Scouts and their families arrived at the Cedar Rapids airport at 9:30 AM for their 11:20 AM flight. Medications were checked in and monies given to the Scout bank for any choosing to do so. After pictures were taken, everyone headed off to the terminal with a lot of excitement and anticipation.
It was time to board and there were a lot of hugs goodbye, along with some tears. The parents moved over to the windows to watch the plane take off. Within a few minutes, here come the boys back into the terminal. The plane was held due to bad weather in St. Louis. Most everyone took this with a grain of salt and either grabbed a bite to eat, settled into card games, or just hung out. The excitement was still in the air.
Again, it was announced that it was time to board the plane. More hugs goodbye were given, again along with some tears, but the excitement was still in the air. Again, the parents moved over to the windows to watch the plane take off. Within a few minutes, here come the boys back into the terminal once again. The excitement seemed to turn more into frustration for some as they once again settled into the chairs at the terminal.
For a third time, it was announced that it was time to board the plane and again, there were more hugs goodbye with a bit of laughter about it all. The parents once again moved over to the windows to watch the plane take off, however, most eyes were watching the little window in the plane that would show the boys walking back out and into the terminal. Approximately 10 minutes went by and finally the jetway was moved away from the plane and parents were excited. After approximately another 5 minutes, the plane began to move and when it finally took off the ground, the cheers from the parents could most likely be heard by the Scouts in the plane! It was approximatley 1:25 PM when the plane finally left the Cedar Rapids Airport and headed to St. Louis.
St. Louis Flight Update: At about 4:15 PM, a call came in from the Scoutmaster (Gene) who gave the update that they needed to fly over St. Louis for approximately 45 minutes before finally landing at approximately 3:15 PM. Once arriving at the St. Louis airport, their connecting flight had already been "re-booked", so he took everyone's boarding passes to get all 40 Scouts and Leaders booked onto another flight. The first flight available for the group was to leave St. Louis at 9:30 PM, arriving in Washington, DC at 12:30 AM Eastern Time. The hotel was arranging for their shuttle to pick the Scouts up at the airport and transport back to the hotel. Gene was in great spirits and said the group was looking at this as just another adventure. The Scouts were walking around the airport in groups and just hanging out. He will try and call again today with an update and the .
I did check with my personal travel agent who was able to tell me that the flight did arrive in Washington, DC at 12:40 AM.
