Three nights before Christmas
and all through the airport,
Not a creature was departing,
not even a wart.
These are the events that took place on Friday, December 22, 2006, the day the Denver International Airport opened after a two day blizzard, dubbed "The Worse Weather in America." On that day, I attempt to get home for Christmas.
Characters involved; Sandy, my elementary school friend whom I have known since I was 8 years old; Darren, her husband and myself. We are all scheduled to depart on the same flight.
7:15am: Alarm goes off and I hit snooze. I groan from my extra sensitive nasal passages, sore from too much activity, dry air and not enough sleep.
7:21am: Alarm goes off again, I hit snooze. I whine from having a dry mouth and having to search for the alarm.
7:27am: Alarm goes off, I turn it off and get up. Sandy asks "What time it is?"
7:40am: I start to pack my bag full of dirty clothes to wash when I get home. Sandy and Darren pack also.
8:00am: Continue packing. Sandy washes the dirty dishes from the previous evening's dinner.
8:14am: Darren and Sandy advise me that based on their CERT Emergency
Training class through the City of Los Angeles Fire Department, they
needed to pack emergency rations and carry plenty of extra water, to
prepare for a long stay at the airport. I laugh. Then, I agree to
look for extra food.
8:22am: We pack the homemade peanut butter and chocolate cookies, coconut trail mix, 3 bananas, and a sleeve of crackers. Sandy fills water bottles.
8:28am: I take rasberries from the fridge, three hard boiled eggs and eat a peanut butter taco. I tell Darren and Sandy to eat up the eggs and rasberries.
8:34am: We are fully packed.
8:45am: Sandy realizes she needs to go poo. Darren and I start packing the rental car.
8:57am: Darren and I are finished packing the car and Sandy finishes in the bathroom. She wants to make peanut butter tacos for as an emergency ration.
9:04am: Darren and I are waiting by the car. Sandy comes out and says she didn't lock the front door. I go lock it.
9:10am: Darren stops for gas at the Winter Park Conoco station, while Sandy and I get scones at Base Camp Bakery.
9:23am: We arrive at Le Ski Lab (Le Feet Lab) to print our electronic tickets from the American Airlines website. I get the last available seat and Darren and Sandy must wait to arrive at the airport to arrange a seat.
9:47am: We leave for Denver International Airport. Sandy takes photos of the Continental Divide and Berthoud Pass while in the car.
11:12am: We arrive at Denver International and look for a gas station to fill up the rental car before returning it. There is one Conoco Gas Station with over 30 cars in line waiting for gas. We wait.
11:33am: I suggest we get out of line and drop one of us off at the airport to wait in the long lines to check our baggage, while Darren gets back in line waiting for gas.
11: 46am: Sandy and I get out of the rental car and see a long curbside check-in for American Airlines. We ask the people in line if it is the American curbside check-in. One woman explains that this line is well worth the $2 per bag in comparison to the hundreds waiting inside.
11:28am: We get in line. I tell Sandy I want to go inside to see how bad the lines are.
11:34am: I return to tell Sandy, "The lines are wrapped around the entire terminal wall and then zig-zag back and forth." I estimated at least a 3 hour wait.
12:08am: Darren finds us. He explains that the gas station ran out of gas and he just returned the car for a $10 penalty.
12:46pm: We finally get to the check our bags. We pay $4 and put both bags under my name because I have an actual ticket.
1:02pm: We go inside and try to orient ourselves with the next task at hand, getting in line for the security check.
1:09pm: We get in line. We must walk the length of the 8 baggage carousals and the side of the airport to reach the end of the line. Outside we see "I Love DIA" written in the snow.
2:24pm: We get through the line and security.
2:30pm: We board the tram to get to Concourse A.
2:43pm: We find Gate 39A and then go out to find food. We order take out at Cantina and sit by our gate.
3:33pm: Our flight disappears from the flight TV screens and worries us.
3: 56pm: Our flight reappears.
4:31pm: Two nice lesbians start a conversation with me and ask if I would like to get a beer. They had been at the airport since Wednesday at 2pm. I was thankful I didn't have to camp out at the airport for 2.5 days.
4:40pm: The time of our original flight. But it was delayed to 5:55pm.
4:46pm: Darren and Sandy get in line to get a seat. I lay down on the bags to rest.
5:55pm: Flight delayed 1 hour.
6:55pm: Flight delayed 40 minutes.
7:35pm: We board the plane.
8:00pm: We pull away from the gate. The captain announces we will be leaving from the farthest air strip because it is 3 miles long. The ride to the air strip is bumpy from all the hardened ice.
8:13pm: We take off.
10:04pm: We land at LAX.
10:28pm: Sandy's mom picks us up from the airport.
11:18pm: I arrive home. I knock on the door and surprise my mom. As soon as she opens the door she says, "What are you doing here?"
All the traveling and waiting was worth it.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Years.
How do you remember all this? Everyone needs to poo... We're glad you got back to Fraser safely, and we hope those avalanches on Hwy 40 last week didn't disrupt too much! Thanks, Shannon, for letting us stay with you -- you're an excellent host!
Posted by: Sandy | January 08, 2007 at 10:04 PM
Oh my gosh! I was exhausted just reading it. Glad you made it.
Posted by: Leti | January 09, 2007 at 10:04 PM
I remember that day too! I had to search for a friend with a 4x4 to take me to the airport. The highways in Denver looked like rush hour that morning. I arrived at DIA at 12:04pm for a NYC 3:40pm UAL flight, that left at 4pm. I checked-in online the day before. UAL's online check-in process let me check-in my bag in 10 minutes using their kiosks, instead of waiting in those dreadful lines. The security line took me 30 minutes - but it quickly grew from there! I then treated myself to a 30 minute massage. Too bad I didn't know you back then. I would have waited in line with you guys to commiserate. Glad you made it to LAX!
Posted by: Julie | March 13, 2007 at 10:05 PM