Louisville Travels

Joe is swamped with work, so he has delegated me to write a post about the comedy of errors that was our recent trip to and from Louisville.


We had gone back and forth with my parents on whether to drive or fly to Louisville, eventually settling on flying all together on Monday evening using my dad's frequent flier miles. Reservations were made and a plan was set.


And then we tried to actually put said plan into motion.


The wheels came off the wagon as soon as we left the house. And proceeded to roll further and further away until we arrived in Louisville . . .by car . . . at noon the next day.


We almost didn't make it to the airport because a sudden storm dropped sheets of rain so fast that the road completely disappeared from sight. Then we had an incompetent person checking us in who didn't know how to deal with a lap child. Then our flight to Atlanta was delayed . . . and delayed . . . and delayed. And then we discovered (and I use that word intentionally, because the staff kept insisting there was no problem) that our flight from Atlanta to Louisville was cancelled and they wouldn't be able to get us there for a couple days. So we strong-armed the airline into retrieving our luggage (including Nicholas' carseat, thank goodness my dad flies a lot and so has earned special status), piled into the car, and started driving. We drove 4 hours, stopped at 1am to sleep for a few hours, and then got back in the car, making it to Louisville with just enough time to get changed.


Nicholas did quite well during the hours of waiting in the airport (chasing Grandma Kathleen around columns was apparently hilarious) and on the drive out (the benefit to driving late at night is that he slept). The drive back was more difficult because we drove literally all day (9am-9pm). And just to complete the trend of the trip, the place we stopped for dinner had no pasta in the restaurant (Nicholas' go-to food) and were out of turkey for Joe's turkey sandwich.


The one saving grace of the drive was that Nicholas is currently obsessed with trucks and there are plenty of those on interstates. He would see a semi in front of us reflected in his mirror, get excited, and then look out the side window for it as we passed it. (By the way, I'm totally impressed that he has figured out how the mirror works enough to know where to anticipate the truck moving.) And of course he yelled "guk guk guk" the whole time with great excitement.

In actuality the drives weren't bad. The only real construction we hit was at midnight when traffic was really light. With the exception of the initial drive to the airport the weather cooperated pretty well. There were no accidents or other long delays. We split the drive among 3 drivers. The list goes on. It was one of those trips where every piece of the plan fell apart and yet it all worked out just fine.

Let's hope this next trip goes at least as well. (Because, yes, there is another trip. Believe me, if I wasn't presenting at this conference we would seriously consider cancelling. We are so sick of driving, hotels, suitcases, etc.) The drive isn't quite as long, but Nicholas won't have his grandma to entertain him in the backseat. And the route has fewer interstates, so probably fewer opportunities to watch "guks."