Well, I am writing this from Princess Anne, Maryland! After a long day of travel I was able to get to my dorm around 10:30 last night, got a half way decent night of sleep, and have met all of the REU students. Even though I got here safe and sound, I would have traded my travel experiences if I could have (just kidding...kinda;))! Without further a do, let's walk you through my June 5, 2017 experience.
So, my morning started bright and early at 4am. I got up and ready and headed out to the OKC airport around 5am. Dad and I drove to OKC and arrived at the airport around 6:20am. So far so good. I had a little hiccup with my boarding passes, but it was easily resolved and not a big deal. After checking baggage and everything I said "bye" to my dad and happily walked through the very short TSA pre-checked security line. Side note: I would highly suggest getting pre-checked because it saves time and headaches. Everything was going so smoothly as I found my gate and sat down with plenty of time until I started boarding. After about 30 minutes the gate agent was free so I decided to ask her about my quick tun around in Dallas to see if there was any way for me to have some help to quickly make my connection flight. The kind agent informed me that my plane had been delayed 40 minutes and that it was impossible for me to make my flight from Dallas to Philadelphia. Great. As I held back the tears, the agent was able to reroute me through Charlotte, North Carolina where I could then grab a flight to Maryland. The only issue with this route was that I wasn't going to get to Maryland until 9;30pm but I went ahead and took this route because I had to do something. I wasn't exactly thrilled with this longer day of travel, but at least I was going to get to MD the day I was supposed to.
My flight to Dallas was delayed over an hour but with my new flight I had a long lay over in Dallas so it did not really matter. The flight was very short and uneventful which was nice. I made it to Dallas fine and while I was there I was able to grab some food and reading materials for the next flight. At 2:30 I was on my next plane. This flight went to Charlotte, NC. Again, this flight was uneventful and I sat by a nice older couple who talked to me for awhile. When we landed there was a lot of plane congestion and it took us a long time to actually get off the plane. This was a slight issue because my lay over time in NC was very short and when I was rerouted I had to have new boarding passes printed and the boarding pass for this flight had no terminal number, gate number, or seat number so I was kind of worried about actually finding my plane and was already running late. Luckily, I was able to figure everything out and get to my gate with a few minutes to spare.
The plane from NC to MD was very small. It only held about 30 people, but the turbulence wasn't bad and we even got to MD before our scheduled time! The airport I arrived at was very small so baggage wasn't a problem and I was able to find the man who was supposed to drive me to UMES without a problem. After my things were loaded in the van and we were ready to go, the van would not start. I was exhausted and couldn't think of anything worse that could have happened! Luckily, after about 10 minutes we were able to get it started and headed to UMES.
When I got to UMES, I got to meet my roommate and unpack a little bit. I was so tired at this point that I basically just got in bed. I didn't get a great night of sleep, but hopefully as I adjust that will change. Over all it was a busy day that went pretty smoothly. I am grateful that I made it here in one piece. Thank you for all of the prayers and thoughts of encouragement. I really appreciated them yesterday!
As for the internship so far, I have very bad cell service here so if you want to contact me please email or Facebook message me for now. My roommate is very nice. She is from here in Maryland and says that I have an accent! I have really enjoyed getting to know the interns so far and will let you know more about our adventures as they happen!
Kate
So, my morning started bright and early at 4am. I got up and ready and headed out to the OKC airport around 5am. Dad and I drove to OKC and arrived at the airport around 6:20am. So far so good. I had a little hiccup with my boarding passes, but it was easily resolved and not a big deal. After checking baggage and everything I said "bye" to my dad and happily walked through the very short TSA pre-checked security line. Side note: I would highly suggest getting pre-checked because it saves time and headaches. Everything was going so smoothly as I found my gate and sat down with plenty of time until I started boarding. After about 30 minutes the gate agent was free so I decided to ask her about my quick tun around in Dallas to see if there was any way for me to have some help to quickly make my connection flight. The kind agent informed me that my plane had been delayed 40 minutes and that it was impossible for me to make my flight from Dallas to Philadelphia. Great. As I held back the tears, the agent was able to reroute me through Charlotte, North Carolina where I could then grab a flight to Maryland. The only issue with this route was that I wasn't going to get to Maryland until 9;30pm but I went ahead and took this route because I had to do something. I wasn't exactly thrilled with this longer day of travel, but at least I was going to get to MD the day I was supposed to.
My flight to Dallas was delayed over an hour but with my new flight I had a long lay over in Dallas so it did not really matter. The flight was very short and uneventful which was nice. I made it to Dallas fine and while I was there I was able to grab some food and reading materials for the next flight. At 2:30 I was on my next plane. This flight went to Charlotte, NC. Again, this flight was uneventful and I sat by a nice older couple who talked to me for awhile. When we landed there was a lot of plane congestion and it took us a long time to actually get off the plane. This was a slight issue because my lay over time in NC was very short and when I was rerouted I had to have new boarding passes printed and the boarding pass for this flight had no terminal number, gate number, or seat number so I was kind of worried about actually finding my plane and was already running late. Luckily, I was able to figure everything out and get to my gate with a few minutes to spare.
The plane from NC to MD was very small. It only held about 30 people, but the turbulence wasn't bad and we even got to MD before our scheduled time! The airport I arrived at was very small so baggage wasn't a problem and I was able to find the man who was supposed to drive me to UMES without a problem. After my things were loaded in the van and we were ready to go, the van would not start. I was exhausted and couldn't think of anything worse that could have happened! Luckily, after about 10 minutes we were able to get it started and headed to UMES.When I got to UMES, I got to meet my roommate and unpack a little bit. I was so tired at this point that I basically just got in bed. I didn't get a great night of sleep, but hopefully as I adjust that will change. Over all it was a busy day that went pretty smoothly. I am grateful that I made it here in one piece. Thank you for all of the prayers and thoughts of encouragement. I really appreciated them yesterday!
As for the internship so far, I have very bad cell service here so if you want to contact me please email or Facebook message me for now. My roommate is very nice. She is from here in Maryland and says that I have an accent! I have really enjoyed getting to know the interns so far and will let you know more about our adventures as they happen!
Kate
Well look at you! Packing a year's worth of traveling experience into one day! You always were a fast learner! In advanced travel 102 you get to sleep in an airport. Hopefully, you can just audit that course. :)
ReplyDeleteI'll bet your roommate has an accent too!
Love your blog!
I love this! I hate that your flying experience wasn't as smooth as it could have been, but I am glad you're there safely!
ReplyDelete