July 14: On Our Way!

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 64

July 14

I woke up early and got ready for a short walk to a small restaurant on Mt. Holyoke campus for breakfast. One of the students helped me take my boxes to the post office, which was nearby. The post office did not open for another thirty minutes, so I waited. Just before it opened, my cell phone rang. It was the travel agent, and since he had not been able to get a hold of either of the PIs, who were engaged in last minute packing and preparations, he was calling me with an emergency message.

The weather in Newark, Jew Jersey, where we would be leaving from for Norway, was looking bad for the afternoon departure. He wanted us to get on an earlier flight to make it into Newark earlier, because the flight from Hartford to Newark was likely to be cancelled because the plane was small and probably not going to be able to land in Newark. I got the packages mailed and rushed to the restaurant to deliver the message. It eventually got to the Pis and we kicked things into high gear to make the earlier flight. As it turned out, the extra space I made in my bags was not used, so that was a waste of time and thirty dollars for postage! Oh well, it is there if they need it!

We arrived at the airport in plenty of time for the earlier flight, but the weather in Newark deteriorated faster than was expected and we were stranded. We spent the day in Hartford, at the airport, talking and reading and checking the status of either of the flights we might have been able to take, to no avail. The travel agent began to try to develop an alternative plan. Finally, late in the evening, we were able to make it to Newark, but we had missed our flight to Norway. It was decided that we would fly to Paris and then to Norway and hopefully make our scheduled flight to Longyearbyen.

The flight to Paris was delayed because the pilot could not make it in on another flight on time, so it was not until around 11:00 PM we finally made it out of the US. That meant our connecting flight in Paris was going to be close, at best, and probably missed! Before landing, we all gathered in the vacant seats at the front of the plane, optimistically thinking our transfer would be smooth. Upon landing, we were met by an airport representative who we thought was there to expedite our passage and transfer. When she told the Norway group to all sit down while everyone else moved to the front to deplane, I figured she must have a special plan for us. She did! The plan turned out to be that we would miss the plane! Actually, we arrived before it took off, but due to the hassles of getting through customs, having representatives with conflicting goals directing us here, there, and back to here to be told to stand and wait over there, along with the fact that the terminals for arrival and departure were so far apart, we missed the flight. And so begins another day of waiting, after flying throughout the night.

This seems like a great group to be with and everyone is taking all in stride!