Cozy at a Hilton

Hey guys,

I'd like to say that things have gone smoothly thus far, but alas, that is not the case.

I boarded my plane at Sea-Tac this morning on time, but it ended up stalling due to the possible need of a replacement piece or something. They told us the piece was being shipped from San Francisco and would arrive at 4:30 about 3 1/2 hours after we were scheduled to depart. (Though if there was one thing comical about the situation at that moment, it was the collective groan that went up in the plane after the captain announced this.) Shortly after, the captain told us to prepare ourselves to get off the plane, and then!--he received word that control had decided to 'defer' (aka ignore?) the problem and send us on our merry way.

Except not. We were an hour behind schedule, and many people (including me, of course) had connecting flights to catch. We were originally supposed to arrive at 9pm D.C time, and then I would transfer to my flight to Paris at 9:45. Needless to say, I missed it, and just by 20 minutes!

So did many others, but a lucky few got to rush off the plane ahead of everyone else to catch planes that were being held for them. Those of us that weren't as fortunate got put up in nearby hotels. It really, really sucks that I have to wait an entire day for the next flight to Paris (how is that the only flight to Paris through United from our country's capital is only once a day??) but at the very least, I'm not currenly attempting to catch some shut-eye on a bench there at the airport while being paranoid about someone stealing my stuff. Instead, I ended up with a 2-bed room at the Hilton just a 10 minute shuttle ride away. For free. I got a meal voucher too, but that was only one, and my dad pointed out that I'm obviously going to get hungry more than once in the next 24 hours. I'll have to call United up in the morning and demand more vouchers, Papa says. We'll see. I know I probably be a bit more aggressive as this is an inconvenience to me, but I just don't want to sound like the--adult--people who were in front of my complaining like brats.

On the plus side, I got to take a bath, and I am so, so, incredibly grateful that I decided to put some clothes in my beach bag/tote/purse. I was a bit cumbersome and heavy, but as they checked my rolly carry-on and that along with the rest of my luggage is currently on hold at the airport...well, I could've been stuck without clean underwear. Then it REALLY would've been a bad day aha.

Anyways, hopefully tomorrow fares better, much love!

Rachael