What, you say, we thought you all moved from S.FL. to MileHigh, CO - and by
plane; what were you doing in Benton, TX?
I had gone to lotsa trouble to ship the 2 girls, Sylvie (RB now) and Maluce,
a week earlier, by pet cargo air freight; my relatives
were waiting at DIA and whisked them off to a pleasant cat boarding vet's,
as rampant cat/dog allergies abound at relatives'
house. That accomplished, Rowdy and I boarded (he in a soft-sided carrier) a
6:30 connecting flight - there were no directs
@ that particular necessary hour - bound for Dallas/Ft.Worth, where we would
then continue, in less than an hour, on our last
plane to DIA. All went well till we got 60 miles from DFW and our plane
began a 2-hour long circling over some area where
there were no ground lights to see at all (good & dark by then) and I began
to worry. No 411 from pilot or attendants, but
going by attendants behavior, they looked pretty calm and were not rushing
about, so nothing to do but sit there & wait. I knew
by the time pilot said ground *weather* was the big deal and we didn't have
permission to land (he didn't inform us all that a
tornado had torn up the FW airport and was making its way through Dallas
then) that our connecting flight to DIA was long gone.;;
Rowdy & I were in a 3-seat row; I had put his carrier in middle seat facing
me in window seat. Aisle seatmate was a youngish
male whose worry obviously caused him to drink 4 Heinekins in half an hour;
he - unlike me - did not have his seatbelt on.
Plane gave a downward lurch and this dude flew up and went almost to
ceiling; when he descended, he landed right on Rowdy
in his carrier - Rowdy gave a terrified scream and the other passengers
around us began berating the young man: they thought
Rowdy was a *baby*! I explained otherwise and after profuse apologies,
seatmate finally managed to put on his seatbelt.
After landing, finally, we watched, from our plane, as empty planes near us
blew sideways all over the tarmac. Pilot finally informs
us that tower realizes we are *threatened* out there (he had originally said
they couldn't send any dudes that wave the big
flashlights out to guide us to debarking slot on concourse) so when
flashlight guy came out, *he* was immediately blown off his
feet right into the side of one of those empty loose planes.....I thought,
"Well, he's dead", but he scrambled up and proceeded to
wave us into our spot. We were the last plane allowed to land that night and
*no one* took off from DFW that night (June 1st).
We had to be bused (Rowdy still upset and bellowing periodically) way out to
some town called Benton just outside the airport
for the night. In the meantime, (sidebar here) my checked luggage took off
at dawn 6/2 for DIA and was waiting at a baggage
office for us when we finally got to DIA.....had no change of clothes, no
toiletries, no food for Rowdy. In the Holiday Inn lobby,
my fellow passengers from flight were *ballistic* angry and giving hotel
front desk personnel a *real* hard time. I made a big
effort, remained pleasant to them, and not only did they "forget" to charge
me some mandatory pet damage insurance charge,
but Rowdy and & spent that night in a 2-room suite with 2 king beds and a
jacuzzi tub! Early am of 6/2, I ordered giant room
service breakfast; Rowdy had a bowl of water in b.r.and nibbled on scrambled
eggs/bacon while I drowned my frustration
in coffee. At 10;30 our bus dumped us back @ DFW, where we boarded a tiny,
toy-looking jet (I was too worn out to get
alarmed over plane's appearance) that we had to climb a ladder, like you see
important people doing on tv, (only they're getting
off, not on) to get into it. I was relieved, however to see no sign of
Heinekin Boy on that plane. Rowdy had calmed and these
attendants, not being so occupied, admired and petted his head sticking out
of his carrier. Tiny plane was pretty fast to DIA
and relatives, relieved, had my baggage already claimed and we headed for
their home, where Rowdy was reunited the next
day - after I collected the girls from their boarding vet - with his cat
family members. They all lived happily on relatives'
screened back porch, where their dander/fur didn't affect the allergic
hoomins, who don't go back there except to take out
the garbage, till we got our own place, where we are now. You have to admit
Rowdy and I, unlike the girls, who rode in
a/c comfort in "pet hold" of their cargo plane uneventfully, had a wierd
cross-country-moving adventure.