Our trip to Rochester…

The Google defines whirlwind as:  “used in similes and metaphors to describe a very energetic or tumultuous person or process.  A whirlwind of activity,” they also say.

Joyce and I just had one of those… whirlwinds.

I don’t remember when I last got to bed at 4:30 am, nor do I remember when I last got up at 11 am.  But, that happened today. (Monday)

It was interesting when I finally found a convenience store in Dodge City KS that was open (2:30 am).  As I started to get back into my car, I heard music. The music was coming from my pocket!  It was my phone alarm I’d set for 2:30 am that very same morning to get me up in time for our early flight (5:55) from Rochester NY.  If you do the math, exactly 24 hours ago.

What you may well ask, was I doing in both Rochester NY and Dodge City KS in the same day.  In case you haven’t noticed, those places are not geographically close together. 

My wife and I and my sister were in Rochester for the wedding of our nephew Nathan and his bride Maggie, and we were in Dodge City (my sister Peggy lives there)  trying to get home after dropping Peg off st her house.

We had initially thought we’d just drive and make a bit of a trip out of it, but there were other time constraints and I didn’t want to condemn the plants in my backyard barrels to a torturous death in the heat and winds of our recent days, so we decided to save time and fly.

Our daughter Angela put together an excellent package for us on Expedia and we found ourselves in Rochester last Friday mid-afternoon in plenty of time for the evening festivities.  Saturday afternoon was the wedding, and beautiful it was, in the wee garden at the Chatterbox Club (organized in 1923).  It was  followed by a lovely dinner inside the renovated stately old home that serves as the club’s meeting place.

Back at our hotel, it was time to set my alarm (remember, I already mentioned this) for 2:30 am to allow us to catch the 5:55 flight to Atlanta, and then back to Wichita at a respectable morning hour of just before noon.  We’d be back at home and I’d be watering my poor plants by mid to late afternoon.

That was the plan.

That was before the Captain of our flight from Rochester discovered the hydraulic oil level was low in our plane.  He explained to all of us waiting passengers that someone should have caught it the night before, but did not.  A maintenance black mark for Delta Airlines.

Eventually we got some oil for our plane and our Captain whom we’ve gotten to know pretty well by now, took us to Atlanta.  But, he got us there late.  It wasn’t his fault, but we missed our excellent Wichita connection.

We weren’t selected for standby on the oversold 3pm flight.  But not to worry, we were already booked on the 9:41pm flight to Wichita and that’s how we eventually got there on the same day, just barely.  

A quick question (rhetorical) for you: What is going on in Wichita that three fully loaded planes need to go there on a Sunday?

As we talked to fellow passengers at baggage claim in Wichita, we discovered that not only did many people not get to Wichita on the flight they were booked on, they didn’t even get there on the same day!   We felt fortunate. 

This morning, (well actually closer to noon), I was sitting at my own dining room table, having slept in my own bed. I heard a news report saying “thousands” of flights over the weekend were canceled.  We felt even more fortunate.

We were happy we could make it to Nathan and Maggie’s wedding.  Somehow, they made it to Costa Rica for their honeymoon with no flight problems.  Maybe Joyce and I should have checked in as newlyweds!

They make a lovely couple, Nathan and Maggie.

Nathan got his undergrad degree at OSU (Oklahoma State) in Horn Performance, his Masters in Horn Performance at Southern Methodist University. While there, he substituted in the Dallas Symphony.  He has played in the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra in Albuquerque as well as the New Mexico Philharmonic and Santa Fe Symphony.  He played in the Sarasota (FL) Orchestra. He currently plays in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. 

While living in Rochester he had occasion to meet Maggie. Interesting isnt it, how things like that work. I could tell you about another “chance” meeting at the Guard Shack at the entrance to an RAF Base in Scotland, but I’ll save that for a later day.

Maggie got her undergraduate degree at Georgetown University, and her Masters in Professional Counseling at the University of Georgia. She works in the Pittsford School District in the Mental Health Counseling Department. Following their honeymoon in Costa Rica, Maggie and Nathan will be at home in Rochester, NY. 

Lessons from our trip:

It was interesting to watch the reaction of folks in the airport in an environment of canceled and changing flights.  Not everyone handled it well.  I was proud of us.

We also learned a lot about life and gardening in the after-wedding comments from Peter Craig, father of the bride.  As a father of the bride myself a few times,  I thought he did an excellent job.  His lessons, while meant for his lovely daughter and his new son-in-law,  were also applicable to the rest of us.  Especially the one about the weeds!

In spite of the difficulty of getting there and back, a great time was had by all.

I’m.going to decline discussing the lady at checkout from the Courtyard Marriott Downtown Rochester, and the taxi to the airport that had no seat belts for the back seat.

We met some great folks, both at the wedding and traveling. The check-in crew at the Rochester Downtown Courtyard was amazing, the taxi driver from the airport in Rochester, the Delta gate agent in Atlanta who after we were going to actually make out third flight, put all our seats back together in the same row and personally delivered Joyce directly to the plane in her wheelchair, the Delta cabin attendant who took some extra time with us and showed us the pics of her motorcycle, she also shared that she finds people “different” (not as friendly) in the last few years.  A special thanks to the ladies who helped Joyce from her wheelchair into and out of the women’s toilet and laughed when I thanked them saying,  “she really doesn’t like me going in there with her.”  And then there were Amy and Jasmine from Marriott Springhill Suites Wichita Airport who got us to and from the airport in style.

If you were to believe the news, you might believe most of the folks in the country are bad.

Not true! 

There are still some really great folks out there.