45 minutes before take off

There we were, enjoying a nice Cuban sandwich in Orlando Florida. Getting ready to go back home to Utah, back to the cold and crappy weather. It had been a great week, full of fun and joy with each other, and now it was on to the real world, no more Disney world, no more sandy beaches, no more sunny drenched days sweating just by doing nothing, oh no we were going back to our reality which was Pleasant Grove Utah and not Kissimmee Florida.

Our last day in paradise was nice, we got ready and packed. Checked out of our temporary home called the Ramada Inn, and on our way we were, ready to spend our last few hours here before boarding time came. We wanted to eat out one last time and enjoy this day as much as possible, so we drove around near the Airport's proximity to make sure we would be back just in time for our flight. We tussled around as to where to eat, and after a few failed attempts at eating in the fancy likes of TGI Fridays we settled for a Cuban restaurant called Mi Tierra.

Jenny chowed down that Cuban sandwich in matter of minutes with a bit of my help, and off we were to the airport. Our rental car a 2010 Nissan Cube was filled to the top when we got it and as it stated in the guidelines we needed to return it with the same amount of gas as when we first got it. On our way to the airport I noticed the the needle that read the amount of gas was slowly dipping bellow the F, so I drove to the nearest gas station. I topped it off and off we went again.
I was a bit worried that we wouldn't make our flight but we still had plenty of time, or so I thought. We pulled up to the car garage of the Orlando International Airport and parked, grabbed our bags and bid farewell to our trusty white Cube. There we were hauling our bags through the huge masses of people piling all over getting ready to leave, some with tears and hugs others with "Ill see you later" goodbyes. Finally we got to our flight check in line, and just in time, with maybe a minute or two to spare.

It was our turn to check in, and I handed the guy behind the counter our itinerary and I loaded the bags on the scale. The guy looks up at us a and says "So are you guys running late?" to what I said "No were not, why do you say that?" "Well" he said with a tone one would only have right before bad news were about to be given, "there is no way you are going to make this flight."
"Excuse me?!" I said with a tone of disbelief "how is that possible? our flight is not leaving for another 30 minutes" to what he said "Well sir you are right but we still need to get these bags checked in and with the time frame that you have left us there is no way we can get you there in time, I'm sorry."

I could not believe my ears, it was like the beginning of a bad family comedy movie, you know the kind that has the main characters stranded in an airport thousands of miles from their destination or home and they have to drive cross country and go through hell to get back. A few days later, and after several near death experiences that one would probably never encounter in their whole lifetime (like fighting a dear, or falling off a cliff in your car and only having the tiers and doors fall off like in "Are we there yet?") and more in love than before they left because along the way they fight and hate one another, only to fall madly and deeply in love all over again because of all the "I almost lost you moments" they finally make it home with nothing but the clothes on their back with a bloody lip and torn and dirty shirts-kind of movie? well this was beginning to feel like the start of one of those movies, we were in for a long, long day.

"its 45 minutes before take off sir. We ask all of our passengers to check in no later than 40 minutes before take off. Its posted all over the airport." "Does it look like we have been vacationing in the airport to you?" I barked back at him with the tone of frustration lingering in my voice. "We need to get in that plane, I don't care what we or you need to do, we need to get back home for work." There was a bit of desperation now and I was not happy and if I wasn't happy, my wife was furious. The guy behind the counter was typing like crazy, going back and forward, talking to people trying to get something worked out but it just wasn't working out. Finally he got his manager after several verbal threats made by my wife, but his manager had no better news for us than what the other guy had already told us. We weren't making that flight, and it was more obvious now that the time came for the flight to take off.

There we were stranded in Orlando, needing to get back home. The manager did however work things out as to placing us in another flight, one that would leave in about an hour, but it would have to stop in Atlanta and then from there we would board another flight to Salt Lake. In all we would be getting home at about 11 pm that night when we should have been home around 6 pm. It was about 1 pm and after all the drama and frustration I finally got my wife to calm down. Sitting now waiting for the flight to board. We boarded the plane at about 2:30 pm and it was all over, we were heading home, well it seems that we were fooled once again.

Siting in our seats, giving thanks that the nightmare was finally over, we held hands and tried to make the best of what was given. It was raining now, the summers in Orlando are wet and humid, giving way to the tropical storms or Hurricane seasons of the summer. "This is your captain speaking, welcome aboard, I have a bit of bad news" Oh no you don't, you just can't. "Seems like we are being grounded until further notice, lighting storms are keeping us here for a few folks, as soon as we have more information we will update you, thanks again for choosing us." I wasn't happy, this just kept getting worse, and to top it all off our ride wasn't going to be able to pick us up. My sister in law had committed to pick us up but now with the delay she wasn't going to be able to do it, so I called my sister and had her do it for us. "Ill call you as soon as we land in Atlanta" I said to her.

Over and over we got the same lame news from our captain, we were to remain grounded until the weather cleared. To ease all of the angry passengers they gave drinks and peanuts away, as well as some infligh entertainment to delight our pupils they made us watch "Valentines Day" a romantic comedy that was mediocre at best, with a huge bill of stars. It was now about 5:30 pm, we had been sitting in the same spot for 3 hours, and finally it came, the news we were all praying for "we are clear for take off."

To Be Continued.....