Back to Pittsburgh (Saturday 4/1)

Worst travel day ever. The start and finish of this trip have been doozies, travel-wise. We left Lisbon early this morning, got to the airport, checked our bags, and got to Newark with no problem. Once in Newark, things disintegrated quickly. Our flight to Pittsburgh was delayed and delayed again; other flights were being cancelled; then Andrew discovered that OUR flight was cancelled by looking at his app, even before it was announced. Thus began a dash to other gates with Pittsburgh-bound flights, trying to get onto them, while Andrew tried to get through to United agents on the phone.

We managed to get Mom and Dad on a flight that was about to close, but there was no room for us. We tried to get on standby for another flight, only to be met with a provision that we couldn't get on standby since we'd checked our bags, which led to me shrilly begging for empathy and common sense since there were, the gate agent told us, four empty seats on the flight. But then, once he'd finally called a supervisor and agreed to put us on standby, the plane began de-planing its passengers because the airport was closing temporarily due to bad weather. 

Uncertain if we'd get on that flight, or, if we did, if the flight would ever actually take off, we surrendered. We rented a car and drove back to Pittsburgh, arriving home at nearly 3:00 a.m. Lucia threw up in the car. I was so tired I hallucinated and could no longer drive. Andrew got us home. It was the worst trip ever.

The pet sitter had left in the late afternoon, when we still expected to arrive home around 7pm, but luckily Beth and Nate were able to come over in the evening and feed the pets. 

We were so happy to get home. If we hadn't driven, we wouldn't have left Newark till 5:00pm Sunday, the only flight we could get booked on. An entire additional day in the airport--just no. It was a miserable drive, but maybe just a little less miserable than a miserable day of flight chaos. 

I choose to focus instead on the fabulous vacation we had. It was a wonderful week. I'm so glad we chose Portugal and I'm so glad Mom and Dad agreed to come with us! The details and photos in these blog posts are just a glimpse into this unforgettable spring break.