Quilt Odyssey 2016

Last week I was lucky enough to be a longarm instructor at Quilt Odyssey in Hershey, PA - it was awesome!

First was one of my favorites, Build-A-Stitch.  These ladies were a super fun group!

Then in the afternoon was Doodle Quilting - and there were some awesome doodlers letting their imaginations run wild and having a blast:

My last class was Filling the Space - these ladies created some awesome pieces and stretched their design ideas way beyond their comfort zones!

Halfway through everyone gets to walk around to see the other students creations:

I did manage to see the quilts...
although I don't have a single picture.  I only had an hour to wander through the quilts and it was crowded.  There were some amazing ones that I would have loved to stand and stare at for quite a while!  Congratulations to the winners - they were definitely some amazing quilts!

And I did get to spend a little time in the Gammill booth with Steve & Lori of Threads Run Thru It (and no pics there either - wow, I'm seriously photo-slacking) -- they are wonderful people and I owe a big thank you to both of them, as well as Emily for setting up my classroom and making sure I didn't need a thing!

So my trip home... eventful!  And, not at all in a good way.
Some of you that follow on Facebook got bits and pieces of the story.  Here goes, in a super-quick nutshell.

My flight home was delayed 35 minutes.  Not such a big deal right?  Wrong!  I had a 36 minute connection in Charlotte.  It was obvious that I was going to miss my connection.  I ran up to the counter and the representative assured me that I would be fine, along with the other handful of people that also had a very short connection.

So we take off... low and behold we were supposed to land at 9:40pm originally.  Didn't that pilot book it and get us there by 9:41pm!  So see, they are allowed to speed when necessary!  Yeah, awesomeness, I was going to make my connection after all!  WRONG... upon taxi-ing over to the gate we stopped and sat.  The pilot came over the intercom and stated that the gate we were assigned to was occupied and we would have to wait for a new gate assignment.  WHAT?  We actually made it here on time and now it is being taken away by someone's negligence in gate assignments!  Well, about 10 minutes later we got a new gate assignment -- the gate right next to the one we were waiting at.  Okay, I'm thinking it's totally still possible to make it -- if I run like I've never run before.

So I run....
from Terminal E to Terminal C.  As I am running (mind you scared to death that I'm going to fall and face plant and need to visit an ER), I can see my gate, the representative has his hand on the door.  I am yelling, running, waving my boarding pass in the air.  What does he do?.... you guessed it, closed that door.  Noooooooooooo...

So in my best out-of-breath-I-can't-even-talk I hand the woman at the counter my boarding pass and she says the next flight to Palm Beach is tomorrow afternoon.  Nooooooo!  Then she asks if I can go to Miami.  I'm like how the heck am I going to get from Miami to Palm Beach (where my truck is parked).  So okay, Miami it is.  She hands me my boarding pass and says they'll fix it at the next gate - which leaves in 10 minutes (not boards, leaves).  So I run, again, from Terminal C to Terminal B.  I get to the gate for the Miami flight and hand the woman my boarding pass and try (with no breath) to quickly explain.  She bluntly said this flight is full, I can't help you and directs me to Customer Service.  I look over to Customer Service and notice that approximately 300 people (no exaggeration) in line and start to cry.  I call my husband, explain it all to him (as I have less than two minutes before this plane takes off) and I can hear my phone is altering my of a text.  I hang up and look... it's the airline confirming my seat on the plane to Miami.  I ever so nicely (not, sorry dealing with less than a minute) stick my phone in front of the woman and say I'm on this plane!  She looks at the text and prints my boarding pass and I'm now sitting in the only seat and no sooner did I sit down we were taking off.

So I land in Miami.  I have no clue where my luggage might be -- I proceed to the baggage claim desk.  I begin my claim and they tell me my luggage will be there in the morning (in Miami).  Honestly, the only thought that crossed my mind was how is my luggage getting here in the morning when the first flight I was offered was in the afternoon?  I think I was delusional at this point.  So I walk outside thinking I'll catch a cab... posted rates only go as far as Fort Lauderdale airport (which was $160).  A big sigh... I walk around and find a SuperShuttle booth -- I ask how much for a shuttle to Palm Beach airport.  She has to dig out the big binder and look it up -- $116.  That's it, get me on it!  So at 2:00am I started my journey home from Miami.  The shuttle driver got me safely to Palm Beach at 4:00am and I then drove another 40 minutes home.  Yes, I had been awake for over 24 hours!

My luggage you ask?  On Saturday I called to check on it.  No, it wasn't coming from Miami.  It got back on a plane, flew back to Charlotte, then caught another plane back to Palm Beach.  Apparently, they can only deliver your luggage from the closest airport.  It didn't get home until Sunday.

I'm guessing no more short connections in my future...