Storms + O'Hare = Travel Delays

I’ve had some flight delays before: mechanical difficulties derailing my trip to Morocco for a day, the trip to Iraq that involved two unexpected layovers and 1 expected and missing the connecting flight to Dublin because at Logan I had to exit the airport to get to the terminal the flight was leaving from and go through security all over again.

My trip from Dayton, Ohio, to Newark, New Jersey via Chicago takes the cake.I finished the Flying Pig Half marathon Sunday morning, drove the hour from Cincinnati to Dayton and was ready to board the plane and bask in post-half marathon endorphins.

I was supposed to leave Dayton (DAY) at 7:09 pm est, arrive in Chicago (ORD) at 7:22 pm cst, run to the other end of the terminal to grab the 8:00 pm cst flight to Newark (EWR) that would get me home at 11:13 pm est.

Sitting in Dayton, all I saw was blue sky, but apparently storms were brewing in Chicago that led to a ground stop for awhile.

This was the delay updates I got throughout my travels:

1) United flight 3762 DAY-ORD on 6MAY delayed.

Departure time now 8:11 pm from gate B17.

Arrival time now 8:24 pm.

Lynn: Shit, I’m going to miss my connecting flight. Maybe my Newark flight will be delayed

2) United flight 3762 DAY-ORD on 6MAY delayed.

Departure time now 8:47 pm from gate B17.

Arrival time now 9:00 pm.

Lynn: Well, I really am going to miss my flight, there’s no way the Newark plane will be that late. Let me check the app to see where the Newark plane is coming from.

3) United flight 3562 ORD-EWR on 6MAY delayed.

Departure time now 8:30 pm from gate B18.

Arrival time now 11:43 pm.

Lynn: Ok, it’s delayed, but I’ still going to miss it. Better email work.

4) United flight 3562 ORD-EWR on 6MAY delayed.

Departure time now 9:10 pm from gate B18.

Arrival time now 12:23 am.

Lynn: Hmm, I wonder how fast I can run between the two gates, which are on complete opposite sides of the airport? Maybe running 13.1 miles this morning wasn’t a good idea for the legs.

5) United flight 3762 DAY-ORD on 6MAY delayed.

Departure time now 9:46 pm from gate B17.

Arrival time now 9:59 pm.

Lynn: well never mind. I’m going to call about airport hotels. Maybe I’ll find one with HBO and I can watch Game of Thrones. At least some good will come out of this mess.

6) United flight 3562 ORD-EWR on 6MAY delayed.

Departure time now 11:00 pm from gate B22.

Arrival time now 2:13 am.

Lynn: Wait, this seems promising! United is just teasing me now. Oh, the plane has landed. They’re letting us board! I finally get to leave Dayton! (which besides having very nice, helpful gate agents, have electrical outlets everywhere!)

7) United flight 3562 ORD-EWR on 6MAY delayed.

Departure time now 11:30 pm from gate B22.

Arrival time now 2:43 am.

Lynn; This is promising. How do I get back to NYC from Newark at 2:43. I’m glad I have an iPhone now. To Google! To NJTRANSIT! To AMTRAK! (10 minutes later) Crap, I’m going to have to call my folks.

8) United flight 3562 ORD-EWR on 6MAY delayed.

Departure time now 11:50 pm from gate B22.

Arrival time now 3:03 am

Lynn: Yep, I’m going to have to call my parents to get picked up at the airport.

9) United flight 3562 ORD-EWR on 6MAY delayed.

Departure time now 12:30 am from gate B21.

Arrival time now 3:03 am.

Lynn: I’m never leaving O’Hare.

10) United flight 3562 ORD-EWR on 6MAY delayed.

Departure time now 12:05 am from gate B21.

Arrival time now 3:14 am.

Lynn: What. The. Hell. 

11) United flight 3562 ORD-EWR on 6MAY delayed.

Departure time now 12:37 am from gate B21.

Arrival time now 3:14 am.

Lynn: Damn you, United. Make up your mind! Oh, wait, our plane finally landed!!!!! The agents are saying something about getting ready for us to board. Hallelujah! [White flash] Was that lightening? [Another white flash] Crap. I am never leaving O’Hare.

12) United flight 3562 ORD-EWR on 6MAY delayed.

Departure time now 1:05 am from gate B21.

Arrival time now 4:04 am.

