I was scheduled to fly down to Florida on Saturday June, 11 at 2:25 pm out of Dayton, Ohio. Earlier in the morning, my cousin Tyler Cornelius was having his graduation party just up the road from my house. My extended family was going to be there and I do not remember the last time I saw them. I went to the graduation party with the impression that my flight was leaving at 2:45, for reasons which I have no idea. My dad, brother Cooper, and I left the graduation party after being there for about an hour and socializing with everybody at 12:45. Sorry dad, but I am going to throw you under the bus a little bit here...my dad was driving as if he had a lead foot on our way up to Dayton. Of course, the drive would not go smoothly because why would it? We hit bumper to bumper traffic ten minutes away from the airport. The traffic was at a standstill, but my dad somehow managed to work his way around the traffic. I arrived to the airport at 1:50 pm! Keep in mind that my flight was to begin boarding at 2 and depart at 2:25. Now this is when it gets crazy...I walked to the United Airlines desk to check my bag, but just as I was walking in I noticed there was a VERY long line. I immediately became stressed to the max! Luckily, there was an extremely nice family in front of me that helped me and let me cut them in line. I sort of cut about 6 or 7 families, sorry, but o well...once I made my way up to the desk it was already 2:00. The person that was working tried helping me, but I could tell she was stressed out as well. She threw my information on some other guy who tried checking my bag, but it was too late to check the bag! Therefore, I was left with a large bag that I could not take through security. After much debate and a heated debate at that, the family that let me cut them said I could leave my bag with them and they would take care of it...that's all I needed to hear!
Off I went running! I only had 5 minutes to get to my gate before my flight left and I could NOT miss this flight! That is the last thing I wanted...needless to say, I was freaking out. If you can picture it in your head, think of me kind of waddling/sprinting as fast as I can with a backpack slinging all over the place and another carry on bag on my shoulder while I desperately try to keep it from falling off. It probably was not a pretty picture! I think I ran faster through that airport than I have ever ran in my life, or so it seemed. I made it to the gate literally just as they were closing the door. They opened the door back up thankfully, but the attendant said I could not get on because I left my bag at the check-in desk! On the spot, I made up the excuse that I did not need it and my dad was coming back to get it! Sorry dad...Finally, they let me on the flight! I had made it and a huge relief came across my body. As I was walking down the aisle, I was getting all kinds of weird looks from the other passengers, probably because I was dripping sweat and trying to catch my breath! I was sitting in the far back of the plane and luckily met another guy that had been signed that was traveling with me. I can only imagine his first impression of me...but all that mattered was that I was on that plane!
My first flight was from Dayton to DC. The flight was not bad at all after I stopped sweating, but it was probably miserable for the person sitting next to me! I could tell they were uncomfortable. They were crowded on the complete other side of the seat, TRYING desperately to stay away from me. I felt bad for them...they could probably smell my stench and they absolutely did not want to graze an arm or leg of mine because I had sweat dripping down them for the first half of the flight...
Once I arrived in DC, I formally introduced myself to my traveling partner that was going down to Tampa as well. His name is Chris Peters and he went to the University of Cincinnati. We both chit chatted a little bit as we walked to the next gate and found a seat. We had more in common that you could imagine. We knew the same people and been to the same places. What a small world! Once we got the gate, we were informed that the gate had been changed...it was on the clear other side of the airport (of course)! We went and found the new gate and also were told our flight was going to be delayed, not just a half hour or so, but 2 and a half hours! We were scheduled to land in Tampa around 7:30, but with this delay we were not going to LEAVE DC until 7:30! Chris and I were both starving so we went to a restaurant nearby. We got something to eat and watched some college baseball while getting to know each other a little more.
I also had some unfinished business to take care of...remember that bag I left with my "Dad"? Well my dad pulled off the greatest move of all time and came all the way back to Dayton and pitched a fit (Im not sure exactly what he said or did). He had Delta fly my bag to Tampa while I was flying through United. All I had to do was find the flight number and the baggage claim that it was coming into. After my flight in DC had been delayed, I called my dad and asked what I was to do...he said call Delta. I called Delta's service desk in Tampa and after talking with a person that spoke little to no english AT ALL, I figured I would just go to the service desk once I got to Tampa and figure everything out. Basically, I was winging it...
Chris and I boarded the DC flight with no problems, but we sat on the runway for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality it was 45 minutes. The flight was only 2 hours, but it too seemed like it was the longest flight I have ever been on! I could not sleep one bit and I had finished my book while sitting on the runway. We finally arrived in Tampa around 9:30! Talk about a hectic day...and it wasn't even over!
When we got to Tampa, we split up because I had to go looking for my bag and he had to retrieve his. We exchanged numbers because we had to meet up again after we found our bags to take the shuttle. I went to the Delta service desk and explained my situation to the lady. She looked through the computer and found nothing and her partner even looked through the computer and found nothing! I started to stress AGAIN! After about fifteen minutes of looking through the computer system, the lady came up with a brilliant idea! She checked to see what flights baggage claim was running at the time...of course my bag was out there. I thanked the two women and walked out the door to look for my bag. Just as I was walking out, I saw my bag coming around the corner! I grabbed it and went to meet up with Chris.
Once I met up with Chris, we went to the Super Shuttle that was supposed to take us to the hotel. We boarded the Super Shuttle and it just so happened that there was another guy going to the same place. We introduced ourselves and he introduced himself. His name is Jesse (his last name, I am still confused on) and he went to Johns Hopkins. It was about a half hour drive from Tampa to Clearwater. Throughout the flight, there was a strange woman sitting behind Jesse and I in the shuttle that was being dropped off somewhere as well (Chris had shotgun). The entire time she was giving us tips on how to go deep sea diving. We were probably not the friendliest people because we were tired and had just been through a terrible travel day. We finally arrived at the hotel at about midnight and got all checked in. As we checked in we were told that the vans were leaving for the facility at 6:45 the next morning! We were also given a kit where we would have to take a urine test...I went to my room unpacked everything and decided to worry about the urine test in the morning...I was going to bed! I was under the assumption that there would be 2 guys per room, but when I got to the room, there was nobody there...
I was just happy that I was there safe and the day was over. I was exhausted, but had some trouble falling asleep because I was so excited! I could not wait to see what tomorrow would consist of...
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