Inauspicious beginning

I was aware that other flights had been delayed, but I admit I was fairly naive about my own chances of getting to my destination on time. I was flying from Indy to Providence (through D.C.) for the first of several Cowsills/Susan Cowsill Band shows, and weather along the east coast had caused several flights to be delayed or cancelled- but not mine, right?

Wrong. My flight from Indy to D.C. was delayed. About an hour past departure time, four of us going to Providence were quickly gathered and rushed onto a plane heading to Charlotte, NC- the idea being we'd get a connection to Providence there. Only the flight from Charlotte to Providence was cancelled. Fine, I thought, I'll catch the first flight in the morning- but all flights to anywhere near Providence were already sold out (oversold) for the next day. As were all hotel rooms near the airport, and every rental car in Charlotte. And Amtrak.

I kept trying to brainstorm ways to get my body to the show the following evening, eventually napping for a couple of hours on a bench outside the airport. Finally I got the call that the Cowsills' travel agent had managed to book me a 6am flight to Providence, with a connection in Philly, at considerable cost to the Cowsills organization.

Around 5am I checked in for my flight and found my gate. Delays from here were too numerous to mention. I was selected as the guy to search at the security checkpoint, we were delayed twice while maintenance crews repaired various parts of the plane or jetway, we had to taxi to a different gate- it seemed neverending. Eventually, I did make it to Providence a little past 11am, just 28 hours past my original flight time. I was exhausted and a little hungry, but glad to have made it and looking forward to rocking Newport.