The longest short trip ever

Chris and I planned a short vacation to visit my sister Jill in Naples, FL. Since I am still new at my job, my vacation time is very limited which in turn mean that our trip was going to be very limited. We purchased plane tickets to fly out of Indianapolis right after work last Thursday. We were supposed to arrive in Ft. Myers around midnight and have all day Friday and Saturday. Our return flight on Sunday was supposed to get us back to Indy with enough time to grocery shop and prepare for work the next day. I think you know where I'm going with this...

We arrived at the Indianapolis airport only to be told that our plane was having mechanical problems and would be delayed. The concern was that our connecting flight through Atlanta might be missed but were assured that the connection was also running late so we might make it in time. Despite our frantic runs through the Atlanta airport, we did not make our connection. Instead, we were put up in a smelly hotel that is doomed to shut down based on what we saw. I was planning on using Jill's toiletries because Chris and I didn't want to check any baggage. When we realized we needed toothpaste, I was given plastic disposable toothbrushes with plastic bristles that have the "convenience" of the toothpaste already being included. If you pushed up on the handle, it forced a pathetically small amount of what they say to be toothpaste between the plastic bristles which was just as helpful as not brushing your teeth at all. For all of you who know how weird I am about having fresh breath, I can guarantee you that no kissy face occurred in this hotel.

Did I mention that in this hotel, even the wine glasses in the bar smelled bad? Oh, and the hotel check in lady had to explain that the contractor and hotel owner had a falling out so before the contractor was fired, he installed all of the hotel door handles upside down so when opening the door you needed to life up instead of down.

Friday morning we arrived back at the airport VERY early, especially being that we arrived VERY late the night before. We boarded the plan and then we were told that the plan was having, you guessed it, mechanical problems. We sat for a few minutes before they got back on the overhead to announce that the problems were more serious than previously expected and we would need to get off the plane. So we waited...again. The plane eventually took off and we made it to Florida for a wonderfully relaxing 1 1/2 days. I would show you pictures but I forgot my camera. Big shocker I know. (See previous post.)

Sunday we left Jill's house around 9:00am to catch our plane. We were thrilled when this occurred without a problem. Our flight landed in Chicago on time. Too bad our flight out of Chicago wasn't on time. As a matter of fact, a storm had just blown through and many flights were cancelled, almost all were delayed. We were one of the delayed flights. It was supposed to be a two hour delay. It wasn't. Approximately twelve hours from the time Chris and I left Jill's house, Chris and I drove into our garage completely exhausted and having made the decision that we will NEVER (except for the family reunion trip that is already scheduled and paid for) have a layover again.