72 Hours of Pure Hell

I left for Colorado on Tuesday morning. I was hoping and praying that things would go smoothly...yeah...not so much! Here is my story:

We left the house at 7:30 for a 9:40 flight. I decided not to take I-95 because I knew it would be backed up and full of traffic, so I took the GW parkway like was suggested to me by my husband. I didn't think traffic would be that bad since its a "backroad". Yeah. okay!!! (should have been my first clue to turn around and just go home). I got to the airport at 9:00. Drove around the airport trying to find a damn parking spot and finally went all the way up to the top and parked way in the back. We literally ran into the airport. Now I'm stuck waiting to check in and get through security. I had my purse, a backpack full of toys for Brandon, and a carry on suitcase with our clothes and toiletries. Kaylie had a backpack with her DS and books. We arrive at the gate with 9 minutes to spare! I'm going down the little hall to the plane and the guy is standing there and told me no more bags the overheads are full. I REALLY didn't want to check my bag, so this is just my luck. he asks where I am going and I say Colorado Springs and he says okay. So I leave my bag right there at the end of the hall and he told me he would bring me my ticket for my bag in a minute. Okay. No problem.

We get settled into our seats and get ready for take off and right away Brandon is crying because he wants to get down and run around. So I'm struggling to get him occupied and get everything organized when we take off. I finally get around to calling the flight attendant over and I ask her where my ticket for my bag is. She says "oh you don't need one, your bag will be in Colorado for you, your stroller will be on the ramp, but your bag will go on to Colorado". Right away I just know that is all wrong. So I ask again to clarify and she assures me it will be there. Whatever, nothing I can do about it now!

We arrive at our layover at O'hare, and let me start by saying I hate O'hare. It's so busy there and so huge I always have to walk a mile. Luckily my gate was only two down so that was a relief. Anyway I waited to everyone else got off the plane before I did like I usually do and only my stroller was at the hallway. No bag. We get on the second flight and thankfully Brandon fell asleep and slept most of the way. We arrive in Colorado and of course...no bag. It's lost. I stood at the desk for almost 45 minutes while they called around and finally filled out a "delayed bag" ticket for me. It was crazy. All my years of flying and I have never ever had a lost bag. It was disheartening. Especially after dealing with Brandon being so hard to deal with on the first flight.
I also forgot to mention I hit my head on the airplane overhead because my dumb ass forgot to duck before standing up. And that hurt!

We get our rental car and get to our hotel and I'm getting Brandon out of the car and hit my head getting him out. Then I bent down to retrieve the diaper bag and hit my head AGAIN. Three times that day! I had such a headache that night! I get checked in and we get credit to our room for whatever we wanted, which was so nice! I call Curt and I'm crying hysterically about how horrible my day has been going. He catches a ride to the hotel and we hung out a bit, then ran to Walmart to get us some toiletries and each of us a shirt to hold us over for our one day there, before I took him back to his room.

I ordered room service for breakfast which was the best breakfast ever! hahaha probably because I was soooo hungry. We all scarfed it down. Then we headed over to watch Curt shoot in the qualifications. (He had told me they were shooting qualifications Tues and Wed was the medal round, turned out to be Wed and Thur was the medal round...which sucked), but we get up there and I couldn't even watch him shoot because Brandon was just crying. I finally left because I didn't want to deal with Brandon anymore and also didn't' want to distract Curt by all the ruckus B was making. So I feel like the trip was wasted.

Thursday morning we get up at 545, and leave for the airport at 645. We get there at 7, turn in the rental car and eat breakfast and wait for our flight at 9:15. Suddenly an announcement comes on that all flights to Denver are delayed because of weather. Flights are being diverted to Colorado Springs as well. It was crazy!! We all had to stand in a long line to rebook our flights because now everything is all haywire since no flights are leaving or arriving at Denver. Our connection was in Denver and we would have missed it anyway. So now we waited in a very long line for over an hour and a half to rebook our flight. By the time I got up there there was nothing left to DC. Of course! He could get me into Dulles, but that would have done me no good since my car is at Reagan! So I finally ask him why do I have to go to Denver, why can't I connect in Chicago? I mean I know flights are constantly going to DC from Chicago! At least if I make it to Chicago and can't get to DC that day I have family to stay with. He finally got me on standby for Chicago. Which than fully I was able to get on. Even though it was delayed while flights that were diverted took off again. FINALLY at 12:05 we took off for O'hare. (I forgot to mention from 9 until we took off Brandon basically cried the whole time, it was awful)

I have to rebook my rebook for my connection to DC in Chicago as well since we were so late taking off from Colorado! We get to Chicago and since we were so late we didn't even get a gate, we walked outside and then into the terminal!! We are in Terminal F and for those familiar with O'hare---I had to go all the way to terminal B for my connection! OMG!! A frikin' two mile walk. Once again I realize how much I despise O'hare! The place is always a madhouse. I get to my next gate just in time for boarding after a stop at the restroom and for snacks. The plane is overbooked and people had the same seat assignments. It was insane!
Brandon had slept on the first flight and I knew it was gonna be hard to keep him occupied for the second flight and it was!

On all my flights me and Kaylie were never seated together either. I always told her to just sit with me anyway and I asked the person to switch with me. Luckily everyone was nice enough to do so! Otherwise, they would have had to deal with the wrath of Dacia! You really don't want to experience that...trust me. Only a few have ever experienced the real bitch :)

We finally got home last night at 9. What a long day at the airport! I have never been so stressed out. I will never ever travel alone with a toddler again. It was by far the worst experience to date. My anxiety was through the roof. I have never cried so hard or for 72 hours straight in a long time. I am still at my wits end. As soon as Brandon would cry today I would cringe and get tense. Luckily Kaylie could tell I am completely at the end of my rope and took Brandon upstairs to play for most of the day.

I feel like I have completely lost my mind. I am so ready for Curt to get home so I can get a break. I am desperate for one. Even writing this doesn't put my feelings to rest. I feel like I cannot convey enough how broken down I feel. I have had a rough time and feel so alone. I hate when I feel like I have no one to catch me, no one who understands how completely helpless and crazy I feel. It's hard to explain. I just feel alone, depressed, and ready to snap. I have even been crying today. My whole body is sore too. I feel like I have been running a marathon for 72 hours straight. My neck to my toes is sore.

On a good note my bag was found and should be delivered tomorrow.