On the way to Hyderabad, every flight was on time. Even with the hitch in our plans caused by my expired passport. In fact it was a symphony of airports and airplanes.
On the way back things went smoothly till we reached JFK. The preceding flight from Doha to New York had gone off much better than we expected. The kids slept for most of the 14 hours and watched a couple of movies. Evan had made the transfer at Doha airport including one of the two security checks in deep sleep. And he woke up in the immigration line at JFK and got cranky enough for them to move us very quickly to the front. The luggage took for ever. But within three hours of landing we were at our gate for the Austin flight.
JFK was covered in snow outside. And in cots inside where passengers had camped out. The departure displays were mostly yellow and red from delays and cancellations. I didn't really think we were going to make it out. The flight to LA that was at our gate never took off - which resulted in a gate change announcement for us. We arrived at the new gate and it was empty. I expected it to remain so. Then an aircraft pulled up. They announced that it would take about 20 minutes for the passengers to deplane and 15 more to prepare it for the next flight. I spied our crew standing by the gate. I finally dared to believe that we'd actually get to Austin today.
Then nothing happened. After an hour they said that they couldn't get power to the aircraft to charge it up and get started. The jet bridge power wasn't working. Neither was the first portable generator they tried.
Vivian and Evan found a friend - Anya - with whom they played in front of the windows. They played I-spy and hide and go seek and colored. And made play date arrangements and exchanged phone numbers. Other portable generators came and went but the aircraft remained dark and hulking. Jo started looking for a hotel for the night. We were freezing - it was cold inside the terminal. I went to Au Bon Pain to buy a glass of hot water to heat my hands. I met the captain there and asked if there was any hope. He said things were looking up. We suspected that he was bullshitting. More equipment was towed to and away from the aircraft. The maintenance crew worked on, stamping their boots in the snow, their breath white in the darkness. But they stayed with it and finally we boarded. And another four hours later we were on the ground in Austin. Thirty four hours after leaving for the airport in Hyderabad. No complaints. We stopped at the all night McD on the way home from the airport to get chicken nuggets for Vivian and Evan. And then we slept till noon the next day.
Alu and Michelle weren't so lucky. They had to make alternate arrangement from Washington, DC. A train in the wee hours to Kingston that broke down somewhere along the way.
Another trip done. Another day back at the white wooden house.
On the way back things went smoothly till we reached JFK. The preceding flight from Doha to New York had gone off much better than we expected. The kids slept for most of the 14 hours and watched a couple of movies. Evan had made the transfer at Doha airport including one of the two security checks in deep sleep. And he woke up in the immigration line at JFK and got cranky enough for them to move us very quickly to the front. The luggage took for ever. But within three hours of landing we were at our gate for the Austin flight.
JFK was covered in snow outside. And in cots inside where passengers had camped out. The departure displays were mostly yellow and red from delays and cancellations. I didn't really think we were going to make it out. The flight to LA that was at our gate never took off - which resulted in a gate change announcement for us. We arrived at the new gate and it was empty. I expected it to remain so. Then an aircraft pulled up. They announced that it would take about 20 minutes for the passengers to deplane and 15 more to prepare it for the next flight. I spied our crew standing by the gate. I finally dared to believe that we'd actually get to Austin today.
Then nothing happened. After an hour they said that they couldn't get power to the aircraft to charge it up and get started. The jet bridge power wasn't working. Neither was the first portable generator they tried.
Vivian and Evan found a friend - Anya - with whom they played in front of the windows. They played I-spy and hide and go seek and colored. And made play date arrangements and exchanged phone numbers. Other portable generators came and went but the aircraft remained dark and hulking. Jo started looking for a hotel for the night. We were freezing - it was cold inside the terminal. I went to Au Bon Pain to buy a glass of hot water to heat my hands. I met the captain there and asked if there was any hope. He said things were looking up. We suspected that he was bullshitting. More equipment was towed to and away from the aircraft. The maintenance crew worked on, stamping their boots in the snow, their breath white in the darkness. But they stayed with it and finally we boarded. And another four hours later we were on the ground in Austin. Thirty four hours after leaving for the airport in Hyderabad. No complaints. We stopped at the all night McD on the way home from the airport to get chicken nuggets for Vivian and Evan. And then we slept till noon the next day.
Alu and Michelle weren't so lucky. They had to make alternate arrangement from Washington, DC. A train in the wee hours to Kingston that broke down somewhere along the way.
Another trip done. Another day back at the white wooden house.
No comments:
Post a Comment