Dallas to Dulles

Flight #1962... good sign/my birth year.

Flight was delayed 15 minutes by the time we got to the airport. We boarded at the time it was supposed to leave. And sat and sat and sat.

The pilot came on the speaker and said the runway was closed due to lighting alarms and weather delay in DC. 30 minutes later he comes back on and says the runway has been cleared. Five minutes after that he comes back on to let us know another bolt of lighting flashed so the runway is closed again. We ended up leaving at 6:45 for a 5:25 flight. But the flight number was a good number. :)

Even Randy said the flight was bumpy, so you can imagine how I felt. I took Dramamine before the flight and was still nauseous. At one point the plane visibly rocked side to side. I had visions of every plane crash movie I've ever seen and looked for the floating device. Then I remembered we were over land. So much for that.

There was an Indian family sitting across the row from us. Mom, Dad, two kids, Grandma, and Grandpa. I enjoyed listening to them talk. If Sarah had been there, she could have had a conversation with them. Grandma was wearing beautiful Indian clothes.

Our landing at Dulles was "smooth" according to Randy. I just wanted my world to stop moving.

Dulles Airport - now that's an experience in itself. A mile and six escalators later, we got to the tram to take us to more escalators and baggage claim. They had flags of all 50 states flying inside the airport. A nice distraction to walking forever and the maze of escalators.

So we get to the train amidst a mechanical lady's voice cautioning to "Stand clear. Incoming train." With a grand total of 10 seconds to get onto the train, Randy made it. I didn't. :/ For those of you who know me well, the significance of this minor detail is monumental. A rough flight, lots of walking with sore feet, in an unfamiliar location that was quite intimidating, and getting separated from Randy, my rock. My heart is racing just thinking about it.

OK, Julia. Get a grip. An eternally long 60 seconds later, another train roars in. I made this one. Thank goodness for "handicapped/mobility impaired priority seating." The train went from 0 to 30 mph in 10 seconds - literally. Awfully fast for a 60-second ride to the next stop.

Randy found me when I got off the train. The deer-in-the-headlights look on my face was probably the biggest clue he had found the right person. Haha!

Then, guess what - more escalators to get to baggage claim! Woo hoo! Coming off the escalator the first thing I saw was..........

Wait for it..........

Waiting...........

TEXAS ORANGE! A man waiting for someone was wearing a Texas orange t-shirt! This is gonna be a good trip after all.

Oh, and did I mention - we got got lost on the way to the hotel and arrived at the hotel at 12:45am!