The gate agents say we’re waiting for the storm to pass.

Lynn: I give up.

13) Missing email – Departure time of 1:15 am

Lynn: I’m going to find a row of seats and take a nap. I’m never leaving. Ever.

14) United flight 3562 ORD-EWR on 6MAY delayed.

Departure time now 1:30 am from gate B21.

Arrival time now 4:04 am.

Lynn: Sure, whatever United. Wait, why are people moving toward the gate?

We boarded, the pilot said we were going to leave soon, but I still didn’t believe. Even when I felt the plane move, I didn’t believe. But then we took off and I promptly fell asleep. Didn’t wake up until we landed in Newark. Actual arrival time, based on my watch, 4:37am. Yes, my parents picked me up.

Lesson: never fly through O’Hare again. Ever!

Also, having my flying pig stress toy helped. 

 Strangely enough, even if all the waiting, I didn’t manage to finish my book.

Yes, I'm a Geek

After 2 postponements, the Space Shuttle Enterprise finally made it to New York City! I dragged my friend NM and her two kids to go out on a windy, chilly day and see the shuttle piggy-back a NASA 747 at 1,500 feet, flying over the city. It was great!

I know The Enterprise never went into space, but it's still the closest I've ever come -- and every will come -- the seeing a shuttle fly. And -- be honest -- seeing a plane on top of another plane is pretty cool. Lots of people were out watching the shuttle, which passed by the Statue of Liberty, the westside of Manhattan, the Intrepid (its future home) and up the Hudson to the Tappan Zee Bridge. Then it came back down the Hudson. It was sureal. And we weren't the only ones out there. It was really crowded along the Hudson.

I didn't get any shots of it, but it was fun seeing other shots of the shuttle between skyscrapers. It just seemed unreal.

And of course, I took some video of the shuttle.

Vanilla Cupcakes with a Lime Alternative

This weekend I checked out The Cupcake Diaries from the library. It's written by the owners of Georgetown Cupcake in Washington, DC. I was not a fan of the cupcakes in the store - I was more of a Baked and Wired girl - but they had a chocolate cupcake recipe that I've always liked making (just the cake, not the frosting), so I was curious about some of their other cupcakes.

I tried the basic vanilla.
2 1/2 cups of flour (I went a little shy on the flour, it was more like 2 1/3 cup)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8T unsalted butter at room temp
1 3/4 cups sugar (also went a little shy on this)
2 eggs at room temperature
2 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
seeds for 1 vanilla bean (I had half on hand so I used it, and then added an extra 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla)
1 3/4 c milk (the recipe called for whole, but I used 2%) at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside in bowl or on wax/parchment paper.
3. In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. (I beat the sugar on it's own for a minute or two before adding in the sugar). When it's light and fluffy, add the eggs in one at a time.
4. Add the vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds to the milk.
5. Add a third of the dry ingredients into the wet sugar/butter/egg mixture. Wait until it's incorporated,  then add in a third of the milk mixture until it is incorporated. Repeat 2 more times.

6. Scoop the batter into a lined cupcake tray. You can use an ice cream scoop for consistency, but I aimed for 2/3 full.
7. Bake for 16-18 minutes. Every one's oven is different, mine took the full 18, almost 19 mins. But start checking at 15 mins. It's ready when a toothpick comes out cleanly.

8. Let the cupcakes cool on wire racks.  I was able to make 18 cupcakes from this batter.

I decided to go with the Vanilla Cream-Cheese Frosting. 

4 T unsalted butter, room temperature

4 cups confectioner's sugar. (not surprisingly I went shy on that because I don't like overly sweet frosting. It was more like 3 2/3 to 3 3/4 cup).

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 oz. room temp cream cheese

Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and, using a stand mixer or hand held mixer, mix away until it is to the consistency of your liking. I went long and it got it really nice and smooth.

I did split the frosting. Half I kept vanilla, but with the other half I added in the zest and juice of 1 lime. (If i had and extra half lying around I would have added that) to make a lime cream cheese frosting. I did add a little extra powdered sugar here to  to help absorb some of the juice.

The vanilla cupcakes I decorated with sugar sprinkles and the lime I kept plain, but you could see the zest of the lime in the frosting, which I think was quite nice.

All in all, it was a good cupcake. 

Best Valentines Ever...

You have to have lived in DC to get some of these valentines, but some of these are really funny!