Airport Stories and Adventures

If anybody had been wondering why Alaska/Horizon had cancelled all their flights, here is the answer. Can you see the guy with the little red shovel, under the wing? he had a lot of work to do....

Well, yes, that was a joke, but seriously, while we saw those little trucks that shove snow around, this guy cleaned all of that, on his own, just with the shovel!!




It is impossible to retell all of our airport adventures. Here are a few, from us, or people we met, on the way to Mexico.

You know you have been at the airport too long when:

- you have already used half of your SD card, and you still haven’t even formally left for vacation.
- you know all the names, basic stories, and information on the passengers that are stranded next to you.
- you feel extremely lucky to have been there sitting at the gate for only 10 hours.
- you know that since you are in a direct flight, you will make it to your destination, at some point....
- you feel extremely lucky to have been there sitting at the gate for only 10 hours.
- the kids’ backpacks and snacks are shared freely among several kids.
you hear a big cheer and applause coming from a neighboring gate. The reason? A single flight attendant had shown up, thus increasing the chances of them actually leaving.

Our situation in a nutshell.
Some of you followed along with us, via Facebook, as we were at the airport. Some of you have no idea, so here is the short story (can I really make it short????) of our travel to Mexico.

Seattle had had a TON of snow during the days prior to our trip. Much more than usual. We were really worried Sunday night, thinking we wouldn't make it to the airport. We had several plans, but we went with our first option. A taxi service was going to pick us up at 7 am (they couldn't come any earlier), they'd come in an SUV, and our flight was scheduled for 9:30. We left the house, all nice and clean, even beds were made. We managed to get our luggage and the girls
into the SUV, I had to wear my rainboots, and Pablo took them back to the house. We had several inches of snow, but not close to 1 foot.

The ride to the airport was super long and tricky. Aeromexico had reassured us over and over, that there'd be no problem. While Alaska Airlines had cancelled ALL their flights the previous 2 days, they had left on time. Even the interstate had not yet been cleaned that morning. Once we got to the airport at 8, we thought we'd be fine.

We knew things were crazy at the airport, with thousands of passengers still stranded there. However, we better understood the reality of the mess when we heard the following announcement, "To those passengers that arrived in last night’s flight from Hawaiian Airlines, please pick up your baggage at carousel number 3".

We checked in with no problem and proceeded to our gate. We soon realized that Aeromexico's prior direct flight to Mexico had not yet departed. We sat close to their counter, so we were able to hear some of what was happening.

While Alaska had cancelled their flights because they did not have anti-freeze, and their Canadian supplier was on strike; Aeromexico had the precious liquid, but, the de-icing machine was broken. Eventually, they would be able to use another airline's machine, when they were done using it.

Every hour or so, they made an announcement: Passengers on flights X and Y, please stay in this area, your flight will be leaving within a few hours. The other flight left, and some time later, our finally did. I think it might have been close to 6 pm. We made it past bureaucracy sometime in the early AM; and we got to PAblo's parents house, at around 3:30 am.

Some random stories
A family with 4 kids, maybe ages 3-10, were camping out next to the gate; they had been ON the plane for 7 hours the previous day, before letting them out. By the time we saw them, they had been out of the plane for 15+ hours.

Another family, with a not yet 2.5 year old boy, we met had spent 2 days at the airport. Their flight from Bellingham to Seattle had been cancelled so they drove down to Sea-Tac. At that point, ALL of Alaska Airlines flights were cancelled. The airline offered to get them to Playa del Carmen (final destination), 2 days after the end of their scheduled family vacation with extended family. They found spots in Aeromexico’s flight to Mexico City. That was our flight, Aeromexico had been departing with no problems the previous days. They spent a couple of hours in a hotel, the second night. They finally arrived in Mexico City, 2.5 days later, had to spend the night there, and hopefully made it to Playa the following day.

It took people 7 hours to get their checked luggage back (and they hadn’t even traveled).

A picture is worth a thousand words (or dollars???).



To be expected, right? Tens of thousands of people have been at the airport for over 2 days. However...



Are those drinks that bad NOBODY wants them? Not even under those circumstances. I think the marketing/product development of that company would pay money for that picture.

This was our preschool section of the gate. Eowyn (pink) was almost 2.5, she and her Mexican mom were flying to Mexico. Jackson, was the 2.5 year old on his way to Playa del Carmen (probably took them 3.5 days to get there). he was so sweet, after everything he'd been through. He had recently turned 2.5. We all shared parental duties, shared toys, snacks, had story time, etc.



Arantxa spent a good chunk of the time reading. Lorena was read from her princesses stories book, over and over. We all knew the stories pretty well, it was a good gift from Santa!


Finally, on the plane!!!!