coming back.

Remember when I told you about traveling to Texas and missing my flight? Yes... I thought that was bad. And it was. But just when I thought my traveling issues were over, life had something else in store.

I arrived to the Wichita Falls Airport. It's pretty much one room. It's about the size of my house. Seriously. Anyway, the electricity was out. Great!! So I sat in the dark for an hour. It wasn't so bad, and the electricity finally did come on. Our plane came, and it was surprisingly on time. We boarded and took off.

Now, this airline is called American Eagle. The planes that fly out of this airport are tiny. They actually have propellers. The flights are extremely bumpy, twisty, and horrible. You know when you're on a roller coaster and it drops really fast and your belly button jumps? Well, that's what I call it... well, these planes do the same thing. They will fall mid-air and then come up really fast. It does feel like a ride at Disney World. Like, an airplane simulator. It's that animated.

The lovely and feminine steward passed out drinks. I was looking out the window when suddenly the pilot turned nearly 90 degrees and the plane was sideways. He did this about 6 times throughout the flight, but I wasn't prepared. I looked down and saw my coke and my cup about to turn over (see, gravity would tell us that my cup should just stay in place in a time like this - but no... the plane was literally sideways. My coke can had no chance). So I tried to save my coke can and my cup.. and failed. Coke flew everywhere. My coke can literally flew out of my site. The dude 2 seats back found it rolling on the floor. I looked down and my purse was covered in Dr. Pepper. Ice was all over the floor.

Great.

I used that teeny 4x4 napkin and tried to mop up the coke from my purse. Blah.

Also, you should note that my purse is all white. So the brown coke stain really makes it stand out!

However, we actually made it to the Dallas airport on time. Yippie skippie. I got to my terminal, grabbed a sammich, and waited. And, to my surprise, my flight was ON TIME! I was thrilled, to say the least.

We boarded the plane and I took my seat in 24A. The dude next to me was a Seabee. Mark taught me this term this weekend. It's a Navy dude!! I saw his military ID. He was dressed like he was straight out of NYC. We were at our terminal, and I noticed it was starting to sprinkle. I looked out the window and saw it starting to lightning. But, planes were still taking off, so I wasn't too worried.

We backed out of our spot and inched around the parking lot, or whatever it's called. I knew something was up. We finally came to a halt, and the pilot goes, "Ladies and gentleman, due to the recent lightning in the area, planes are unable to take off. There are 20 planes in front of us waiting on the runway."

Great. Just great.

An hour and a half later, we zoom down the runway and take off. Yay! I was thrilled.

For about 4 minutes. Until we got to the clouds. And I literally saw my life flash before my eyes.

Keep in mind - the pilot gave us no warning about what was going to happen...

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We are zooming through the sky. I can see lightning in the distance. It isn't raining, and there are some breaks in the clouds where I can see the city lights. We fly higher and higher. We become engulfed in dark clouds. Suddenly, the plane literally starts shaking. Uncontrollably. I look out the window and all we can see are flashes of lightning all around me. The plane is literally going out of control. Everyone on the plane grabs their arm rests. The Navy dude beside me grabs the arm rests so fast and we're both screaming, "OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod," (not taking the Lord's name in vain, but we actually thought we were going to die. No joke.) I'm sweating. It's getting worse and worse. We are falling really fast and coming up even faster. We can see lightning right beside us. We finally made it out of the storm. I really don't know how.

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Ok, I can't serve this memory justice on my blog. I can't portray how bad it really was. It was just like the movies. I mean, the plane was like going bonkers. I don't know how we avoided being struck by lightning. The pilot never said anything about it. Ever. I think he pretended it never happened. If anyone had been out of their seat (including stewardesses), they would have been thrown from one side to another. It was absolutely HORRIBLE. And I'm not exaggerating. I had a buff Navy dude next to me who was freaking out as well. We both thought we were goners.

Excuse me while I breathe deep and hard, because reliving that experience takes a lot out of me.

Anyhow, we finally landed at 11pm. Home by 12:30. What a long night.


Next time? I think I'll walk.

Speaking of next time...

Other AF wives have told me that Airmen get off the Friday and Monday around July 4th. That would be 4 solid days with Mark. I really can't turn that down. We had planned on me going the weekend of June 19th, and then coming back July 17th. I really don't know what to do. Especially since I was planning on going to St. George Island with my sister and her family. I would have really loved to have seen my nephews on the beach. Argh. But 4 uninterrupted days with Mark? That's paradise, in our world!

The only thing is, I wouldn't be able to go in June. Well, I could, but going once every two weeks seems a little outrageous, due to the expenses of it all. He doesn't know about any of this yet, because he's in school and he can't take his cell phone to class. But tonight we will discuss it and make our final decision. And, don't worry, I will let you know!

Oh, and many, MANY pictures coming soon. I took nearly 300, so I will try to divide them up into different days so I don't overload you with photos.


Seriously, I am happy to be alive. I was sweating like crazy on that plane. Horrible experience. Hopefully some type of drought hits Texas the next time I fly, because I do not want to be in another thunderstorm!!!