After a 2 day photography workshop in Charlotte, North Carolina earlier this week (more on that coming soon), I got up before the crack of dawn (4:15 Iowa time) yesterday to head to the airport for my flight back to Cedar Rapids. I got to the airport fine as I chatted with my taxi driver about the history of Charlotte. (I also found out his youngest son was born in his taxi–a different one, thank goodness–on the way to the hospital!)

My flight was slightly delayed, but we boarded, taxied out to the runway, then stopped…and after waiting and waiting, we found out that there was a problem with the engine. We were pulled back to the gate and deplaned. Immediately, there was a long line with all of us trying to get on another flight. I knew by that point that I had already missed my scheduled flight from Chicago back to Cedar Rapids so I was just hoping to get a later flight. I was redirected to another airline to catch a ride to Chicago.

Now, I promise, this day gets stranger and stranger. (I wouldn’t have been all that surprised if my sister, Carla, had been with me because these things usually happen when both of us are together; I had yet to have it happen to me alone.)

My new flight from Charlotte to Chicago kept being delayed because flight traffic in Chicago was so horrible that planes couldn’t land. Instead of flying out of Charlotte at 7 AM, I ended up flying out around 11 AM. I was so tired and exhausted, but I kept thinking, “Just keep going…just keep going… Get home…”

We landed in Chicago to pouring rain and a mess of flights. The airport was a supreme muddle filled with frustrated people. Because I flew a different airline for that one flight, I wasn’t in my normal routine for my American Airlines terminals so I ended up taking this route…

So my legs were tired from walking the entire airport and I saw that, luckily, my flight to Cedar Rapids was still on schedule! Goody. I set about to get ready to board.

All other flights going out of Chicago were being delayed and cancelled due to the weather and a flight to Moline (another airport near my home) had already been cancelled but I was still highly optimistic that I would make it.

Then came the delays. Flight scheduled for 1:45, delayed to 2:05, delayed to 3:05, delayed to 4:05, delayed to 5:05. At that point, I was like, “Get me out of here! Now.” Then, just like that, it was cancelled. A line the length of a football field formed with people from both the Dubuque flight (also cancelled) and the Cedar Rapids flight trying to figure out what to do.

While I was in line, I determined that I wouldn’t stay overnight in Chicago and catch the morning flight. I was SO close to home that I just wanted to get home so I was prepared to do whatever I could to do so. I started calling car rental companies to check on reservations. Apparently, everyone else had the same idea because cars weren’t available at O’Hare anymore. A woman two behind me in line asked me if I was headed to Cedar Rapids and so we struck up a conversation. She was flying from Pittsburg to Cedar Rapids to visit her grandchildren in Iowa City. I said, “Hey, I live in Coralville! Do you want to ride together?”

Then, suddenly, a group of three people caught my attention and said they overheard me talking about Cedar Rapids. In a flurry of what can only be described as chaos, I found out they just flew in from Sweden, landed in Chicago, and were headed to Cedar Rapids.

After trying to get refunds for our cancelled flights, their checked luggage from Sweden, a rental van (to hold 6!–they were meeting a coworker also from Sweden but on a different flight), and dodging through the downpour of rain to the rental company, Peggy, Ceasar, Anna, Joergen, Tofte, and I were all in a van driving west. Since I was the “local” from the group, I took the wheel with Peggy as my navigator on her phone to get me out of Chicago.

Anna and I discovered we have a lot in common as we both obsess over royalty and, funny enough, I knew quite a bit of Swedish royalty history! We both love Crown Princess Victoria and baby Estelle and we caught up about Princess Madeleine’s upcoming marriage to Christopher O’Neill. There were also lots of discussions about movies (particularly Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and shampoo. (Did you know that shampoo in Sweden is ridiculously overpriced?! When they come here for work every few months, they take lots of bottles of shampoo back.)

We managed to hit rush hour traffic–of course–and the rain wouldn’t let up for the entire trip. It got worse as we got closer to Cedar Rapids and the lightning lit up the entire sky because the clouds were acting like a light box. I discovered that my new Swedish friends are engineers who work with fighter jets (defense system). Prior to knowing about the fighter jets part, I requested that they implement more legroom in planes as well as bicycle pedals by your feet so that, in long flights, you can move your legs. They said they will see what they can do.

We made it to the Cedar Rapids airport around 9:30 PM. They gave me an umbrella for my run to my car (although, let’s be honest, the rain felt like it was both coming down and then back up from the ground so I was pretty much soaked head to toe like a drowned rat) and hugs and told me I am the best driver ever.

And you know what song was in my head for the entire drive home?

“You’ve got a friend in me 
You’ve got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you’re miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
Just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you’ve got a friend in me.”

Never in a million thoughts would’ve I imagined yesterday morning that I’d be road tripping in pouring rain with a lovely grandmother and 4 Swedish engineers to get to a little city called Cedar Rapids. As my new friend Anna would say, “Adventures are so wonderful! I love them!” This goes to show, you’ll find friends in the strangest of places and the most unlikely of circumstances. I love how random life is sometimes.

And mostly, I love that I am home again.

Have you had any crazy travel experiences? I’d love to hear about them!