Good:  We arrived at the Burlington International Airport last Saturday at 4:30AM, a full hour before our flight was set to leave.

Bad:  Our confirmation code was bogus, and (through some programming error on United’s end), it did not match our itinerary.  The gate agent told us too bad, and to call the 800 number to arrange alternative flight plans.

Good:  After nearly an hour on the phone, we were re-booked with a different airline.

Bad:  The single connection we had with our original itinerary turned into two connections with our new itinerary.

Good:  We arrived in Philly, boarded our connection that would be taking us to Washington DC, and dreamed about eventually having lunch in Washington DC before our third and final flight into Charleston, WV.

Bad:  We were 13th in line for take-off.  That should have been a sign right there.

Bad:  After 15 minutes and advancing to first in line for take-off, we had to return to the gate because the hydraulic pump was broken.

Bad:  After the hydraulic pump was fixed, we waited for 20 minutes for paperwork so we could take off again.  Then we waited another hour for a push crew.

Bad:  We realized at this point we’d have no time for lunch once we arrived in DC.

Good:  We made our DC connection with SECONDS to spare.

Bad:  My throat started feeling sore on the third leg of our trip.  I chalked it up to breathing airplane air for too long, because after all, I couldn’t be getting sick again, after only feeling better for 24 hours, right?

Good:  We landed in Charleston, WV, were greeted by my parents, got some dinner, and began the hour and a half long trek to their house.  Fourteen hours after our journey started, we got to my parents house.

Bad:  I lapsed into full-on sick mode.  Chills, fever, aches, pains, coughing, fatigue.

Good:  My brother showed up and surprised us with a visit—this was the highlight of the week!

Bad:  I spent the first 2 days of our trip almost exclusively in pajamas and on Nyquil.

Good:  Despite spending the better part of our 2nd night on the bathroom floor, I ended up *not* puking.

Bad:  Holden puked in my parents bed twice.

Good:  We visited my aunt and uncle briefly, and Holden got to see a baby cow.

Bad:  Three days into our visit, I went to the emergency clinic for a sinus and ear infection.

Good:  Amoxicillin works quickly–within 24 hours I was starting to feel better.

Bad:  As soon as I started to feel better, my parents started to feel sick.

Good:  Holden went to his first movie in the movie theater.  We saw Rango!  He loved it!

Bad:  We didn’t get to do anything else we had planned to do, since everyone was so sick.

Good:  The morning we were supposed to leave, our flight was only reporting a 15 minute delay.

Bad:  My mom said they were too sick to drive us to the airport.

Good:  My uncle volunteered to drive us to the airport if we could drive to his house first.

Bad:  Before my mom had a chance to write down driving directions to my uncle’s house, she fell and hurt herself, and started vomiting.

Good:  I don’t think she broke anything.

Bad:  I’m starting to feel a little panicked at this point.

Good:  My dad says he is feeling OK after all, and can take us to the airport.

Bad:  When we get to the airport, we find our flight has cancelled due to mechanical problems.

Good:  We get re-booked on a different airline, and our bag and carseat get tagged and sent off to go on that new flight.

Bad:  The airline realizes that they mistakenly booked us on an overbooked flight.

Good:  The airline finds us an alternative airline (literally:  United–>Delta–>UsAirways)

Bad:  Our bags are already en route on a flight we can’t go on.

Good:  Our connection in Washington DC goes smoothly, and we arrive in Burlington.

Bad:  Our luggage did not make it to Burlington.

Good:  The airline knows where our luggage is:  Savannah, GA.

Bad:  We’ve been home 24 hours, and we still don’t have our luggage.  No winter coats, snow boots, plus half of our wardrobes and our carseat are still missing.

Good:  We are home!  And we are recovering.

Pictures are here.