August, part 2

So after the photography workshop in the first 3 days of the first week in August, the next few days were spent in limbo trying to get to Florida for this super-secret wedding I was going to photograph. ;)

I was set to fly out of Milwaukee around lunch time. I was all ready to go.

I even had a delicious salad. Mm. And then I settled in to a short wait to board the plane from MKE to ATL, and then from ATL to Pensacola (PNS). I was supposed to arrive in Pensacola, Florida, later in the evening. Supposed to.

We boarded, taxied out.. after a slight delay due to MKE having only one operational runway. (I know, I was like whaaat? too. Darn construction.)

And then. At when I can only image was about 10 seconds from taking off, we headed back to the gate. Oh no! My connecting flight through Atlanta ended up being severely delayed due to their thunderstorms. Apparently all incoming flights to ATL were delayed. Yikes.

Then it was a flurry of frantic phone calls, scrambling, going out of security to get a last-minute ticket from Milwaukee to Pensacola while somehow avoiding Atlanta, going back through security, and up to a different gate with a different airline. This time I would be connecting through Dallas.

Phew. All set, right?



Wrong.

Another delay from MKE. Of course, they still hadn't figured out their timing with the whole one runway thing. We finally boarded the plane, phew. Right? Wrong.

Another delay! There had been a mishap with a plane on the airport's one and only operational runway, and it took the better part of 45 minutes to get the wreckage cleaned up.

By this time, I'd been sitting around MKE for the better part of a day, now on the plane and still feeling somewhat hopeful I would make it to PNS yet that night.

My seatmates were incredibly optimistic about the whole situation. The best part of a last minute ticket is sitting in the middle in the back. Oh, wait. Those were outright lies. In fact, the gentleman next to the window was so jittery and anxious I wanted to bonk him over the head just to put him (and me!) out of his misery.

Finally, we were off.

Once we finally pulled up to the gate in DFW, they let those of us with connecting flights leave first, told us where to go, what gates, etc.

I sprinted up to the tram to go to the other side of the airport to get to my connecting flight. Obviously, it couldn't be right next door.

And in my best Olympic form, I sprinted the 100m dash to the gate....

*pause for dramatic effect*

Frantically, I looked around to see... nobody. Absolutely no one was there. I saw the plane still outside and the door was shut.

And promptly burst into tears.

I finally found someone from the airline (I mean, hello, it was like a ghost town by the gate!) who hooked me up with a discounted motel, the shuttle to and from the airport, etc, etc.

It took me awhile to get settled down, so when I set my alarm the next morning for...

... I realized it was going to be my shortest night going into my longest day. See, this was already Friday morning, so I would photograph the wedding once I finally got down to PNS, turn around and fly home through ATL to MKE, then drive the 1.5 hours back home, which would put me back home after midnight.

Don't ask me how I remembered to screen shot my alarm. I myself don't know.

So, bring on the coffee!! Good morning, Ms. Venti.

And when you're traveling and stuck in the airport, it's perfectly fine to eat chocolate for dessert at breakfast. It wasn't until later that I realized I grabbed the regular instead of the mint. It disappointed me.. even though I had enjoyed it immensely. Hah!

Well, I finally made it to Florida...and hit the ground running. Or maybe I should say photographing! I photographed the beautiful, surprise ceremony that was pushed back especially for me.

Many thanks to the help of my second camera-woman! It was nice to have another angle!

During my 7 hours in Florida, we made use of the time! This was a late lunch at the Portofino grill with everyone there. :)

Yes, this is bacon topped sweet potato fries. They were amazing.

Another bun-less burger. I seem to never tire of them, especially when there's bacon present!

Then the time came for us to head back to the airport. When I say us, I mean my namesake who flew home with me. See, she flew down to PNS via MKE and ATL earlier the same day I was supposed to and then we were flying home together. The only difference is, she actually made it with no hiccups. ;)

Here I am sporting her sunglasses. And a failed attempt at... something.

Note to self: using coconut oil for lotion works great.. until you're out in the Florida sun for a few hours and your skin is literally fried. Oops.

Nothing like a little Pinterest browsing at the airport to pass the time.. especially when it hits home!

Yup, changed the wording there to make this G-rated for the blog. ;)

We made it to ATL just fine, then I was nearly late getting to the gate after searching out some coffee.

And then from ATL to MKE, we talked, laughed and no-doubt annoyed the poor guy in the seat next to us. It's always fun trading stories with a nice-looking stranger. ;)

Anyway, I was able to follow her most of the way home, which kept me awake.

I made it home just fine, quickly kissed my hubby hello, backed up my memory cards, charged my camera batteries and finally went to bed... only to wake up a few hours later for another wedding to photograph.

It also was a beautiful wedding which went very well. Despite the week leading up to it. ;)

I was pretty excited to snuggle Turbs after being gone all week. Eye bags? Those aren't eye bags.

But I was even more excited to see him.

See that mega-watt smile Sunday noon? I'm counting down the minutes until my nap at that point. ;)


Then, more exciting news! My car was finally done at the shop after 2 months and 1 day spent in the shop after my accident. Remember that? Ugh. Me too.

Anyway, it was finally done!

And I was quite happy about that!

So, I survived the first week of August. Phew. The workshop, the flying, the weddings...

The next weekend we had planned a trip out to my parents, which I seriously considered cancelling because of all the work I had backlogged at that point. But seeing as though I hadn't been home in over a year, my heart was longing for Iowa. Stay tuned...