There and Back Again: A Lady's Tale

It started as a wish, then a dream and thanks to a healthy pregnancy, my husband’s blessing and an “OK” by my doctor, it became a reality: I got to go to Pittsburgh for Easter! With Daniel still in Colorado, I wasn’t sure what to do for the holiday until he suggested that I look into flying home. After anxiously waiting for my appointment with my doctor, (and trying desperately not to get my hopes up in case he said no) I asked Dr. M if I would be alright to fly. He asked some questions: have you had any contractions yet? Where are going? How long will you be there? My answers: No, Pittsburgh, 6 days. His final verdict: YES! But please, don’t go into labor while you’re that far away. I assured him that I would do my best to avoid having the baby in Pittsburgh and that mission has been accomplished.


Once I got the green light to go, I searched for flights and found one that got me there pretty directly with a more round-a-bout way back to Oklahoma. I booked it and then called my parents who were very happy to hear that I’d be home for the Easter. We decided to keep it a secret from the extended family and my little sister, Grace, who at 5 years old doesn’t keep secrets very well. Since gabbing to my cousins about my trip home and not sharing my exciting news through online networks (Facebook and here), I was bursting to tell someone- anyone who would listen- so I gushed about it to my college friends and to my new friends from Vance, who can relate to the excitement of a trip to see family.

As the time drew nearer to my departure, I got everything together- packed my bag, asked a friend to get our mail, and called Airport Express for a ride to the Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City, an hour and a half from Enid. I was due to be picked up at 7:00am and was enjoying my breakfast of a granny smith apple when I got a call: “Uhh, ma’am? This is Airport Express. They won’t let me on to the base.” Well, chalk another one up to learning through experience- as a newbie military wife, I assumed that security forces would just call and confirm that I had called the cab and then let them on base- that obviously was not the case. I would have called a friend for a ride to the visitor’s center which is right outside the gate but since it was “O-dark-thirty” (military speak for the early hours when pilots must wake before reveille and report to the flight line), I decided to just walk (or rather, waddle) the half mile to past the gate to meet my cab driver. Thankfully, the weather was warm, the breezes mild and the outbound lane mostly clear. After that unexpected morning walk, the trip to Pittsburgh was smooth and I was greeted by my mom and Gracie, who was speechless when she saw me walk up to the car.

It was so good to see my family!

The visit to Pittsburgh was wonderful and I’ll post more specifics about what happened there, but the purpose of this entry to detail my travels… so you know how I got there and now here’s how I got back to good ol’ Enid, Oklahoma…

With a later departure time and a much shorter drive to the airport (15 max), I didn’t have to wake up with the sun and enjoyed an quiet morning with Mom and Gracie as I packed and ate some breakfast. After a trip to the bank to make some deposits, we headed to Wojanis Supply Company, where I worked from 2007 until I moved to Oklahoma last November. It was wonderful to see all my former coworkers and show how much the baby has grown since I left- which has been a lot considering I could still fit into my regular dress pants back then!

After “good byes” and “see you soons,” I headed to check in and then off to my gate. Everything seemed to be fine until I handed my boarding pass to the woman scanning them. It kept saying “Incorrect Seat Assignment.” I start to have a mini-panic attack since I had to make 2 connections before landing in OKC and needed to arrive on time in La Guardia to do so. It turned out that they had a last minute plane switch and rerouted me without letting me know beforehand. They told me they got me a seat on a direct flight to Dallas/Forth Worth which left 30 minutes later and that I could make my connection there to OKC. Since there wasn’t much I could do, I just went along with it and gladly accepted a ride to terminal D on one of those little carts usually reserved for elderly and handicapped people- apparently a big belly and swollen ankles qualify me as “handicapped,” but I’m not complaining!

Once at my new gate, I checked in with the man there- he asked, “Flying to Detroit?” “Uh, no, I’m trying to get to Dallas.” (Cue small panic attack.) Apparently, US Airways considers a “Through Flight” from Pittsburgh to Detroit to Dallas a direct one, but as long as I got to OKC eventually, I wasn’t going to fuss. I enjoyed the 37 minute flight with a row all to myself and then deplaned in Detroit only to board the same aircraft 40 minutes later. I wanted to make sure that I had a seat since it looked like it was going to be a full flight and the lady at the counter checked and told me I had the same aisle seat and that I was fine. When I tried to board this time, there was trouble again but it was quickly taken care of since it was just a small hiccup in the computer. The flight went well and I sat next to a nice woman who is hosting an exchange student from Finland. They’re visiting a friend in Dallas for spring break and had travel troubles of their own. Today just isn’t the day for plans to go accordingly!

After a dinner at Friday's and a purchase at Hudson Booksellers, I boarded my final flight of the day. It was just a hop to OKC and I was back on the ground and headed to find a cab. I had a wonderful driver and we had a pretty smooth ride to Vance despite the free light show God was putting on for us- I've never seen lightning like that before! It's so flat out here, it was quite a sight. Thankfully, no rain or tornadoes came our way and I made it back to our house safe and sound. I am so happy that I got to visit everyone in Pittsburgh, but I'm also glad to be back in Enid and that Daniel is almost back here with me!