Alright, our journey to D.C was pretty much stalled and delayed at every, single, turn.

Even when we fly domestic, we get there two hours before departure time.  That should, realistically give us enough time to get out stuff together, combat most issues and get our butts to the gate with a nice amount of time to spare (and, in many airports, enjoy the free WiFi).

We normally leave one hour before this two-hour window, as it takes us around forty minutes to get to the airport, giving us around two hours and twenty minutes at the airport.

In the past, we’ve attempted to leave on a Friday evening, this hasn’t worked very well and we vowed NEVER, not EVER, to do it again.  However, this time, due to the last minute nature of our flight (and buying it through the Continental – yes, they’re still Continental to me!!) we did it and boy did we suffer!

A forty minute journey took one hour and forty five minutes – seriously! The traffic was chaotic, rush hour, north of the city, on a freakin’ Friday night! Disaster! We had enough time to get there, dump our bag, rush through security, pick up a dinner from Wendys (yuck!!! So much for our leisurely dinner in Terminal E!) and get to our gate before they boarded us on to the plane.

In spite of our delay to the airport, check in and security were surprisingly empty, which, I guess I should have been suspicious about, after having rushed through security and our food, we boarded and were told that there was a delay, we were waiting for a ‘weight’ report before we could take off.

Twenty minutes later, we’re told there’s yet another delay, as the electronics have gone a bit daft on the plane, so we waited more.

While we were waiting, I saw an ad for a movie that I wanted to see, so, I swiped my card, flicked through the movies, only to discover that the stupid movie wasn’t there, so I got stuck watching Happy Feet II, which, while cute and adorable for kids, wasn’t exactly the period drama I had my heart set on watching.

Once we were airborne, we started to hit some turbulence, which the pilot informed us, was the remnants of the storms that had blitzed through the mid-west, leaving a path of destruction.

We were told, shortly after we got through the turbulance, that our assigned runway was  closed and that the new one was much shorter, but, and this is the kicker, it was ‘still legal for a plane like this’, uhmmmm….ok?! LOL!! The landing was pretty bumpy, with a lot of reverse thrust.

When we got to the baggage carousel, there was another delay, seriously.  At every stage, we were delayed.  I was not a happy camper!!!!

Finally we were on our way, ok, in a smoke filled taxi, but we were on our way!

The hotel was pretty cool, the room, on the 17th floor, was your typical hotel room (though we had no fridge), in spite of the fact I had it set to 67F in the room overnight, we still cooked alive, they charged for internet, per day (not 24 hours) and per computer, and the walls were paper thin (the neighbours were fighting for a large chunk of the night).

By the time we got to our room, it was 12.07am, and we were totally famished.  We called room service, but, they said they closed at midnight.  Great.  Thanks for the help *insert eye roll here*.  We’ve been in hotels before that have gone above and beyond the call, and, given that it was so close to the kitchen-close time, they threw stuff together for us.  Instead, here, they recommended Dominos pizza, so that’s what we had before passing out.

Las’s travel tip: Even when travelling domestically (I.E in the country that you’re living in) it’s wise to leave at least two hours ahead of your flight time.  Ok, you could end up waiting for ages in the departure lounge, but, on the other hand, you may encounter something unexpected and need the extra time!