Day
1
If
adventure is the thing to be desired during travel, then day 1 of my
journey can be considered a success. When I left the condo at
8:30pm, I was 95% certain that I would not be stepping foot into it
for the next 16 weeks, but things began to quickly escalate into
statistical oddities. I planned to walk to the blue line station and
take the train to O’hare airport, and as I stepped outside to begin
the 1 mile walk I was pelted with a snow/rain mix, and within a ¼
mile my pants, jacket, and shoes were soaked. I made it to the
station intact, but very wet and cold. After a 40 minute train ride I
arrived at O’Hare and
met up with a friend who was there to see me off. We took the shuttle
train to the international
terminal and found that the check-in line for my flight was long and
slow. A large percentage of the people in line were Asian, and most
of them had ridiculously large packages and crates which they were
checking into cargo. After 90 minutes I was able to get my boarding
pass and after saying goodbye to my friend I headed to security and
dreaded the pat down procedure, but it went more easily than I had
expected, no power-tripping TSA agents to make things difficult. When
I reached the M7 departure gate I gazed out the window and saw that a
full-power snowstorm was covering the area, swirling and covering the
plane with ice, the tarmac heavy in slush and snow.
I guessed that
the flight would soon be canceled but after standing around for 2
hours they began passenger boarding. I took my seat, 66C, next to an
elderly Asian couple who spoke no English. I looked at my watch and
noted that the plane, supposed to depart at 12:20am, was still on the
ground at 2:00am. For the next 4 hours I sat in my seat gazing at a
snow covered port hole and trying to remain comfortable. At 6:00am
the passengers were
given the message to de-board due to the flight finally being
terminated. I was happy about this because I did not care to think
about flying for 16
hours after sitting in a grounded airplane for 4 hours. I then stood
in another line, this time for 1 hour, to let the ticket agent know
that I would be returning to my home and did not need a courtesy
hotel room. I took the blue line train back to downtown Chicago,
falling asleep along the way. When I got off the train at Lake
street I found the sidewalks ice and slush covered, and the
temperature having dropped 25 degrees from the previous day. Just
before reaching State street I slipped on the ice and fell on my ass,
my backpack helping to prevent a full backside immersion. The person
behind me stopped to help me up, and with a wet backside I walked a
further ½ mile to the condo. I was feeling quite out of it when I
got into bed, and slept for the next 4 hours, got up to eat lunch,
then slept for another 3 hours. I then took a shower, repacked, and
repeated the process to return to
the airport, again 95%
certain that I would not be sleeping in my condo bed for the next 16
weeks.