Bar Harbor -- The final day...

Here are a few more pics from the hotel balcony...looking out over the pool and Frenchman's Bay


Another building on hotel property where they have meetings and weddings and such...I just thought it was pretty.


When we got back in the car to drive to the airport, Josh realized that we were still at almost 1/2 tank of gas. Since he had prepaid for a tank upon return of the car, he was determined to use every last drop of gas in the tank before we turned the car in. So, we drove back to Cadillac Mountain one last time...


There was construction going on at the top of the mountain (actually I think they were just repaving), and this was the scene. Yep, state DOT workers don't just stand around in TN, they stand around in Maine too. :)


Self portrait...not sure why we look so tired in this picture


Josh's "Rocky" impersonation after he made it to the summit of the mountain.


The town of Bar Harbor from Cadillac Mountain...the island just off the coast is the same one you can walk to on the sand bar...just fyi. There's really nothing there except for walking trails (and a good view of "Millionaire's Row" which are the GIGANTIC houses on the ocean).


Pretty pink granite


So, we successfully used just about every last drop of fuel, and made it to the airport well ahead of schedule. In case you're wondering, there is less to do in the Bangor airport than there is in the Knoxville airport. There were 2 stores and 1 cafe. Fortunately they had free wifi so we could entertain ourselves with the internet.

Our plane left about 20 minutes late for Detroit, and I was stressed out because we only had a 40 minute lay over in Detroit to begin with. Fortunately we made up a little time in the air, but we still RAN to the terminal our flight for Knoxville was leaving from.

When we got to the terminal, there was no plane. Crap! My first thought was that we missed it. Then when I realized there were a lot of people still sitting there, I was thinking that maybe we didn't. Sure enough, our plane hadn't even boarded yet. Hooray! We're going home!

And about 10 minutes later they announced that our flight had been delayed, but they didn't say when it would be leaving. I really didn't feel like that was a good sign, so we started trying to find other flights out of Detroit that would get us home. Keep in mind that it's already 7:30 pm by this time, so there aren't many more flights leaving today. The best thing we can find is for the next morning anyway, so we just don't worry about it...until we see the crew leaving the airport about 30 minutes later.

That's when I figured out that they were going to cancel the flight. But, instead of telling us then so we could go to the hotel and sleep, they waited...and waited...and waited...until 11:00, then they came back over the loud speaker and told us our flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems.

Now, I don't want to fly on a plane with mechanical problems, but it would have been really stinkin' awesome if Northwest had told me I was staying the night in Detroit 3 hours ago instead of dragging their feet. But they didn't, so whatever. We at least got vouchers for dinner (thanks...ate that 3 hours ago), and breakfast the next morning. And of course, a free hotel stay (which was really a 3 hour hotel stay because we had to be back at the airport at 4:30 the next morning...and we didn't get to the hotel until midnight!)

The best part is that they held our luggage for ransom. Seriously, they would not, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, allow us to get our luggage to take with us to the hotel. I was a bit confused by that one, but in the interest of national security, I'll let it slide (for now).

So, those clothes that I had on in the photos yesterday? Yes, I still have them on in the photos below...taken over 24 hours later. Lovely, I know. I did shower for what that's worth. And the nice people at the hotel let us use our dinner voucher to buy deodorant and a hairbrush...um...and a choco taco because we had a little extra. :) I'm sure the people sitting next to us the next day on the plane were appreciative of the deodorant purchase. (Although we bought Old Spice deodorant because Josh travels more than me, so I smelled like a boy all day...I still figure that's better than B.O., right?)

Anyhoo, we got to the airport at 4:15 the next morning...after a rockin' 3 hours sleep. We were looking and feeling sharp, let me tell you. We waited in line at the Delta kiosk (we were flying Northwest, but they are merging with Delta, so that's where our tickets were...Northwest sucks by the way...I'll be glad when they're completely gone...I digress...) FOREVER! Finally we get to the front of the line at 4:45 or so. The automated machine wouldn't take our stuff, so we had to wait "for the next available agent."

The flight we were *supposed* to be on was leaving at 6:15 for Cincinnati, then to Knoxville. She starts typing away and says, "hmmm...that flight was overbooked before they put you on it last night. Let me see if I can find you another way home."

Now, I cope really well with most things when I've had a full night's sleep. But on 3 hours of sleep (when I really should be home in my own bed anyway), I'm always about 10 seconds away from a total meltdown.

As the Delta ticket agent was typing away, she kept saying, "I just don't know if we can get you home today. I don't see anything here."

I looked at Josh and said, "I'm going to have a nervous breakdown if we can't get home before lunch. If we get stuck here, I'm taking another week off work and driving to Holland to stay with Nanny and see the rest of your family. I can't deal with this!"

About that time the very nice Delta lady said, "Okay, I can get you on a Northwest flight to Charlotte, leaving at 6:40, then from Charlotte to Knoxville on US Air. You should arrive in Knoxville around 11:00. Is that okay?"

I'm hoping she was kidding when she asked that question. I could have kissed her, or cried, or had a nervous breakdown anyway. Yay! We're going home!

You'll be happy to know if you're ever stuck in Detroit that every store in the airport opens before 5 am. And they all take vouchers, even Starbucks. So, thanks, Northwest for Josh's mocha frappucino, and my sausage mcmuffin and parfait from McDonald's.

This picture is of me when I saw that WE HAD A PLANE and the flight was on time! (Yes, in the same clothes with no makeup...don't hate me because I'm beautiful. ;)


This is a picture of our plane outside the window...I almost cried (you know, the whole 3 hours of sleep thing)


Once we boarded the plane, we settled in to read SkyMall and see if there was anything we couldn't live without. You know when the plane starts to pull away from the terminal and it switches from airport power to plane power?

When that happened, our plane shut down. EVERYTHING shut down...like dead battery in your car shut down. Josh looked at me, and goes, "Not again!"

In a few minutes, they powered it back up, and never made an announcement about what happened. I'm not scared to fly, but I was really trying hard not to have a panic attack at this point. (You know, the whole 3 hours sleep thing again)

Eventually we get to the runway for takeoff. Takeoff was smooth, but you know that part of the ascent where they bring in the landing gear?

When they tried to do that, it groaned and cracked and popped like the plane was coming apart 1 bolt at a time. I just white knuckled Josh's arm, and told him if I had to die on a plane, I was glad we were together.

Even he admitted all that noise made him nervous, and we both agreed we may or may not have to make an emergency landing somewhere before we got to Charlotte. I had taken Meclizine before we left (for motion sickness), and that makes me sleepy, so I was pretty much knocked out the rest of the flight...which I consider to be a very good thing. :)

Fortunately we made it to Charlotte without anymore problems, and made our connection into Knoxville on US Air. US Air planes are so much nicer than Northwest! (Delta planes are too for that matter.) If I can help it, I will NEVER fly Northwest again.

Initially when we landed, we thought our luggage was lost. I didn't even care at that point because we were home! I figure for all our trouble, they could drive it down to us in Chattanooga. But, thankfully, we left the airport with our luggage when we realized it came in on the Cincinnati flight we were supposed to be on (you know, theoretically).

It's easy to spot your luggage across the airport when it looks like this...


Especially when you're carrying the little bag as your carry on, and someone says, "Hey, I just saw a big bag like that locked up in the room over there." ;)

Josh's bag was right beside it, so we got our bags, picked up our furbabies at my brother's house (Thanks Zac and Shane!) and headed back to Chatt-town USA. Woohoo! Never in my life have I been so thankful to be home. :)