LH 403 Flight Status

So, there we were, together on the Amtrak train to Newark Liberty International Airport. As we peered out the window, we saw white flakes falling from the sky, it had begun to snow. Upon our arrival to Newark, we confirmed the cancellation of our flight and set about making plans for the night. Clearly, we would not be leaving the United States at 5:35pm as planned. And outside, the blizzard had begun.

And there we sat, puzzling over our options. With the blizzard outside, it was imperative that we stayed as close to the airport as possible, to avoid any problems on the road. As the senile suggested, we looked for somewhere to stay the night. We headed to the hotel board, dialing just about every hotel listed, some with no answer, and most with the answer that they didn’t have anything available. We turned to our backup solution: going through our phones and figuring out who lived near Newark.

After calling friends, bosses, hotels and one, very cold walk across the parking lot to the Marriott, we had a variety of plans, back-up plans, and back-up plans for the back-up plans. After much deliberation and phone calls, we decided to head back to our College on a hill in Pennsylvania with the tickets we had bought for the return journey after Turkey. We cancelled our hotel reservations, notified Residence Life that we would be returning, and let out friends know that we would not require their hospitality for the night. After a few games of war, rummy, and sixes, we went outside, into the treacherous weather to wait for our bus. The bus arrived only a few minutes late and had only a few seats left for those of us escaping the airport. The 1.5 hour ride on unplowed roads became 2.5 hours and we pulled into the Easton bus station around 7pm. Four states later from where I began, the journey was mostly over. Public Safety picked us up from the bus stop and brought us to our room for the night.

The Senior Assistant Director, who coincidentally lived in Watson Hall, where we’d be staying, met us at the room we’d be staying in, a two-room triple attached to the atrium. She invited us into her family’s apartment, and gave us leftovers to eat for dinner. She also found us essentials that we didn’t have with us, like towels and sheets (superhero sheets!!!). During an exciting discussion, my buddy, noticing Star Wars figurines on the fridge, asked if they had Star Wars and if we could borrow it. After a long hunt, we were given a portable DVD player and Star Wars Episodes II and III. We departed, thanking her, and after a try at each of the Watson lounges, we ended up watching Episode II on the tiny portable DVD player screen. The excitement of the film was too much for my buddy, who fell asleep for all of the awesome battle scenes of the movie, and would need to be filled in on the action the next morning.

-Tinkerbell and Major