Author’s note: Two heads are better than one. When writing this, we show alternating points of view. As you read, you’ll see both Laura and Keith’s recollections.
Regret?
Laura: “Are you regretting your decision yet?” is the text my 14-year-old son sent me. The question reverberated in my head for a good part of the 29-hour drive to my company’s Albuquerque, New Mexico, office. What started out as a typical work trip on a Friday afternoon turned into a detour-filled journey sprinkled with soulful discoveries.
Spring Break
Laura: The day started out quite normal as we put our son Riley on a plane to Waukesha, Wisconsin, to visit his older brother Brandon and his fiancée Abby, for spring break. Riley’s plane was set to leave on time, and we were thrilled that he could spend time with both his older brother and sister. A bonus included Riley’s older sister, Naomi, who flew in from Nashville to complete the trip.
Laura: As he made it to security at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, we gave him the obligatory advice: Be careful, check the monitors for flight or gate changes, and wear a mask. I wasn’t too worried as Riley has always been a mature and responsible teenager despite the bad rap most teenage boys get. His first flight was at three months old to England. Since then, he’s been to Europe several times to visit my husband’s family in England and France. My anxiety about his solo flight was put to rest when I saw Riley successfully get through TSA Pre Check and the security line.
Laura: What I haven’t mentioned is that Keith and I were also flying out in about three hours. While I did my public relations job at Torc’s testing facility in “The Land of Enchantment,” my husband would work remotely.
Cancelled
Laura: My watch buzzed with a notification. It was hard to read the entire notification on my watch, so I fished my iPhone out of my purse. The next few seconds made our heads spin: “Your Delta flight has been cancelled.” The warm feeling a few seconds ago turned into a cold, draining panic. Delta airlines rescheduled our trip on separate flights and added an extra city to fly through. We’d now have to fly from Raleigh to Boston, to Denver, and then finally Albuquerque. What was originally a short, six-hour total flying time together was now a 12-hour marathon, flying separately and on different airlines. Not only was our flight cancelled and rescheduled, but we also had to fly on both Delta and United. Was this a result of staff shortages, higher gas prices, or spring break timing? Most likely a perfect storm and more.
Following My Gut
Laura: My head started to throb. I was angrier now than I was panicked. I gritted my teeth and said to Keith, “We need to straighten this out with Delta and get to Albuquerque. I need to get there before Sunday night.” My confidence in Delta was not the highest. In my gut, which I follow very closely, I knew we would have to take matters into our own hands. We got in line at the Delta counter, which was about 25 people deep. I also called the airline at the same time and was told it would be a two-hour wait before someone could help us. Sinking deeper into feelings of helplessness I quickly calculated our options. I turned to Keith and said, “What do you think about driving to Albuquerque?”
Innate Sense of Adventure
Keith: I was still processing the events and implications after Laura’s question left her lips. What was going to happen to the return journeys that we had planned? Riley would return to Raleigh on Wednesday, and I was supposed to pick him up. I reeled at this new option with feelings of immediate dread. Not at the journey, but at the fall out for all the other planning we had done. I had no answers. I struggled to overcome my innate sense of adventure, in the face of throwing Riley into an unknown situation. He would have to find his way home from the airport. As a digital native, he was a master at using Uber Eats and DoorDash. Perhaps he could Uber home?
Keith: As I worked through the possibilities, I knew that we had some immediate “working out” to do. Could our little Mazda CX-5 take the pounding of however many miles it was to Albuquerque and back? We had our suitcases packed and with us – albeit mine was for a short trip with my Tuesday evening flight home in mind. I knew that I could easily work the clothing situation, recycling certain pieces. Could we find a rental car instead?
Anything was Possible Together
Keith: Laura was still on the phone with Delta, along with seemingly thousands of other stranded passengers, trying to get answers to basic questions. I quickly looked up local car rental agencies on my phone, hopeful that I could find something. It was slim pickings between no cars available and cars for pick up the following day. Neither option was going to work – if we were going to do this, we had to start driving now. Everything around me was in slow motion, but the flow of thoughts was the opposite. Where would we stop? How long would it normally take to get to Albuquerque? So many unanswered questions, but I was sure about one thing…with Laura and I together, we knew that anything was possible.”
Don't forget to read Part 2 for the next installment of the adventure.
The culmination of the story can be found in Part 3.
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