Day One
July 23, 2009
Last night I was in bed and ASLEEP at 9:45pm. Yes, I really am that lame.
My excuse is that I was up at 3am to catch my flight from Austin, so really I had been awake for a long time.
It had nothing at all to do with the Two Buck Chuck and the best margarita I have ever had.
*****
Yesterday morning I woke up at 3am, which is more like a time one should be going to bed rather than getting up for the day. I was worried about driving myself to the airport. Turns out I was right to be worried. Apparently my Australian GPS lady was drunk because she kept telling me to turn left when I needed to turn right and she told me to go north when I clearly needed to go south, or whatever. I am not sure what direction I needed to travel in. Because THAT IS WHY I HAVE A GPS.
I ended up calling Rob at 4am and waking him up. Which was super nice of me since we had decided I would drive myself to the airport so he didn’t have to wake up early. He told me how to get there and while I was still on the phone with him, after he told me no less than 10 times what exit to get off, I missed it. That was fun.
I made it to the airport on time and snapped this photo of the parking lot so that I would remember where I had parked. Yes, that photo will be extremely helpful. I look forward to searching near every lightpost in every long term parking lot.
The flight was uneventful. My suitcase made it to the airport with me. So that was good.
Then I bought a coffee and set out to go to the terminal where Susan’s flight was arriving. Months ago we had coordinated our flights to arrive at roughly the same time. And so I began a trek that led me through the bowels of the airport. It was dark and isolated and on more than one ocassion as I dragged my heavy assed suitcase behind me I thought if someone were to kill me right now no one would ever know.
I finally arrived at the shuttle place, which I somehow had managed to walk to the entire other side of the airport, UNDERGROUND(!!) to get to the stop. I looked at the map. And was all, “Huh, that’s weird. Why isn’t Southwest on the map?”
I stood there for a few minutes, confused. Thinking the name Southwest would just appear for me. A shuttle came and left. And then another. I still stood there looking at the map. Finally an airport employee came over to me and asked if I needed help.
“Um, I can’t seem to find Southwest on the map?”
“That is because Southwest doesn’t fly into this airport.”
“No. It does. I am meeting my friend and she is flying Southwest…”
“Southwest flies into the OTHER airport, honey.” Oh yes, he did. And as offended as I was, I totally deserved it because the next question I asked was where the shuttles were to go to the hotel. And he asked, “Which hotel?”
I DID NOT KNOW. People, this is why I travel with Susan. She is all organized. I call her my social coordinator. I think she may even have a spreadsheet of everything that is going on. It is what she is good at. I am good at, uh, other things.
He directed me to go back to the very area from where I came. Only he showed me a different way to get there that did not require any underground walking and I was grateful. Imagine that the ariport was a big clock. I walked from 12 all the way around to 10 underground. I completed the circle from 10 to 12 and now feel that I have fully experienced the airport. It was like my own private tour! All before 9:30am!
I made it to the hotel. Met Susan. Then went out to lunch and ate a huge salad with enough bacon to cancel out any of the health benefits of salad. But after my morning I totally deserved the bacon.
See?
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Ah yes, the old O’Hare vs Midway problem.
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:23 pmMidway vs. O’Hare - been through that mess before! Enjoy Chicago and more bacon!
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:46 pmI LOVE the Big Salad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:08 pmI cannot WAIT to see what Day 2 brings. If it’s anything like Day 1, I suggest you have bacon with breakfast.
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:19 pmI just left Chicago (the ‘other’ airport) and upon hearing of your tour of (no doubt), O’Hare, I got to giggling… You were not the only poor lost soul! Did you see the lovely kids’ playground on your tour? I schedule layovers around that…
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:23 pmHoney? Too funny. Eat bacon, drink, laugh, and have some fun for me!
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:48 pmHope you have fun! And…I’m sure you know this, but I think the sign behind the car says B2.
July 23rd, 2009 at 4:14 pmPeople with a sense of direction think stories like this are a joke. Or that the person who experienced it is stupid.
I can’t begin to tell you (and so I won’t) how many times in my life I’ve been lost lost lost and going the wrong direction in spite of the best guidance in the world, and then not knowing how to find where I parked, and then wandering the totally wrong way through scary places to get to something that was just “right there” all along.
