Columbus, OH

So we're back again, and with another crazy airport story!
We got home about 24 hours later than we were supposed to.

Yesterday we were to fly out of Billings, MT to Chicago, then from Chicago to Columbus. Our first flight was at 8:30am so we got to the airport about 7:30. Around 8 they told us we can't board until around 9 because Chicago was getting hit with some storms. Then around 9 they told us everything is Chicago had been ground stopped and they'll get another update at 10:16. Another plane had to come to our gate around that time to leave for Denver, then after that flight left they told us we missed our window to take off because the other plane was there. So they said they'd get another update in an hour. An hour later they said it'll be another half hour until they get an update. At 11:45 they told us we'd be taking off at 2:06. Then when 1:45 rolled around they told us t got pushed back again to 3:30. Oh yeah, I think it was around noon we went to the ticket desk to see if we could get another flight, but there wasn't anything else we could take. Our flight from Chicago to Columbus was supposed to leave at 1, but we figured since everything there was stopped we'd still have a chance of making that flight. But just to be sure, Marnell called about renting a van for all of us to just drive from Chicago to Columbus. After a while he found out there were no rental cars available in Chicago.

But Finally around 3pm we boarded the plane.
But there's more!

The pilot said it would be a few minutes before we were able to take off. The weather was still icky in Chicago, so after sitting on the plane for about 20 minutes, we took off. After a while the pilot came on saying we were above Rapid City, SD holding for a while. Then after that we were above Sioux Falls, SD holding again, and he came on again saying "Well I've got some bad news. They've stopped all flights to Chicago, so we're going to have to land in Sioux Falls." So we landed at the small airport of Sioux Falls and sat in the plane while the pilots figured out what was next. Finally one of the gate officers came on and said we'll be getting off the plane, but "don't go too far because if you get left behind you'll be here for days." It was a really small airport.
Dana (bus driver) was driving to Pennsylvania from Montana after he dropped us off at the airport, so Marnell called him to see where he was. And wouldn't you know he was just 50 miles away from where we were! So after about an hour or so he showed up at the airport, and that's how we got home :)

We got so lucky yet again! It turned out that we wouldn't have been able to make it to Chicago until around midnight, and the flight to Columbus wouldn't have been until 5pm today. So I could be on a plane right now if things didn't work out the way they did. And we would have been sleeping on the floor somewhere in the crowded and messy O'Hare airport instead of our bunks.

Dana said "I don't know if you guys are the unluckiest or the luckiest group of people!" I said, "I think we're pretty lucky."