Sterling-Rock Falls

What a weekend!!! Friday afternoon we left for Sterling Rock Falls, Illinois. Our flight left at 3:45 in the afternoon. We got to the airport parked the car, rode a bus in and checked in at the counter. Security was no big deal. Sailed right through. The trouble all started when we arrived at our gate. We were one of the last to board. The lady said that she didn't have seats for all of us. American Airlines over sold the plane. The lady said she would be right back and went down the ramp. Next thing we knew our plane was pushing away from the gate without us. The lady came back and said that she would try to get us on another flight. Needless to say Scott was very upset. He decided to take Grisham for a walk and I waited to see what was going to happen. Quite a while later she came back with tickets with Continental. The flight left at 4:57 and then we had a 3 hr lay over in Cleveland. She also gave us three $250 vouchers to help make up for our inconvenience. I was very happy with this. Now we had to go back to the main concourse check in with Continental and go through security again. Once we got to the counter the said that they only had a ticket transfer for Scott, not the rest of us. We had to wait even longer for them to iron it all out. By the time all was said and done we had 10 min to get through security and to our gate. We did make it on tho the plane but it was one of those turbo props and it was very bumpy and scary. I was very pleased that the ride was 30 min. We landed in Cleveland and found a nice place to rest. We killed three hrs by walking and looking for the non existing play area, eating and watching a movie. The ride to Chicago was uneventful. When we landed at O'hare we had to get the one bag checked with Continental and then go find American Airlines for the bag that did make that original flight. It was almost painless but by this time we were all so tired we just wanted the night to end. Now we had to go find our shuttle to take us to the car rental place. While Scott stood in a very long line I went and got the kids ready for bed. The van that we were renting was supposed to have car seats for the kids. I was very uncomfortable with this arrangement. I wasn't sure if I could really trust them to have good seats. When they finally rounded up two seats after getting it wrong a few times (one infant and then a regular booster) we got everything packed up and headed out for our two hr drive to Sterling. The kids were asleep before we left the parking lot. We arrived at the hotel a little after midnight. My parents arrived hrs earlier, and they came out to help us up to our room. They had the kids beds set up in their room so that when we had to get up we wouldn't disturb the kids. The next morning was full of meetings with Clinic people then late morning we met up with a realtor couple who were going to show us the town. We stopped by the library, fine arts academy, farmers market, high school and then we went to lunch. We went to a really popular Mexican restaurant downtown. At this point I was feeling a little queasy but I was also very hungry so I ate. After lunch Ed wanted to show us some properties. We drove by the YMCA and then to outskirts of town for some houses. I started to feel really really sick and I ended up having to call off the tour to head back to the hotel. Half way through town I new I couldn't make it so Ed decided to stop by his office so I could use the restroom. We pulled up to the office and discovered that his wife locked the door so Ed had to run around back to let us in. I couldn't hold it in any more. So I threw up in their flower bed in front of the office, right in the heart of down town. I think I had a few people watch me fertilize the flowers. I was soooooo embarrassed!!! I wanted to get back to the hotel ASAP. Now I am not sure I threw up because of the baby or if I was car sick, could have been a combination of both. After getting back to our room I slept for a couple hours and felt pretty good. We had to get ready for a dinner held at one of the physicians homes. I didn't eat any thing, just sipped water all night. By the time dinner was over and we went back to the hotel it was 10:30 and I was ready for more sleep. None of us were looking forward to the next day of travel. I kept working myself up all morning by thinking about having more delays and not being able to get home. Scott was very patient with me and helped me through all my "panic attacks". We did arrive home safely and on time. I hope next weekends trip isn't as eventful as this one was. At least my parents will be here to watch the kids for us.