I am a very intelligent and responsible person. I just wasn’t born with a compass embedded in my brain. So I get it.
Have fun at the conference and the way home will also be paved with Good Samaritans who will eventually get you back to your family. There seems to be some sort of Guiding Angels who help those of us with the affliction eventually end up where we wanted to be.
July 23rd, 2009 at 4:22 pmI just wanted to add that i pulled your image into photoshop and your sign says B 2. Good luck!
July 23rd, 2009 at 5:08 pmSounds very eventful. I don’t think it will be too hard to find your car since it is by B2. Good luck and have fun!
July 23rd, 2009 at 5:41 pmI’m very familiar with O’hare. I’m so sorry.
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:21 pmThere is no shame in a 9:30 bedtime! My gps has really been pissing me off lately, too. I had to pick the bf up at the Charlotte airport, and Leslie, the gps lady, directed me to the cargo terminal. I was in tears by the time I reached him.
Have fun and enjoy Chicago!
July 23rd, 2009 at 7:34 pmI am from Chicago… Are you speaking of Midway (Southwest) vs O’hare? They are no where near each other and I know of no underground tunnels.
Also Chicago is known for rich, big portions of unhealthy food that is absolutely awesome tasting. It is actually a sin to diet there!
Chris says: I was at O’Hare and thre was totally this underground tunnely area….it reminded me of Grand Central Station. It even smelled like pee.
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:06 pmMy husband listens to the GPS lady instead of me. I have NEVER gotten us lost. She get us lost ALL THE TIME. I don’t get it.
Glad you made it. Who knew there were 2 airports in Chicago? (Ok, I did, but I never would have thought your flights would go to different ones.)
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:07 pmYea, but I’m thinking that all that BlogHer swank I’ve been reading about will make all the rest worth it.
Tammy and Parker
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:54 pmhttp://www.prayingforparker.com
http://www.5minutesforspecialneeds.com
@ParkerMama on Twitter
uh. swag. that so should have read swag.
erg.
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:55 pmThe picture looks as if its says B 2, I think you should walk there in the long term parking lot when you get back.
July 23rd, 2009 at 9:02 pmSounds like you had a fun adventure.
July 23rd, 2009 at 10:35 pmgood lord woman, just reading that gave me agida. I can only imagine how you actually felt. oy and vey!
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:02 pmbravo on the bacon. you totally deserved it.
bacon is indeed a soothing balm for a frazzled soul
July 24th, 2009 at 12:45 amChris,
How do you handle childcare when you go away? And come to think of it, when you are generally working, or do you squeeze this in around the kids somehow?!
July 24th, 2009 at 4:07 amHah! Too funny. I was briefly thinking how EASY the airport is to find, but forgot you’re not up here in NE anymore . .
Hubs gets up at 3:10 am every workday, blech! Which means we miss out on anything that ever happens after 8:00 pm, phooey.
July 24th, 2009 at 7:23 amAt least you made it there…women are resilient!
July 24th, 2009 at 9:20 amI have noticed that Google Maps, GPS, etc are VERY difficult to use in Austin since they can’t seem to figure out the whole frontage road thing and thus often have you going north instead of south, etc. My parents had that exact problem when they came for graduation and ended up driving AWAY from Austin for about 15 miles before they realized, um, this is not the way from the airport.
July 24th, 2009 at 9:25 amI just want to admit that I’m asleep EVERY night at 9:45pm. By my calculation, you’re not lame at all… well maybe a bit on the traveling.
July 24th, 2009 at 11:21 amWhen my brother-in-law and visited us from Australia he brought along his GPS, we had a lot of fun teasing the GPS lady because she thought she was still down under. EVERYTHING she said was backwards. It sounds like yours is stuck in Sydney, too. He actually found a setting to change it before he left America, but in the meantime we had a lot of laughs.
July 24th, 2009 at 11:48 amI should have warned you.
Check out Lou Malnati’s pizza while you’re there…you know, since you deserve it.
You will thank me later.
July 24th, 2009 at 1:51 pmI have the same anxiety about flying out of ABIA to NY next week (and yes, getting up at 3am to do so, uuggggh…am I even capable of DOING that??). Glad you made it in one piece and had some consolation bacon! Have fun!
July 24th, 2009 at 4:23 pm