And I'm exhausted!
It all started out as a nightmare…(queue some sort of scary music)
I get to the airport in Newport News, VA. Walk in. Flight has been delayed by one hour, which wouldn't be bad except that the delay screwed with my connecting flight in Charlotte. (Note to interested parties: a box full of promotional magnets in a suitcase looks just like a steel bomb case through TSA's X-ray machine.)
So I finally get on the plane–well beyond the original hour delay time–and naturally get stuck on the runway because of an inbound in-flight emergency 20 minutes out. So we wait. And finally take off. Get to Charlotte, where I hang around during my five-hour layover while I wait to see if the airline can squeeze me onto an overbooked flight to Dallas that night. I tell them I'll sit in first-class if I have to, but they are unmoved.
Finally, finally, they mash me onto a flight and we head for Dallas. The flight seemed to be running unnaturally long, and sure enough, the pilot eventually says, "You may have noticed how the plane has been slowing down for the last hour. That's because Dallas is experiencing bad weather and has shut down. We're diverting to Houston."
Oh, fun.
So five hours after I was supposed to meet Steph at the hotel, I call her.
Steph: Finally!!! Are you in the lobby?
Me: Nope. Guess where I am. And the answer isn't Dallas.
Steph: Are you still in Charlotte?
Me: Houston
Steph: Um…you realize the conference is in Dallas, right?
Eventually, we re-fuel and get into the air again. We land in Dallas and all looks good. Like, OMG, I'll get to the hotel before midnight!
Not. So. Much.
The nightmare has only begun.
I get into the cab I'd paid for ahead of time. The driver starts muttering incoherently about how a "single passenger is bad luck." That's about all I can understand, because he doesn't speak English very well. And I think he had a speech impediment to top it off.
He circles the airport over and over, stopping when he sees groups of people and tries to drag them into his cab. We spend a half an hour doing this, and about the time I'm ready to get out and just pay for another cab, he gets a call to pick up five women going to a Mary Kay convention. He's happy, because now he doesn't have just Bad Luck Larissa on board.
He picks up the women…but they are going to a hotel in Fort Worth, which is in the opposite direction. So now he has to get rid of me. So we circle the airport again, looking for a cab to take me to Dallas.
An hour later, I get dumped, and finally, over two hours after landing at DFW, I get to the hotel, where Sharon and Steph, bless their hearts, have waited up for me.
Later, I realize that I've forgotten half my clothes and my curling iron at home.
Yes, it was a wonderful first day.
The rest of the conference was much better, except that I fought a migraine the entire time. It nearly killed me on Saturday, but aside from that, it was great. I got some wonderful pics, which will be posted on the new Sydney site, which should launch early this week. In the mean time, I'll just post a couple of favorites (meaning fun, humiliating, and in no way professional) here…
Steph and Sharon feeling the love…
One…two…three…okay, Alison and HelenKay, close your eyes!
I like to call this one…WTF???
Our waiter, posing as a romance cover model. Yeah, he needs some work. Or at least a kilt.
Steph, Sharon, Amy and Justin Knupp–note how Amy is trying to not fall out of her chair.
That would be the lovely Beth Williamson's butt.
This would be Steph, and the WTF picture #2.
And on that note, I need to go write. There's that pesky challenge thing hanging over my head…
(((Larissa)))
Welcome back though!
HEY!!! How did my ass (BTW, thanks for the “lovely” reference) end up on your blog!! :shock:
‘Twas good to see you again, L. *smooch*
[...] got a few photos up here – and Sharon put up a few at WriteMinded as [...]
OMG LOL@the WTF! Those are GREAT! It was so good to see you, and hug you and drink with you (and you beth! I loved meeting you!)
Beth, you didn’t hear Larissa yelling, “I got your ass!” at the entrance to the Fairmont Hotel?!?
Everyone else standing there kinda did. :razz:
OMG, Steph and I were pretending not to know Larissa as she hollered HEY BETH I GOT A PICTURE OF YOUR ASS loud enough for people two blocks away to hear.
