A little more than a hop skip and jump

With all of the happenings in the news of the volcano erupting in Iceland, I was leaving Portland knowing I had a slim chance of making it all the way across the Pond (Atlantic Ocean) to Germany. When I left Portland at 6:20 am on Tuesday, my connecting flight from Atlanta to Dusseldorf still said it was confirmed and leaving that day. I wasn't convinced, because the same flight the day before was canceled and the volcano situation had not changed much (at least the news was telling us this). I asked the guy at the counter what would happen if I got to Atlanta and my second flight was canceled. He basically told me they would get me eventually to Germany, but it would take days and they would not cover my stay. Yikes!! Chances were slim, I got Nik and Gail on the phone and discussed the situation. We all knew what a risk I was taking. The worst thing that could have happened would be I get to Atlanta and the flight is canceled and I have to come back to Portland on another flight. I had a good feeling about this and decided I would go ahead and take the risk. Really what did I have to lose.

While I am on the plane to Atlanta the worst happens. My flight from Atlanta to Dusseldorf gets canceled, about 30 minutes before I land, due to Germany not opening its airspace. My first thought was to cry, I really had a good feeling about this and usually my intuition is right on. Instead of crying, I decided before I head back to Portland I am going to do whatever I can to get me to Europe. I go straight to the customer service desk, luckily close by and not a huge line (about 6 groups ahead of me with 4 agents at the desk). I also call the customer service line while I'm still standing in line. The gentlemen on the line was nice, but the earliest he could get me a flight was the next Monday out of Atlanta. I laughed out loud and said that was not going to work for me, but was nice and hung up the phone. Now, keep in mind here, there are thousands and thousands of people trying to get to Europe right now and there are hundreds of planes that are miss placed, so I was very aware that the odds of me really making it to Paderborn were very low. I still decided to stand in line and just see, just maybe I could slip in on a flight. While I am waiting over an hour in line, I talk back and forth to Nik and Gail on the phone strategizing about what to say and how to get a ticket.

Finally a customer service agent calls me to the counter. By this time the line is all the way down the terminal and people are everywhere. I kept thinking, how am I going to stand out in this crowd so I can get some one to get me on a flight. All I could think of was SMILE. So... that is what I did. I walked up to Tyrone, the customer service agent, with a huge smile on my face, explained my situation and told him what I wanted. He looks at me kind of funny and says, "Are you sure you don't want to just go back to Portland." I smiled and said I would do that if it was the last option, but I wanted to exhaust all my other options before deciding to head home. I told him I will go anywhere in Europe, because once I get there, I will find my way to Paderborn. He looks in his computer for a while and starts out saying he can get me something in a couple days to Rome, to Frankfurt, to London. I'm thinking a couple days... that's not so good. So, I keep smiling and say what else do you have? You could put me anywhere, I am only one person, not very large, I could fit on any plane. I don't even care if its a real seat. He laughs and continues his search through the computer, while I am talking small talk with him (joking about this event, and asking him if he is ready to change professions.) Suddenly his eyes light up and he says, "Oh, wow, uh, what about Amsterdam... today... in an hour?" I smile, say "really?" and gladly accept. He goes on, "Wow, that's crazy, huh, don't tell anyone I am going to do this for you." Not really sure what he meant, but I gave him a high five and thanked him continually. The only thing I can think of is they were selling these seats for a ridiculous amount and he just gave one to me. He hands me a ticket and sends me to the terminal. The only problem with the ticket was it didn't have a seat assignment, I asked Tyrone and made him swear to me that this was an actual ticket and not a standby. He smiled and swore it was, I just had to get the seat assignment at the gate. I told him if it wasn't I was coming back to find him, but he assured me it was so I headed to the gate. Keep in mind, I had one bag checked, I was pretty clear this bag was not going to make it with me to Germany. Tyrone puts notes in the system to send it on, but he wasn't sure it was going to make it either.

I get to the gate and there is about 40 people in the line. I think, "Damn, he screwed me," but I wait in line anyway. Sure enough when I get up to the desk, I hold my breath, hand them the ticket and without saying a word to me, they exchange it with one that has a seat #. VICTORY!!! I did not want to get my hopes up to much, because I knew there was a lot more that could happen to prevent me from getting over the pond. After two hours of sitting on the runway (there was a lot of planes trying to leave Atlanta) we finally took off to head to Europe. 8 hours later I touched down in Amsterdam. REAL VICTORY!!! There was hardly any smog or volcanic ash in the air and the weather was quite nice. Now all I had to do was get to Nik .....