With airports being so busy and all, I know delayed flights happen all the time, for all sorts of crazy reasons. The special northern thing that happens where I now live is that the nearest airport is about 3 hours away. It’s really special. Here’s why.

North Carolina daughter is flying up for the family reunion. Her flight was through Atlanta and scheduled to arrive in Minneapolis at midnight. There are no Uber drivers, no buses, no shuttles to Hayward, just good old Mom, in this case, to fetch tired, travel worn Julia to her final destination.

I left a little early for the city, intending to do some shopping on the way (there are also no big box stores in Hayward and they are my favorite shopping venues). Two hours into my trip I get a frantic text, “the flight is delayed and I don’t think I’ll make the connection in Atlanta.” Another text half an hour later, as I pull into Sam’s Club, “They can’t get me another flight to Minneapolis until 7pm TOMORROW!”

This creates a problem for the poor girl who has been dropped off at an airport an hour from her home without a ride back. This creates a problem for me, having come this far and possibly having to do it again a second time.

I decided to do the shopping to avoid the trip being a total waste. I asked her to get in line again, find a sympathetic scheduler, and plead for another flight. Surely there must be a jet in Atlanta flying north earlier than tomorrow night.

A few minutes later, another text, excited, “they just found a cancellation on a flight. I can get there at 2 am. Is that ok?”

“Yes, it is ok, even though it will make my little airport run a thirteen hour trip. It’s still better than going through the same thing again tomorrow.”

Another text. It’s a pic of her new boarding pass. She’s flying through Denver, the connections are marked as being delayed. No chance of anything going wrong there, right?

So that’s why I’m sitting in the car, in a parking lot, blogging and reading a book till 2 am. Hopefully I will get the girl and we will make the 3 hour drive home safely. This is what happens up north, just sayin’…