Thanks, Bonnie–it’s good to be back! I need sleep! ;-)
It was awesome to see you again, Beth!!!! Oh, and nice ass…
LOL at the “cece,” Amie! I know…we just couldn’t call you Amie!!!
Oh, and Beth? Steph and Sharon are lying. I would NEVER yell something about your ass across a parking lot. Really. Maybe you didn’t notice the margaritas in their hands that made them think these horrible things about me…
Welcome home! *hugs* on the awful trip out, though.
I thought we had some sort of implied deal where you agreed never to post such a bad photo of me… :mad: Clearly we need to have a chat about this to avoid future photo-taking issues.
Thanks, Tori! SO happy to be home!
Oh, HelenKay! I probably should tell you that “implied” doesn’t work with me. I need to be hit over the head with things like that…just ask Steph! *snickers*
Oh, Larissa! I’m so sorry your trip had such a rough start! Jeez, and that cab guy just sucked…
Aaah I’m so sorry about your disasterous trip to Dallas! Sounds like my disasterous trip to Houston a few months ago. Ugh.
I’m so glad I met you and Stephanie – you two are too much fun.
OMG…sure enough, the trip from HELL…glad you eventually arrived. I got the *definitive* pic of you in “THE DRESS,” and will be posting it sometime this week when I’m not brain-dead, at the day-job, or trying to keep up with the fricking challenge.
Hey, Larissa, it was great seeing you at RWA!!! I’m so sorry about your nightmare flying thing but you do make a good story out of it!
Welcome back. Great photos. Can’t wait to see the rest of them.
That was a horrible start to what sounds like what was a great RWA (of course having a migraine really sucks). I used to get them all the time and now my daughter does but she found a pill that really works (imotrex I think). I’m really enjoying the pics and the stories.
Larissa, it was so good to meet you! I look forward to the next time. I think you saw the pics of you, Stephanie, Amie, etc. on my blog. I have a link to more at the top of the page. I’m hoping Alison will appreciate the fact that I didn’t put a particular picture up.
I hope the trip home was less… adventurous. And, I sure hope that migrain is gone.
That cheating Alejandra! Damn him! All the time he was courting the Divas he was cheating with you guys behind our backs. For shame! I know I met you and if it was on Friday night I’d just like to apologize for anything I might have said, did or showed you.
:???: I so didn’t let you get a picture of me right?
lol nice shot of your ass beth ;).
It was great meeting you guys!
I can’t believe a cabbie would do that,sorry your first day was yuck
It’s good to hear that the rest of the trip went well.Thanks for sharing pics,love Beth’s pic too. 
So now my ass lives on… It’s famous. *snerk*
Cynthia, the cab guy was horrible! When he’d get out of the cab to try to grab people, I’d call Steph and tell her he was crazy…
Thanks, Karen–it was awesome meeting you!
Randy, I’ll drop by your blog for sure! I also have a great pic of you to email to you!
LOL, Suzanne! I’ve got some pics to send to you–will get them to you this week!
[...] Larissa posted a pic of my butt as I was leaving the Fairmont hotel from the Harlequin party. Thanks L, you are on my list (won’t say which one). [...]
Thanks, Ann! We’ll have the rest of the pics up on the Sydney site later!
Hi, Catslady! Yes, migraines do suck. I get them very rarely–figures that I’d get on the week of the conference!
Lynn, I saw the pictures–they were great!!! And yes, the trip home was less awful, though I did get stuck in Charlotte again. AFTER we’d boarded the plane, we had to get off and wait two hours until they could find a co-pilot!
Oh, Mystery Diva…that darned cheating waiter!!! But yes, I’m sure you showed me something I got a picture of… :razz:
Sybil, I loved meeting you!
Danette–I just wished I’d gotten a good zoom on Beth… :lol:
LOL…. :lol:
It was great seeing you! Sorry about the lousy flight.
Great photos, Larissa! Oh my, what a horrendous journey. You poor love.