We made it.  Finally.

Getting ready to leave Philadelphia yesterday, we remarked at how quickly we were going to be in Omaha.  Half-way across the country.  Our airport treks usually are coast-to-coast and take the better part of a day.

How quickly things change.

We were booked on Midwest Airlines.  A hop up to Milwaukee, a shorter hop to Omaha.  I even booked a direct flight – land but no plane change. And then Midway changed the itinerary.  Same flight up to Milwaukee, but a plane-change.  And then Midway left Philadelphia 45 minutes late and we missed the flight to Omaha.  And the next flight – at 10:30pm – was already over-booked.  I was not amused.

The Midway reps let us know right away that because the delays were weather related, the airline wasn’t responsible for getting us on another carrier or feeding us or putting us up in a hotel.  Did I mention that I wasn’t amused!?  I wasn’t amused.

We did receive a “Distressed Passenger” voucher for a discounted rate at a local Best Western hotel.  I was so not amused.

While the clan was gathering in Omaha, laughing and joking, and reliving times past, we had a nice, quiet evening in Milwaukee.  I was just not amused.

But… we did finally arrive in Omaha.  We got all checked in to a very nice room – a little mini-suite – and all was right with the world.

Naturally, everyone was out doing stuff – golfing, at the zoo – but a few phone calls alter, the troops started arriving back.

We received out “Welcome Bags” that included the above cookie (which tasted most excellent!) along with a bag of candy corn, reunion t-shirts color-coded to the family branch – ours are red in honor of Pop being a fireman – and just a wild assortment of fun stuff.  Another cousin made the bags!  Fun, indeed.

Tonight we have a BBQ at my cousins that will be a lot of fun.  I’m bringing the laptop and the Family Tree program to get these deadbeats to update their family info.

I’m really looking forward to finally seeing all these folks!

Finally amused.