How, extactly, did I end up in Detroit? Remember that scene in Fight Club where Edward Norton starts losing his mind and transforming into Tyler Durden, his delusional alter ego? He would fall asleep on planes and wake up in cities he never remembered traveling to - all the while his other self was building a cult-like following to bring down the world's banking system. It would make for a great story if I could say that's what happened to me, but unfortunately my day was much less exciting than that. And besides, the banks in real life have seemed to do a good enough job bringing themselves down.

I did, however, have a confusing and somewhat ammusing experience at a layover at Washington/Dulles airport. I boarded my connecting flight on time - the third flight in my journey from Fort Myers, Florida to Albany, New York - and taxied out to the runway. There, the takeoff was delayed due to thunderstorms north of us. Since I had gotten up at 4am, I had no trouble falling asleep. I woke up having slept soundly for what seemed to be a long time. I checked the time, and it was about 15 minutes past our scheduled landing. I looked outside and noticed we were on the ground. Was I already at my destination? I didn't know! Either it had been the smoothest flight I'd ever been on, or we hadn't moved for nearly two hours. I couldn't tell you! I was a bit embarrased to ask too. So I sat there trying to pick up on clues from other passengers and the flight attendants. Eventually, the captain got on the PA and announced that we were, indeed, still in Washington D.C., and that we were now going back to the gate because the air traffic tower couldn't guarantee we'd be going at all. I sat on that plane for almost 2 and half hours for nothing - ARRGH!!

After another hour in the terminal, the flight was eventaully cancelled outright. I guess there were some pretty serious storms between D.C. and Albany. They annouced that we should report to customer service for re-booking. Knowing that everybody on the plane was about to descend on their limited customer service staff, I got up and ran! I was first in line, and good thing too. There were only three spots left on a flight to Albany through Detroit. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have been able to get to Albany until 10pm the next day! As it is, I'm not even sure this plane will be able to get to Albany, but things are looking optimistic. Enough time has passed that the storms should have moved through, and the departure screens say "on time." I'm choosing not to think about the fact that by the time I get to East schodack (where my grandmother lives) the trip will have taken about 10 hours more than it should have.