh, by the way, we are going to close the runways at 4:00 to treat them due to the snow!" Allright I thought... we will wait for that. Finally they call our boarding and we head back out on the bus to the plane. We find our seats, and then the Captain get on the speaker system and says "Oh, by the way, our dispatcher says we have been too long doing all this, so he cancelled the entire flight to Ottawa!" WHAT!

We were flying U. S. Airways, and that is simply what they did to us. They said there was not enought time for the plane to get up to Ottawa, then come back, and carry on it's next flight, so they cancelled the Ottawa trip. We had to book another flight for 7:30 on Saturday Morning! So we did. Not wanting to stay at the airport all night, we asked U.S. Air for an accomodation... well, they don't do that apparently... (remember this when we book our next flights anywhere!) So we were left on our own tonight and met up with a couple from Quebec, and a Lady from Newfoundland, and we managed to get rooms at the Hilton in Washington.

It was a long day, so we figured we at least deserved dinner!

On the left is Louise and Denis from Quebec, and on the right is Pat from Newfoundland. You know the two at the back! We enjoyed a great dinner together, and now have to endure a 4:00 a.m. wake up call to catch the 5:00 a.m. shuttle to Regan International Airport in the morning!

Hope to be in Ottawa by 11:00 a.m. Emmie! Tell Daddy to come and pick us up!

Till tomorrow...

 

9 comments:

  1. Well that's no fun!! I hate to fly anymore and will be happy to never set foot on an airplane again. They at least used to put you up if they cancelled your flight. SHEESH!! At least you had a nice dinner with new friends.

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  2. Oh jeesh. Not a good way to start your home visit. Hope your plane gets off in time tomorrow. Safe trip!

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  3. That kind of crazy stuff happens often, hope you have better luck tomorrow!

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  4. At least you will make it back to Ottawa today (hopefully). Good luck on the return trip.

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  5. So much for the great deal on the flight. The added expenses were not what you had planned. I hope the rest of your trip is better. Happy Birthday to Emmie!! Have a good time in Ottawa when you finally get there.

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  6. Sorry to hear about your flight delays. Hope you are in Ottawa by the time you read this. I'll bet the granddaughters were disappointed to hear about the delay!

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  7. Awww, what a bummer that you had to be delayed like that !!

    Oh, well, knowing you and Judy, you always make the best of every situation !!

    Have fun in Ottawa ...

    Take care ... TnT

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  8. Awww, what a bummer that you had to be delayed like that !!

    Oh, well, knowing you and Judy, you always make the best of every situation !!

    Have fun in Ottawa ...

    Take care ... TnT

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  9. Well, US Air will not be on my list of airlines to book with. What appalling service!

    You made some new friends, so that was a bonus, and I hope this comments finds you well settled in Ottawa.

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