The Denver airport has free wifi!

That means I can give you up to date info on my flight so far, in more than 160 characters! =D Here's what's been going on today...

First, we got in the car around 12:15 to drive to DFW and fly home from Texas. The drive out there was fine. We made okay time, which was good, because I couldn't get frontier.com to cooperate and let me print my boarding passes. Thankfully there wasn't a long line at the Frontier desk and we were able to get our bags checked and boarding passes printed without too much trouble.

I'm taking a car seat back with me to MT so I can take it with me when we fly in July. What that means is that Ellie will be flying both flights today strapped into a car seat. It also means I have a full size car seat strapped into an umbrella stroller and a 2 year old strapped into the car seat. Add to that 3 bags hanging off the back of the stroller and you've got a pretty good idea of what we look like traveling through the airport. It's a sight to behold, but it is even more a sight to watch as we disassembled the whole rig, plus the clear baggie of liquids, a computer, and our shoes, onto the security conveyor belt. Thankfully there wasn't a line for security (in Dallas! I was thankful) so we could take our time getting through security.

So security? No problem. Finding the gate? No problem. Flight listed as on time? No problem. We sat and waited to board, when the board changed and said our flight was due to depart at 1720 instead of "on time". On time would have been 4:15. Whaaa? I asked a gate rep about it and she looked at me like I was stupid and said, "It's military time, Ma'am."  (I'd like to interject here that none of the other times, which were all after noon, were listed that way, so there was no need for the snippy. I was just asking...)

So... flight's an hour late leaving. My Denver layover was only 45 minutes, so I asked what would happen if I missed my connection. I'd be rebooked on the next flight. That's all she could/would tell me, so I waited for the next person to help me. That didn't happen for quite some time.

At 5 or so, when we were supposed to be boarding our plane, there still was no plane at the gate. Hmm... At this point I realized that I was sitting right in front of a giant sign that said, "Running Late? We're not! Frontier Airlines." It struck me as sort of amusing.

My flight was no longer listed as departing at 1720, but was now listed as "on time." Again, confused. So I asked tthe gate attendant, who was more helpful than the last. She offered to rebook me on the next flight from Denver to Bozeman since I'd missed my connection. That flight left... tomorrow. I wasn't looking forward to sleeping in the airport with a toddler, so I asked if she could rebook me on the United flight I knew was flying out at 9 (thanks to a call in to Leif, who told me about that flight). She booked me on that, and I was thankful.

We boarded the flight to Denver and all was well. Ellie sat in the car seat, and they gave us free DirectTV to compensate us for the late flight. So I let her watch cartoons the entire flight. She was happy.

On the way off the plane, I realized just how strange I must look boarding and unboarding a plane. I had Ellie on a leash (a cute little monkey backpack leash that she loves and named "George") hauling her own little pink wheelie backpack, and I was following her carrying 2 of my own bags over my shoulders and a carseat on my head. Yeah. I am traveling in style!

So... Denver. Here we are. We got off the plane at gate A20-something. Our flight out was at B80. Those are pretty much on opposite ends of the airport. Lots of walking, a couple elevators, and a train ride! Fun. Good times. And a 3 hour layover that meant we didn't have to rush.

Now they're calling us for boarding, so you'll get the rest of the story when I get home. And boy will it be good to be home!
--
Elizabeth Wickland
Independent Beauty Consultant
http://www.marykay.com/elizabethwickland
elizabethwickland@marykay.com
406-570-4199