About ten days ago I managed to get from upstate New York to Portland, Oregon, down to LA, over to Beijing, China, and then home again with a very tight schedule and no problems whatsoever.
Almost nothing about travel has gone right since.
Last Thursday night I flew to Detroit and rented a car to travel on to where I would have a meeting in central Michigan on Friday. I had heard there might be thunderstorms, so I was glad when the flight left and arrived on time, and I even squeezed in a little nap. My drive took about and hour and a half and I could see lightning dancing around in the clouds in the far distance, like colorful spiders appearing for a few of seconds and then vanishing, only to appear in another cloud a minute or two later.
I arrived at the hotel at 8:15 PM and set to finalizing my presentation for the next day. I also turned on the Cleveland vs. Boston baseball game. Sometime between 10 and 10:30, the TV switched to weather tracking several tornado cells and the sirens went off in the city. Except for some wind and heavy rain, it never got too bad where I was, thought the news reported that a town to the east had suffered some severe damage, though it was not confirming that an actual tornado had touched down.
On Friday morning the weather of the previous night got quite a discussion at my meeting and I was assured that everything would be clear for my trip back to Detroit, which is east of where I was. In particular, I asked about a tractor trailer that I had heard had flipped in the storm and I was told it was all cleaned up.
My flight was at 5:30 PM and I left around 2:15. That is, I was allowing over 3 hours for my drive and getting settled at the airport. No problem. Roughly five miles out of town, all traffic on the interstate stopped. Then it started up, and then it stopped. Repeat several times until you have spent about 90 minutes going about 3 miles. It only started moving at anything close to normal speed once we passed where the storm had clearly jumped the road the previous night. Some trees were down and branches cut, but well off the highway. There was no sign of an accident. I don’t know if there was something that had just been cleared or just rubbernecking at the downed trees, but that was it.
This delay made it effectively impossible for me to get my flight unless it was delayed. After speaking with my assistance Ronnie multiple times, we figured out that indeed that flight was on time and so a lost cause and there was no other flight that night to get me back home. So I aimed my trusty little Mazda 6 rental car toward Toledo and started driving home. At 11:45 PM I got there. I returned the rental car on Saturday.
This morning I set off for Toronto after I dropped the kids at school around 8 AM. I needed to be at a workshop that started at 1 and the trip normally takes 3 hours, so I had 2 to spare. It was a beautiful day: very warm and sunny for late October here. Crossing the US-Canadian border was painless but while on the QEW expressway in St. Catherine’s I saw a small sign that said “QEW closed after Fruitland.” I knew from previous trips that Fruitland is a road near Burlington, right before a big high bridge that crosses over part of Lake Ontario that forms a bay. There were no other signs but, sure enough, traffic started slowing before that area.
I jumped off an exit, got on a service road, made good progress, and then just stopped. For five minutes. For ten minutes. Finally I was able to turn onto a southbound road and get onto another one going toward the west. Soon there was more congestion, so I zigged and zagged and stopped and started. I finally got down to Hamilton and went right through the center of the city, picked up highway 403 on the other side, and took it to the 407 and on to Toronto.
I arrived at the hotel and conference center a few minutes before 1 PM but I couldn’t find a parking space. I finally did, perhaps a quarter of a mile from the hotel. I made it to the workshop just as it was supposed to start.
Tonight I’m staying at that hotel. I’m typing this in a dark room by the glow of the laptop screen. The hotel lost all power about 45 minutes ago.
(Power is back.)
Holy cow, now THAT’s a day! When I did that I was 200-lbs. of jello by the end of the day. However, I’ve found a delightfully challenging way to burn endless time during layovers, in waiting rooms, and waiting for conferences to start: chess. I carry a small magnetic chess set with me along with a masters book and replay their games over the last two centuries. Completely self-absorbing, the time burns off the clock and I never get drowsy. You can also buy the electronic chess software (much like a Palm device for as little as $70).
Oh, and they do sell glow-in-the-dark chessboards and pieces for those hotels you like to stay in!
Ah. Michigan Thunderstorms.
A year or two back I flew into Detriot with my wife to visit a friend, not only were we an hour late landing because of a storm, but when we got to our friends place, the storm had taken out all the power.
Thank goodness candles are an open standard :-)
Hey Bob – like we say up here north of the border, “come to Toronto for, er, well, what ever you can’t get in Chicago, stay because you have to… there’s no way to get out.” Thanks for making the effort and remember, next time, bring your diesel generator… Ciao et merci mille fois. Chris p.